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Ahmet Mithat Efendi is one of the most famous writers of the Tanzimat period, perhaps even the most famous. This work is one of the novels that our literature teachers always talked about in high school.
Felatun Bey was an heiress. He is someone who tries to show off in Beyoğlu circles with his fluent French and his father's money, but generally fails to do so and ends up being disgraced. He is a bit like the character Bihruz Bey in Araba Sevdası; less emotional version. I mean, the Kürşat Ayvatoğlu of the period. Râkım Efendi, on the other hand, is a brave Ottoman young man who, although he was orphaned at a young age, has fully developed himself and earns his living from stones. Although the plot of the novel seems to revolve around these two, the focus is actually on Râkım Efendi.
Since it is one of the first examples of Turkish literature, of course it has many shortcomings. The most striking of these is that Ahmet Mithat Efendi clearly takes sides in the novel and makes this clear to the reader, and he does so willingly. He even openly criticizes Felatun Bey. I attribute the reason for this partly to this: Ahmet Mithat Efendi is also a common man. He was an apprentice in his childhood, tried to hold on to the literary world in his youth, and succeeded. Perhaps he created the character of Râkım Efendi by being inspired by himself.
Overall, Felatun Bey and Râkım Efendi was a book that made me laugh at times and had fun in ways I never expected. If you can put aside its mistakes, considering the period in which it was written, the book becomes quite enjoyable.
