Scissors : A novel of youth
Overview
Between the Ottoman East and English institutions, John Narcissus Dean-known as "Scissors"-must negotiate identities shaped by more than one culture. His childhood in Amasia, among family and Turkish and Armenian acquaintances, establishes a world of complex belonging that continues to inform this historical coming-of-age novel. Across its six-book structure, questions of education, friendship, love and vocation gather around a young man seeking his place amid profound social and political change. School life, travel and early employment broaden the narrative into literary and journalistic circles, where ambition meets the demands of adult responsibility. Predominantly told in the third person, the novel follows Scissors through artistic and intellectual development without separating private experience from public events. Journalism becomes more than a profession as wartime reportage brings him into contact with the human consequences of the First World War, testing the relationship between observation, action and moral responsibility. Threaded through this expansive journey are dreams, coincidences and intimations of fate, accompanied by the recurring saz of Timur. These elements lend supernatural suggestion to a narrative grounded in education, romance, work and war, while its movement between Eastern and Western worlds keeps cultural belonging in continual question. Scissors' passage into adulthood becomes inseparable from the histories he witnesses and the responsibilities he assumes. This book was out of print for decades and is now republished by Alpha Editions. It has been restored for today's and future generations. This edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9789378413476
- ISBN-10: 9378413471
- Publisher: Alpha Edition
- Publish Date: October 2026
- Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.59 inches
- Shipping Weight: 0.78 pounds
- Page Count: 262
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