Synopsis
Stavros Topouzoglou prepares to return to his homeland in 1919, as Greece prepares to reclaim Anatolia from the Turks
Reviews
The pulverization of Anatolian Greeks by Turks just after WW I provides the historical context for Kazan's sprawling but dense new novel, a sequel to America, America and The Anatolian. Brimming with scenes of concentrated dramatic power but somewhat awkwardly plotted, Kazan's vibrant tapestry teems with family passions, political intrigue, war, carnage, betrayal, lust and love. Ebullient, dapper New York City rug merchant Stavros Topouzoglou, protagonist of the earlier novels, here returns to his homeland of Greek Anatolia, which Greece hopes to reclaim from the Turks with the backing of Britain and the U.S., both thirsty for Near East oil. Stavros is an ambiguous figure. Performing acts of selfless heroism while the fickle Allies withdraw military support from the Greeks, he nonetheless leaves behind his fiancee, Thomna, incarcerated somewhere in the Turkish prison system. Irony caps the narrative as Stavros, having reestablished himself in Athens, and later in New York, almost takes a snobbish new wife but forsakes her, only to lose pregnant Thomna to his brother. Kazan illuminates a little-known part of history with calm objectivity. But he seems to have relied on cultural stereotypes of mythic heroism, robbing this novel of the raw power and immediacy that distinguished America, America .
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Think of it as ``War and Commerce.'' In this sprawling third installment in film director Kazan's story of Stavros Topouzoglou, following America America (1962) and The Anatolian (1982), rug merchant Stavros finds business opportunities in the 1919 Greek invasion of Anatolia and war with Turkey. Stavros, now middle-aged, returns to his Anatolian roots with his brother Michaelis as the Greek army is driving the Turks out of Smyrna, the first stage of a Greater Greece campaign. This ``creature of the bazaar'' knows now is the time to buy Turkish rugs cheap for export to New York. Traveling into the interior, buying nonstop, Stavros is also looking for a wife for his new home in Smyrna, and quirky, fearless Thomna seems to fit the bill. She wants a ticket to America, Stavros wants a good breeder; it will be a pragmatic union. But now Stavros behaves quite unpragmatically; ignoring news of Greek military reversals and his New York boss's order to shut down their operation, he continues dangerous purchasing missions behind enemy lines and a stormy on/off relationship with Thomna. As the patriot supersedes the businessman, so the war replaces Stavros's ambitions as the engine driving the novel. Increasingly Stavros becomes Kazan's cat's-paw, eavesdropping on King Constantine, running errands for the archbishop, as the Greek army collapses and the Turks, burning Smyrna, drive the Anatolians into the sea. The lonely figure at the end seems less a casualty of his own conflicts than a servant who has performed one too many narrative chores. Kazan's treatment of Greeks and Turks is evenhanded. He uses a broad canvas, including generals and hamals (Turkey's untouchables), while keeping the bourgeoisie in the foreground. Yet the faltering storyline and Stavros's loss of authority result in a work that, despite powerful set pieces, generates more heat than light. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Kazan completes the trilogy he started with America, America (LJ 11/1/62), bringing protagonist Stavros Topouzoglou back to his Anatolian homeland in 1919. Stavros believes the promises of the British and Americans, who would like to see this oil-rich area of Turkey become part of greater Greece in order to assure oil rights to the West. Acting from altruistic motives, Stavros supports the newly liberated country with American money, trying to bring the prosperity of his adopted homeland to the land of his birth. Unfortunately, Kazan writes novels as if they were film treatments. There is little or no description or character development, and the novel stumbles from episode to episode with virtually no transition. In addition, the main characters are uniformly unlikable. The Greeks hate the Turks. The Turks hate the Greeks. And everyone is eager to humiliate his or her enemies. Purchase wherever the author's previous books have been popular.
Andrea Caron Kempf, Johnson Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Overland Park, Kan.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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