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A literary discovery: an uproarious tragicomedy of modernization, in its first-ever English translation Perhaps the greatest Turkish novel of the twentieth century, being discovered around the world only now, more than fifty years after its first publication, The Time Regulation Institute is an antic, freewheeling send-up of the modern bureaucratic state. At its center is Hayri Irdal, an infectiously charming antihero who becomes entangled with an eccentric cast of characters—a television mystic, a pharmacist who dabbles in alchemy, a dignitary from the lost Ottoman Empire, a “clock whisperer”—at the Time Regulation Institute, a vast organization that employs a hilariously intricate system of fines for the purpose of changing all the clocks in Turkey to Western time. Recounted in sessions with his psychoanalyst, the story of Hayri Irdal’s absurdist misadventures plays out as a brilliant allegory of the collision of tradition and modernity, of East and West, infused with a poignant blend of hope for the promise of the future and nostalgia for a simpler time. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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About the Authors PENGUIN CLASSICS THE TIME REGULATION INSTITUTE AHMET HAMDI TANPINAR (1901–62) is considered one of the most significant Turkish novelists of the twentieth century. Also a poet, short-story writer, essayist, literary historian, and professor, he created a unique cultural universe in his work, combining a European literary voice with the Ottoman sensibilities of the Near East. MAUREEN FREELY was born in the United States, grew up in Istanbul, studied at Radcliffe, and now lives in England, where she teaches at the University of Warwick. The author of seven novels, she is the principal translator of the Nobel Prize–winning Turkish novelist, Orhan Pamuk. ALEXANDER DAWE is an American translator of French and Turkish. He lives in Istanbul. PANKAJ MISHRA is an award-winning novelist and essayist whose writing appears frequently in The New York Review of Books, The Guardian, and the London Review of Books. AHMET HAMDI TANPINAR The Time Regulation Institute Translated by MAUREEN FREELY and ALEXANDER DAWE Introduction by PANKAJ MISHRA PENGUIN BOOKS PENGUIN BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) LLC 375 Hudson Street New York, New York 10014 USA | Canada | UK | Ireland | Australia | New Zealand | India | South Africa | China penguin.com A Penguin Random House Company This translation first published in Penguin Books 2013 Copyright © 2013 by Maureen Freely and Alexander Dawe Introduction copyright © 2013 by Pankaj Mishra Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader. Published in Turkish as Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitusu by Dergah Yayinlari Published with the support of the Turkish Ministry of Culture / Translation and Publication Grant Program of Turkey LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Tanpinar, Ahmet Hamdi. [Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü. English] The Time Regulation Institute / Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar