I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 7, 2024] “The Renovation”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Kenan Orhan.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.  And this one opens:

It’s December 7. Kenan Orhan, author of I Am My Country, can’t get anyone from the City on the phone.

This story started out with a really funny image

instead of a remodeled bathroom attached to my bedroom, they had installed Silivri Prison.

But rather than being an absurdist story, it turns out to be a (long) story about life in Turkey, old age and how to deal with both.

I found this story to be a tough read.  It just didn’t grab me, probably because I couldn’t relate to it at all.   However, as the story reached its end, it pulled me back in.  The concept that prison was better than hospice, for instance or that for certain people, prison is the safest place to be, was quite interesting.

But there was very little absurdist humor after that opening.