The Bridge (De Brug) by Geert Mak

De Brug (The Bridge) is an essay about the Galata Bridge in Istanbul, which connects the European and the Asian parts of Turkey. I read it in Dutch, but it has recently been translated into English as well, so do read on, even if you don’t speak Dutch. Geert Mak is a Dutch writer whose book In Europe, a combination of a travelogue through Europe and a history of twentieth century Europe, has also been translated into English. I haven’t read In Europe yet, in part because the book became a real hype when it was first published in Holland in 2004. I must have mentioned here before that I tend to avoid books that are bestsellers, or at least I come to them late, once I realize that I am interested in the book, not because everybody else read it, but because it appeals to me. Which is why I have never read Mak’s In Europe. Though I have been warming up to the idea that maybe In Europe is worth reading and could well be a very interesting book.

More than just a history of the bridge and its place in Istanbul, The Bridge is also the story of some of the people inhabiting the Galata Bridge. Most of all the story is that of the microcosmos that is the bridge. Mak spent time with the people, earning their trust. We meet a Spanish couple living in Istanbul who come to the bridge every day to fish. We meet Oender one of the boys selling cigarettes on the bridge, the girl selling lottery tickets, Mehmet the bookseller, and many others who shared their life stories. They are all poor, many of them having migrated to Istanbul from the Turkish countryside hoping for a better life, hoping to earn enough to support their families. They are all part of what you might call the underbelly, or the almost-underbelly, of the city, people who most of us would probably ignore if we would cross the bridge. Through Mak’s writing, these people become individuals with a past, a present, hopes for the future.

The Bridge has also been translated into Turkish (link in Dutch; I couldn’t find an English reference to this), which caused a bit of an uproar, because some politically sensitive parts (Armenian Genocide or Kurds anyone?) were initially toned down in the translation.

At less than ninety pages (the Dutch edition) The Bridge is a quick read, that leaves you with a picture of life in a big city on the crossroads between Europe and Asia.