"The Time Regulation Institute" by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar *****

• Book Club selection for November 2014
• Turkish author
• Originally published in translation in 2014
• Originally published in 1962
• Author lived from 1901-1962, going through the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the secularized, Western style society envisioned by Ataturk.
• Review:  An absolutely brilliant satire of capitalism and bureaucracy set during the transition period in Istanbul under the rule of Ataturk. The forced adoption of Western priorities did not sit too well with traditionalists of Istanbul and this novel is one of the results! I laughed out loud multiple times reading this.  The writing is somewhere in the vicinity of Salman Rushdie and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  Just imagine all the time lost by adding up the minutes misplaced by clocks set to the wrong time?  I know...mind boggling......right?  Well some bureaucrat at the Time Regulation Institute figured it out.  Way too funny!