The Alternate

The year is 1944, the last summer of World War II. Soldier Walter Proska, returning from leave, comes across a small unit on the road. In this unit forgotten by the army, under the scorching sun and the endless attacks of the partisans, Proska's friends become soldiers who long for death and take refuge in madness. As the unbreakable cycle of war based on the chain of command slowly loses its meaning for Proska, completely new questions impose themselves: Should a man silence his conscience for the sake of duty? Who really is the enemy? What does freedom of choice mean, or is it possible to choose a side without losing innocence?

Siegfried Lenz wrote The Switcher in 1951. Following World War II, the novel, which was not published because it was thought that it would not resonate with the conditions of that day in Germany, waited until the death of its author to see the light of day and was first published in 2016, 65 years after it was written. At the center of Lenz’s work is the individual’s reckoning with totalitarian structures.

Should we be more concerned with what is moral or what benefits us? What is moral does not work everywhere. What works is not always moral. Proof: state theory. Evil, wrong and cruelty are used mercilessly. And some states that do this have a surprising answer they have ready, we can also call it talkativeness in a way. If all people were angels, the state would not need to use such tools! An irony specific to the devil. The dialectics of despots.

(From the Promotion Bulletin)

Dough Type: 2. Hamur

Number of Pages : 272

Dimensions : 12.5 x 19.5

First Printing Year : 2018

Number of Printing : 1st Edition

Language : Turkish