“We are all borderline narcissists”

Idil Hazan, in “War of Sun Loungers”, the last book of her trilogy, depicts the everyday life through Dila’s perspective, once again, leaving us in tears of laughter. While making us laugh, she is also analyzing the current social tendencies. 

Alive and kicking, Dila, who was unable to convince her boyfriend to marry her in the first and second book of the trilogy, “Personal Stress” and “Feminine Stress”, is once again at the center of the third book’s storyline. Having realized she doesn’t need a man and that she is perfectly capable of doing great things in life all by herself, in her latest adventure Dila and her girlfriends go on a vacation. Some consider Dila as the Turkish version of Bridget Jones. In this latest book, Dila with all her misunderstandings, dilemmas and deep thoughts will make the readers laugh throughout the whole story. The writer also hintingly criticizes the latest trends such as social media, consumption, entertainment culture, fashion and aesthetics in her book.    

In this adventure, why did Dila go to Cesme instead of Bodrum or other holiday resorts?

Unfortunately, Cesme has become one of the hotspots for summer vacations. As you know, we tend to follow trends. Therefore, Dila naturally goes to Cesme for holiday. As every other trend, the joy and fun of Cesme is diminishing. 

How different is Cesme/Alacati in your book compared to Cesme during your childhood? 

When I was younger, Cesme was a holiday resort where people went to rest, went swimming at any beach without having to face the bodyguards standing like a plant at the entrance. It was a place where people could ride their bikes without the fear of being hit by a vehicle and Alacati was a resort where people went only to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. 

But, now, it is competing with Istanbul. Everything is overpriced, people are literally thrusting themselves into crowded beaches with their the most fashionable accessories. The resort place has lost its identity to branding and popularization.

The minute you are ready to jump in the sea, there is an arm reaching for you expecting you to pay a fee. 

However, people should have pure and untainted old memories. Memories we find refuge in and rest. But, once they take those memories from us and place a beach club to its right, a boutique hotel to its left and a Macro Center in between, there is only one thing left to say, “You are with us Cesme, but you are not with me, anymore!”

In your book, you criticize the social aspect of social media use among young generations. Do you really think it’s that bad? 

Actually, not only the younger ones are in a hypnosis-like state due to social media, we are, too. We cannot sleep or wake up unless we see who did what or show what we did. We are all borderline narcissists. 

We want everyone to make room for our ego. The idea “Always me” is at the forefront. We are reduced to rags just to take the most original selfie. 

In Dila’s story, we might say that “classic, conventional love” won and not the “social media love”. Don’t you have any hopes for “Social media love”?

There may be a few exceptions, but Romeos or Juliets no longer exist. The agony of a breakup ends after only a click. For example, now a couple announces their break-up by unfollowing each other on Instagram or Facebook. 

There are so many online dating sites. Ayla signs in and right after her Alya signs in to meet new men. They are ready to sail to new adventures as if they are professional sailors. 

Under the influence of social media, we are all in a hypnosis-like state. As I’ve said before, we cannot sleep or wake up unless we see who did what or show what we did. We are all borderline narcissists. 

Again, as I’ve said before, people should have untainted old memories. Memories we find refuge in and rest. But, they took these memories and placed a beach club to its right and a boutique hotel to its left. 

Will we be seeing Dila’s adventures on TV? Is there an actress you visualize as Dila? 

I hope so… I don’t have a specific name in my mind, but I would like her to look young, smart, calm and be funny. I guess, I want too much. 

Let’s talk about you, now. How is life with children? 

Let me say this. I realized that writing books was not enough to become an insomniac, so by having twins I fixed that problem! Who likes sleeping, anyway, right?

I will definitely write a book about this experience! But, I still haven’t made up my mind about the genre. It all started with humor and continued with drama. The end though, might be a thriller…

You are a very productive writer. What type of a character is awaiting us, in the near future? 

Actually, I do have a character in mind, but it’s not the mother I’ve mentioned before, not yet. It will definitely be a character where we’ll see ourselves in. She will make us laugh a lot and yet think at the same time. 

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