Charge of Understanding

Necdet Sen ~ July 2002

7. book: "As If"

Inside the cover:

Many people wonder if I have experienced the situations in my books within my real life, and if the characters really exist. "As If"is one of the books that creates such questions in peoples minds. Let me explain it one by one: I inspired by many people while creating the character Valentina (you will see the most important one in the next book).

I've also inspired by many people while creating that fat guy in the story, or the others. I haven't pictured them as they are, I have analysed them, then combined those pieces again, so a new (and imaginary) structure was built. Every character is a summary of eight or ten people. I am sure that you also know such people. First I thought "Victims of Expression" could be the name of the story.

I believe that we make the same mistake so often, that we trust people, who only seem as if they honor things that are worthy for us, seem as if they think the same things as we do, seem as if they share ous feelings and open their hearts. We do make the same mistake over and over: We find them very similar to us. That's why in the end I decided that "As If" would be a better name. I've known many free loaders throughout my life.

Because I do not build friendship on benefits, during a period of my life(like they said in the song), everyone I've known has taken something from me; some took my shirts, some took my cassettes, some took my books that have been signed for me. And as they perished, they left many important lessons behind. Now I believe that the time and effort I needed, were actually the charge of understanding and learning. That's why it is not such a big deal anymore that they took things from me. I thank them for being a cause for me to draw these comic strips.

Back cover :

SOMETIMES I BECOME MAD AT MYSELF, WON'T I EVER GET ANY LESSONS FROM WHAT I EXPERIENCE? ALWAYS THE SAME! ALLLWAYS THE SAME! I EASILY BE FOOLED BY SOME EYE-CATCHING TALK AND BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE SMART! I DISPLAY EVERY DETAIL OF MY LIFE TO THEM! THEN I UNDERSTAND THAT I'VE BEEN USED!

I CAN'T HELP MYSELF BUT BELIEVE THOSE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME, PRETENDING TO BE AN INTELLECTUAL AND THEN USE ME FOR THEIR BENEFITS! I AM WEAK TO POETIC TALKS, KNOWLEDGE CRUMBS, JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! I'VE ALWAYS BEEN HERDED BY FAKE PROPHETS! WHO IS A FRIEND, WHAT IS AN EXPLOITER, NOW I SEE THE RED LIGHT, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS! BECAUSE EXPRESSION OVERHAULED THE MEANING, CONCEPTION DROWNED IN SLOGAN, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

HIZLI Gazeteci, 6th book: "As If", Parantez Books

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Translated by Deniz Saðlam