An Review of Serkan Türk's Novel Rex and Loneliness
Serkan Türk's novel Rex explores the theme of loneliness through the story of an elderly woman, a teacher, and a dog whose lives intersect through a job posting.
Penned by Serkan Türk, the novel Rex focuses on the genuine and measured bond established between an elderly woman and a teacher—who cannot get used to the town she came to from İzmir—through the woman's dog.
A Story Starting with an Ordinary Ad
The novel begins with an ordinary dog-walking advertisement that appears before a teacher who cannot get used to the town during the days of the pandemic. Instead of building his story on grand events, the author examines the place of a small coincidence in our lives.
The Silent Closeness of Two Lonely People
A measured and hesitant distance is maintained between the elderly woman living in the house where Rex is taken to be walked and the teacher. This makes the relationship feel more genuine; Rex brings these two separate solitudes closer together.
Rex's Past and Sense of Responsibility
Rex, whom the elderly woman found injured and nursed back to health, is not merely a figure in the story. The first real responsibility begins when the woman is hospitalized and entrusts Rex to the teacher.
Simplicity and Literary Quotations
The author reduces explanations and leaves the characters within their own behaviors. In certain parts of the novel, quotes from writers such as Georgi Gospodinov and Selim İleri are included.
Lives Changed by a Trust
The words of comfort that the teacher says to Rex while waiting for the elderly woman to return from the hospital turn into the teacher's own hope. The work reveals how becoming involved in someone else's life changes a person.