""Smyrna in Flames is a shattering and remarkable work, full of merciless cruelty and atrocity, with horror and despair on almost every page, a prose poem of an historical hellscape." -
Simon Schama, author of
Rembrandt's Eyes,
Landscape and Memory,
Rough Crossings, television documentaries
The History of Britain,
The Story of the Jews,
Civilisations.
"A deeply committed act of witnessing by a writer of extraordinary vision. This unique chronicle harnesses the power of ancient myth with haunting emotions of biblical imagery. A century ago, Smyrna was the very site of hell on earth, and Homero Aridjis tells the story of his father's journey through a nightmarish labyrinth of carnage and despair. The reader emerges with feelings of outrage and deep gratitude for this unforgettable account."-
Atom Egoyan, Armenian-Canadian film director and screenwriter of such breakthrough films as
The Sweet Hereafter (1997),
Ararat(2002),
Remember (2015) and
Guest of Honor (2019)
"
Smyrna in Flames is a timely testament and addition to the canon of narratives on the Smyrna Catastrophe of 1922 committed by the Ottoman Empire against the Greek and Armenian population inside the ancient and fabled city of Smyrna. It is also a survival odyssey in Homero Aridjis' family history during the Armenian and Greek Genocides and a testament to the human potential for resilience that is captured on the page with atmosphere and urgency."-
Eric Nazarian, Armenian-American film director and screenwriter of such groundbreaking films as
The Blue Hour (2007),
Die Like a Man (2021)
Do Not Forget Me, Istanbul (2011), and
Aurora (2018)"Passionate, brave, and deeply felt, Homero Aridjis's novel is a powerful read. Told through the eyes of his father, this is the compelling narrative of a young person confronting History with a capital 'H' -- the intimate account of a human catastrophe whose devastating repercussions are still being felt in the Aegean area today, a century later."-
Ersi Sotiropoulos, author of
Zigzag through the Bitter Orange Trees (2013 winner, Greek State Prize for Literature and the Book Critics' Award) and
What's Left of the Night (2018, winner, 2019 National Translation
"2022 will mark the centenary of the burning of Smyrna. Of those who have written about the catastrophe, Homero Aridjis has added the latest testament, faithful both to history and to the memory of his father."-
Jeffrey Eugenides, American fiction writer of such renown works as
Virgin Suicides (1993),
Middlesex (2003),
The Marriage Plot (2011) and
Fresh Complaint (2017).
"The book's power is unmistakable. It lies in its indelible images, and in the very fact that Homero Aridjis, named after the greatest poet of Ionia, returns to his own bloody history by rewriting his father's memoirs, by giving the dead a voice, by returning the story to its owners. It is a bleak, terrifying, undeniably moving accomplishment."
-Stephanos Papdopoulos, Los Angles Review of Books
-- A. E. Stallings * The Times Literary Supplement *
"A harrowing novella-cum family memoir.... A lyric exploration of human failings and cruelty. It is honest and powerful." --A.E. Stallings, The Times Literary Supplement,
