You think you’re going to hear the story of a marriage that’s ending, don’t you? Yes, it’s a bit like that. But it’s not just that. We have an author who has managed to turn her personal story into a completely different, much bigger book. She realizes the impasse in her marriage due to a water leak in her new apartment, ends it, and then focuses on the story of the apartment, the building she lives in, based on that water leak, and eventually embarks on a literary journey into the past of two cities, the underground waters, a whole city that has hosted some of the most important turning points in history, or we could even call it two cities, since it contains two identities. I’m talking about Kirsty Bell. She’s someone most people haven’t heard of until now. That is, especially if you’re not interested in international art criticism or art books. To tell you the truth, I hadn’t heard of her. I had no idea about Bell until I picked up Undercurrents, which was one of the books I read during the summer that affected me the most. I really enjoyed meeting her. I was amazed by Undercurrents. I love how history is told through stories, and how genres intertwine. One of those special books that reminds us that the seemingly sharp boundary between fiction and non-fiction is not actually rigid, but contains a transitional flexibility is Undercurrents. Between us, it was one of the books that made me jealous. Those who listened to Episode 100 Special already know. Anyway, it’s not about my jealousy. The subject is Berlin, sir. Yes, that city with a double identity that Kirsty Bell meticulously peeled off to get to the underground waters. So what do we do, we all set off on a journey to Berlin together. Our guest is also one of the city’s residents. Someone from the literary world who has been living in Berlin for a while is on the other end of the line. Barbaros Altuğ has been a literary agent for years, and he also writes. He also looks carefully at Berlin, which he describes as an island that needs to be protected. He loved Undercurrents as much as I did, and even read both the Turkish and English versions. Yes, as you may have guessed, we are connecting to Berlin. This time, unfortunately, I am not face to face with my guest at the storytel studios. But let it be, I hope that our interest in Berlin and our love for Undercurrents will bring the distances between us closer. Kirsty Bell, as I said at the beginning, is an art writer and critic. She is successful and famous in her field. She has published articles in places like Tate Etc and Art in America, contributed to the catalogs of many important museums, and was awarded an incentive by the Andy Warhol Foundation with her book The Artist's House, which consists of interviews with various contemporary artists about the places they live. We can say that Undercurrents is her first book that appeals to the general reader. While telling her book, which combines her own life with the history and story of Berlin, in an interview, Bell says that she has centered her house. An apartment stands right in the middle of her narrative as a witness. We can say that she used the eyes of that apartment to look at that city, which has been written about so much, from a different perspective. She asked the person she chose as her residence, what did you witness? The scope of his research slowly opened up and expanded. Then the pieces started to come together. In other words, Bell first paid attention to the details. Of course, he delved into the archives, sent e-mails that remained unanswered for a long time, looked at all the small details the city offered him in order to reach the secrets of history. Literature also became a great guide for him. He listened to the city in order to understand the traumas that the people living in it had experienced for generations. While the city was there with its canal, river, stations, signs, zoo, streets and map, the poison mixed in the underground water, its secrets and its charm slowly came to light. A city took on flesh and blood, its language loosened and told Bell about itself. But he was always aware that no matter how much he put the small pieces together, this picture would never be complete. #denizyücebaşarır #podcast #benokurum #dipakıntıları #kirstybell #book #berlin