2026 (Can Yayınları)
Genre: Novel
Description: Kaan Balaban, one of Turkey’s most famous actors, becomes the target of a sudden public lynching campaign. This backlash, started by a mysterious social media troll, turns into a nightmare day by day, threatening not only his career but also his mental health and private life.
On one side, an actor who feeds on applause; on the other, an anonymous troll who exists by spewing hate at a keyboard. A fierce duel between two men floundering in their own petty wars while the country is in turmoil.
Doğu Yücel tells the story of the present, of here, painting a portrait of society through the ego war of two men. The unjust cogs of the TV series industry and the ruthless courts of social media intertwine with what is unfolding in the country. With dark comedy, Troll exposes the roles plastered onto us, the identities inherited from our families, and our invisible chains.
This is a novel that draws the reader in from the very first page, keeps the curiosity and suspense alive until the last, constantly throws curveballs, and is full of surprises. True to its name, Trol!
Quote from Troll:
“No, don’t fool yourself, this is neither a ‘ban’ nor ‘censorship’; this is called self-censorship. You are the one silencing yourself. Doesn’t even your silence since the backlash began contradict the free, expressive, and rebellious nature of art? You, the actor, whose duty is to imitate all kinds of emotions, cannot reflect the true feelings inside you—the anger, the disappointment, the sorrow. Because they don’t want you to. ‘Get back on stage, clown,’ they say. The movie screen, the television screen, or the theater stage—these are acceptable. But you cannot speak anywhere else, on any other topic.
Take your lines and read them. Never step out of the script. And don’t you dare try to improvise!”