About the fourth kin of the Kazakh

The international Kazakh PEN club once again pleased the reading public with another novelty. Thanks to the diligence and support of the Kazakh PEN club leader Bigeldy Gabdullin, a book of memoirs and thoughts of the famous Kazakh writer Gabbas Kabyshuly "Конил Когинде" ("When the Soul Whispers") has been published in the Almaty publishing house "Idan".

Writer-satirist Gabbas Kabyshuly wrote about memories of his 92 colleagues with a noble goal of bringing back the almost lost in time memory to the modern reader.

In the Preface the author writes: "the Kazakhs say that the dzhigit (horseman) has three types of relatives: relatives from the father, relatives from the mother and relatives of his wife. But I, apologizing to the forefathers who came up with this statement, would like to add my own: the fourth type of dzhigit’s relatives is his team, collective."

It was about his fellow writers with whom he had to work, talk, meet, argue, wrote Gabbas Kabyshuly in this book. Among his heroes are such prominent masters of the pen as Gabiden Mustafin, Ilyas Yesenberlin, Anuar Alimzhanov, Mukaghali Makatayev and others.

While carefully reading these memories, one would be surprised at how modern, relevant and up-to-date they are. Here, for example, the story "Durys!" ("That's right!") – memories of Sabit Mukanov, the classic of the Kazakh literature. When one reads these lines, it is hard to believe that nearly fifty years have passed since then.

Gabbas Kabyshuly managed to truthfully recreate in all its diversity the time in which he happened to live and work. That is why the book is read with great interest. Author: Alibek Asanov