page_title: Leon Surmelian
section_title: Works
hierarchical_section_title: Leon Surmelian / Works
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Leon Surmelian Soruyorum size, hanımlar ve beyler 2013. (I ask you, ladies and gentlemen) Übersetzung ins Türkische.
context_page_description: Leon Zaven Surmelian was an Armenian-American author. Surmelian moved to America in 1922, and authored three major works throughout his lifetime. A survivor of the Armenian Genocide, Surmelian published his first English book, I Ask You, Ladies and Gentlemen in 1945. He is also well known for translating the Armenian epic Daredevils of Sassoun into English.
context_section_description: Joyous Light, Surmelian's first and only work in Armenian published in 1924, was well received globally. At just 19, Surmelian won praise from the Armenian community worldwide.
  Surmelian's autobiography on the Armenian Genocide and first work in English, I Ask You, Ladies and Gentlemen, was also praised internationally and was eventually translated into multiple languages after its initial publication in 1945. The book was republished by the Armenian Institute in London in 2018 with added photographs, a map and glossary.   
  Apples of Immortality, published by the University of California Press in 1968, presented 40 Armenian folktales that, according to Surmelian, "only needed a little trimming and stitching" to make the book comprehensible to the non-Armenian. The 319-page book received mixed reviews and was praised for its artistic insight into the ways and beliefs of the Armenian people. Surmelian's rendition of the folktales included narratives where Armenian men had two brides, which critics found to be inaccurate given that Armenian women are traditionally monogamous. The folktales, illustrated by Stewart Irwin, were compared to similar English stories, one critic noting that the book had an Armenian equivalent for every tale including an Armenian Cinderella variant.
  Daredevils of Sassoun, Surmelian's 280-page recreation of the Armenian epic based on village oral traditions, was published in 1964. The novel, illustrated by Paul Sagsoorian and described as Homeric, begins with a 25-page introduction and follows with four sagas titled Sanasar and Balthasar, Great Meherr, Splendid David, and Meherr Junior that largely explore the conflicts of Christian warriors with Islam. The book received critical acclaim for its ability to retain the poetic qualities, metaphors, images, and rhetoric of the reciters without depending on lyrical song to retain the reader's interest. Critics comment that the book is characterized by uneven style, repetitions, great narrative leaps, and detailed conversations existing side by side with summary descriptions of the actions.
  Surmelian's last book, published in 1969, Techniques of Fiction Writing: Measure and Madness, tackles modern fiction writing using examples from Flaubert, Joyce, Dostoevsky, and Hemingway. The book is widely available online, and still used in classrooms today.
caption: A Turkish copy of I Ask You, Ladies and Gentlemen
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