Travel to Asia

Istanbul: Memories and the City

Format: Paperback
Author: Orhan Pamuk
ReleaseDate: 11 July, 2006
Publisher: Vintage
Rating:

2006 Nobel Prize Winner
I think he is at his best at this novel. Orhan Pamuk brilliantly descibes the city he was born with melancholic touches. He is definitely one of the great masters of his era. I couldn't help wiping tears. .

Disappointing
Having read neither "Snow" nor "My Name is Red," I have no basis for assessing the relative merits of his having been awarded the prize, but I can say that I found this book to be thoroughly mediocre. I purchased this book in anticipation of a trip to Istanbul, well aware that Pamuk had recently been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Pamuk acknowledges that his (and other Turkish authors') emphasis on melancholy is based upon their reading of French literature, which raises the question of whether it is in any way an authentic Turkish experience. To support his case, he includes numerous black and white photos, many taken in poor areas in adverse weather conditions.

It was quite a surprise to arrive in Istanbul and find a vibrant, colorful city that is the antithesis of the picture that Pamuk paints. If you look at the top of the page, you'll see some color pictures of the yalis that he descibes at length in his book. His descriptions are accurate, yet are slanted to present a downbeat view of the city.

The Nobel Prize in Literature is often critized for being overly politicized. This would appear to be yet another example.

To be fair, I should mention that an Istanbul bookseller told me that Pamuk is notoriously difficult to understand in Turkish, and equally difficult to translate. In this case, the translator was Maureen Freely, daughter of John Freely, himself a fine writer on Istanbul. "John Freely's Istanbul" is a superb appreciation of the art and history of the city. Highly recommended.

Memorable Melancholy
OP writes about the collective melancholy of Istanbul, of its people and topography. 2006 Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk's "Istanbul" is a soulful memoir of a writer and his home city. To live there is to tap into it, to feel its history, how it has persisted in the pinch of time, geography, and cultures. And out of this collective melancholy comes the individual; in this case OP. He writes of his family history, and of his growth, as a child, a student, a son, a brother, a painter, a boyfriend, a melancholy young adult . . . into a writer. He could only be a writer, in the end. He spent hours walking around the city, observing its melancholy, and wanted to write it down, to catalogue it, which he has done in his novels. It's very compelling reading, and touching at times - his first love in particular, and the conflict w/ his mother over what he was going to "be". Also, throughout the book there are photos and pictures. Normally I would find this distracting, but here they work. Many of the photos are amazing, and illustrate Istanbul's pathos.

I enjoyed this more than any of OP's fiction. If you enjoyed his fiction, this is a must read.

Related products:
click image or link for details on these Asia travel books.