Books
by Orhan Pamuk
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Istanbul - Memories of a City |
The Turkish author, born in 1952 and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006, paints an elegiac picture in which he compares Istanbul today with how he remembers it from his childhood/youth and from stories of when it was the capital of the extensive Ottoman Empire. Although mournful and, as I found, better read interspersed with lighter stuff, Pamuk's memorable and moving account is beautifully written and repays careful reading.
(Jeremy Swann - bwl 42 October 2007) |
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My Name is Red |
In Istambul in the 1600s traditional miniaturists are threatened with the arrival of new painting techniques from infidel Venice. High feelings lead to murder. But which of the surviving masters did the deed? And who will marry the beautiful Shekure? Each chapter is 'written' by the various characters - 'I will be called a murderer', 'I am your beloved Uncle' - and together they gradually build a potent, fascinating and believable atmosphere of intrigue.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 35 July 2006) |
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Snow |
This is the story of Ka, a Turkish Poet and the three days he spent in a city cut off from the outside world by continuously falling snow. Turkey is depicted as a scary place, not because of bird flu, but because of its politics and the power of the military. It's all so different to our western culture but this deep and complex book leaves you with an understanding of the Turkish modus operandi.
(Laurence Martin Euler - bwl 33 February 2006) |
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