The 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk (born 1952) "who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures."
68-538: Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; Turkish pronunciation: [feˈɾit oɾˈhan paˈmuk] ) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature . One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him the country's best-selling writer. Pamuk's novels include Silent House , The White Castle , The Black Book , The New Life , My Name Is Red and Snow . He
136-469: A conversation with Carol Becker in the Brooklyn Rail about creating sympathetic characters in the political novel, Pamuk said: I strongly feel that the art of the novel is based on the human capacity, though it’s a limited capacity, to be able to identify with "the other". Only human beings can do this. It requires imagination, a sort of morality, a self-imposed goal of understanding this person who
204-553: A darkness inside me. We have often witnessed peoples, societies and nations outside the Western world–and I can identify with them easily—succumbing to fears that sometimes lead them to commit stupidities, all because of their fears of humiliation and their sensitivities. I also know that in the West—a world with which I can identify with the same ease–nations and peoples taking an excessive pride in their wealth, and in their having brought us
272-582: A decrepit loneliness. In 2013, Pamuk invited Grazia Toderi , whose work he admired, to design a work for the Museum of Innocence in Istanbul . Their collaboration culminated in the exhibition Words and Stars . Words and Stars opened on 2 April 2017, at the MART (Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto), and which explores "the inclination of man to explore space and innate vocation to question
340-598: A fictionalized character in his works, is a professor of economics internationally recognised for his work in economic history of the Ottoman Empire , working at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. Pamuk also has a younger half-sister, Hümeyra Pamuk, who is a journalist. On 1 March 1982, Pamuk married historian Aylin Türegün. From 1985 to 1988, while she was a graduate student at Columbia University , Pamuk assumed
408-543: A high-profile figure in Turkey due to his support for Kurdish political rights. In 1995, he was among a group of authors tried for writing essays that criticized Turkey's treatment of the Kurds. In 1999, Pamuk published his book of essays Öteki Renkler ( Other Colors ). In 2019, the 66-year-old Nobel laureate held an exhibition of his photographs of Istanbul taken from his own balcony, "Balkon: Photos by Orhan Pamuk". It captured
476-414: A joint statement supporting Pamuk and decrying the charges against him as a violation of human rights . In 2008, in an open online poll, Pamuk was voted as the fourth most intellectual person in the world on the list of Top 100 Public Intellectuals by Prospect Magazine (United Kingdom) and Foreign Policy (United States). On 22 January 2006, Turkey's Justice Ministry refused to issue an approval of
544-454: A leading novelist in Turkey , made his literary debut with the novel Cevdet Bey ve Oğulları ( Cevdet Bey and His Sons , 1982), a novel with measured and meticulous prose, set in the backdrop of the last days of an empire and then the slow and troubled rise of a young republic, spanning three generations of a large family and their social connections. His international breakthrough came later and
612-598: A nationalist rally. Pamuk subsequently said his intent was to draw attention to freedom of speech issues. Kerinçsiz appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal, which ordered the court in Şişli to reopen the case. On 27 March 2011, Pamuk was found guilty and ordered to pay 6,000 liras in compensation to five people for, among other things, having insulted their honour. The criminal charges against Pamuk resulted from remarks he made during an interview in February 2005 with
680-575: A particular place, in a particular time. And as with all great literature, you feel at moments not that you are examining him, but that he is examining you." In his native Turkey reactions were mixed. Leading newspapers took a political stance and questioned Pamuk's Turkishness. The best reaction to Pamuk's victory was pride, wrote the editor of the pro-government Daily Sabah , but "we can't quite see Pamuk as 'one of us'... We see him as someone who 'sells us out' and ... can't even stand behind what he says." Pamuk held his Nobel Lecture on 7 December 2006 at
748-471: A publisher. He describes himself as a Cultural Muslim who identifies with Islam historically and culturally while not believing in a personal connection to God. Pamuk started writing regularly in 1974. His first novel, Karanlık ve Işık ( Darkness and Light ) was a co-winner of the 1979 Milliyet Press Novel Contest ( Mehmet Eroğlu was the other winner). This novel was published with the title Cevdet Bey ve Oğulları ( Mr. Cevdet and His Sons ) in 1982 and won
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#1732783726968816-471: A symposium on Orhan Pamuk and His Work was held at Sabancı University , Istanbul. Pamuk himself gave the closing address. In January 2008, Turkish authorities arrested 13 ultranationalists, including Kerinçsiz, for participating in a Turkish nationalist underground organisation, Ergenekon , allegedly conspiring to assassinate political figures, including several Christian missionaries and Armenian intellectual Hrant Dink . Several reports suggest that Pamuk
884-598: Is Red is dedicated. In 2002, they were divorced. In 2006, Pamuk returned to the U.S. to take a position as a visiting professor at Columbia, where he was a Fellow with Columbia's Committee on Global Thought and held an appointment in Columbia's Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures department and at its School of the Arts . In the 2007–08 academic year Pamuk returned to Columbia to jointly teach comparative literature classes with Andreas Huyssen and David Damrosch. Pamuk
952-455: Is a city where East and West, antiquity and the modern, Islam and the secular, the rich and the poor, the pashas and the peasants are all present. The question always lingers: what is the true identity of this city? Is it a modern metropolis, or a dying remnant of the once-great Constantinople ? The questions of Turkish national identity are referenced several times, in relation mainly to the perceived westernization of Turkish society. Should
1020-576: Is a novel by Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk . It was published in Turkish in 1990 and first translated by Güneli Gün and published in English in 1994. In 2006, it was translated into English again by Maureen Freely . The protagonist, an Istanbul lawyer named Galip, finds one day that his wife Rüya (the name means "dream" in Turkish) has mysteriously left him with very little explanation. He wanders around
1088-469: Is also not satisfied with who she is, or how her life turned out, but perhaps she does not consciously think about it, or admit it to herself. The questions of who we are and whether its possible to change who we are return on at least two other levels: Istanbul 's identity as a city, and the identity of the Turkish people. As Galip wanders the streets of Istanbul, we get to know many of the city's different neighborhoods, all with their distinct ambiance. This
1156-508: Is clearly visible from some of his columns - see for example the one titled 'I Must Be Myself'). Rüya remains quite enigmatic in the novel, the only picture we get of her is through the subjective lens of Galip. She sleeps during the day, and reads detective novels in the evenings and at night, hardly ever leaving the house. It seems that she prefers to escape from reality to the world of her detective novels, although Galip doesn't seem to think much of these. This strange lifestyle can imply that she
1224-506: Is different from us, which is a rarity. In May 2007, Pamuk was among the jury members at the Cannes Film Festival headed by British director Stephen Frears . He completed his next novel, Masumiyet Müzesi ( The Museum of Innocence ) in the summer of 2008 - the first novel he published after receiving the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. Pamuk created an actual Museum of Innocence , consisting of everyday objects tied to
1292-400: Is good the case has apparently been dropped, but the justice ministry never took a clear position or gave any sign of trying to defend Pamuk". Meanwhile, the lawyer who had led the effort to try Pamuk, Kemal Kerinçsiz, said he would appeal the decision, saying, "Orhan Pamuk must be punished for insulting Turkey and Turkishness, it is a grave crime and it should not be left unpunished." In 2006,
1360-646: Is the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University , where he teaches writing and comparative literature . He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2018. Born in Istanbul , Pamuk is the first Turkish Nobel laureate. He has also received many other literary awards. My Name Is Red won the 2002 Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger , the 2002 Premio Grinzane Cavour , and
1428-616: The Orhan Kemal Novel Prize in 1983. It tells the story of three generations of a wealthy Istanbul family living in Nişantaşı , the district of Istanbul where Pamuk grew up. Pamuk won a number of critical prizes for his early work, including the 1984 Madarali Novel Prize for his second novel Sessiz Ev ( Silent House ) and the 1991 Prix de la Découverte Européenne for its French translation. His historical novel Beyaz Kale ( The White Castle ), published in Turkish in 1985, won
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#17327837269681496-530: The Swedish Academy announced that he had been awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize, it confounded pundits and oddsmakers who had concluded that Syrian poet Ali Ahmad Said , better known as Adunis, was most likely to receive that year's award. There were concerns within Turkey that the decision to award the Nobel Prize to Pamuk was politically motivated. In its citation, the academy said: "In the quest for
1564-650: The United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , and the European Convention on Human Rights , both of which see freedom of expression as central, should have a Penal Code that includes a clause that is so clearly contrary to these very same principles." On 13 December, eight world-renowned authors— José Saramago , Gabriel García Márquez , Günter Grass , Umberto Eco , Carlos Fuentes , Juan Goytisolo , John Updike and Mario Vargas Llosa —issued
1632-551: The "subtle and ever-changing view of Istanbul" photographed by Pamuk from his balcony using a telephoto lens. Curated by Gerhard Steidl , the German publisher of his photo book Balkon , the exhibition ran for three months at the Yapı Kredi Culture and Arts building on Istanbul's Istiklal Street. It featured more than 600 colour photos selected from over 8,500 Pamuk took over a five-month period in late 2012 and early 2013, in what
1700-409: The 1990 Independent Award for Foreign Fiction and extended his reputation abroad. On 19 May 1991, The New York Times Book Review wrote, "A new star has risen in the east—Orhan Pamuk." He started experimenting with postmodern techniques in his novels, a change from his early works' strict naturalism. Popular success took a bit longer, but his 1990 novel Kara Kitap ( The Black Book ) became one of
1768-635: The 2003 International Dublin Literary Award . The European Writers' Parliament came about as a result of a joint proposal by Pamuk and José Saramago . Pamuk's willingness to write books about contentious historical and political events put him at risk of censure in his homeland. In 2005, a lawyer sued him over a statement acknowledging the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire . Pamuk said his intention had been to highlight issues of freedom of speech in Turkey. The court initially declined to hear
1836-406: The 2009 Boston Book Festival as to whether he wanted to respond to these accusations, Pamuk responded, "No I do not. Next question?". However, many attributed such accusations to their ignorance about postmodern literature , and the literary technique of intertextuality which Pamuk almost always uses in his novels in full disclosure. Pamuk's elder brother Şevket Pamuk , who sometimes appears as
1904-580: The City , 2005). Pamuk's Other Colours – a collection of non-fiction and a story — was published in the UK in September 2007. Asked how personal his book Istanbul: Memories and the City was, Pamuk replied: I thought I would write Memories and the City in six months, but it took me one year to complete. And I was working twelve hours a day, just reading and working. My life, because of so many things,
1972-512: The Pamuk case would be a " litmus test " of Turkey's commitment to the EU's membership criteria. On 1 December, Amnesty International released a statement calling for Article 301 to be repealed and for Pamuk and six other people awaiting trial under the act to be freed. PEN American Center also denounced the charges against Pamuk, stating: "PEN finds it extraordinary that a state that has ratified both
2040-587: The Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and Modernism, have, from time to time, succumbed to a self-satisfaction that is almost as stupid. Pamuk's books broke a record and sold over 200,000 copies after the announcement of his success, leading to him becoming Turkey's best-selling recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Black Book (Pamuk novel) The Black Book ( Kara Kitap in Turkish )
2108-464: The Swedish Academy , Stockholm . The lecture was entitled " Babamın Bavulu " ("My Father's Suitcase") and was given in Turkish. In the lecture he allegorically spoke of relations between Eastern and Western civilizations using the theme of his relationship with his father. What literature needs most to tell and investigate today are humanity's basic fears: the fear of being left outside, and
Orhan Pamuk - Misplaced Pages Continue
2176-728: The Swiss publication Das Magazin , a weekly supplement to a number of Swiss daily newspapers: the Tages-Anzeiger , the Basler Zeitung , the Berner Zeitung and the Solothurner Tagblatt . In the interview, Pamuk said, "Thirty thousand Kurds have been killed here, and a million Armenians. And almost nobody dares to mention that. So I do." Turkish historians were divided over the remarks. Pamuk said he
2244-418: The Turkish justice system. EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn welcomed the dropping of charges, saying, "This is obviously good news for Mr. Pamuk, but it's also good news for freedom of expression in Turkey". But some EU representatives expressed disappointment that the justice ministry had rejected the prosecution on a technicality rather than on principle. An Ankara-based EU diplomat reportedly said, "It
2312-406: The Turkish people embrace Western (European) culture, or should they remain true to their heritage? Is their culture and identity decaying or only transforming? The novel in many cases implies that embracing the former will destroy not just historical and cultural heritage, but also the Turkish people themselves (see part where Galip takes the tour of the underground mannequin museum). Kemal Atatürk ,
2380-557: The article needs to be approved by the Ministry of Justice. A few minutes after Pamuk's trial started on 16 December, the judge found that this approval had not yet been received and suspended the proceedings. In an interview published in the Akşam newspaper the same day, then Justice Minister Cemil Çiçek said he had not yet received Pamuk's file but would study it thoroughly once it came. On 29 December 2005, Turkish state prosecutors dropped
2448-433: The case, but in 2011 Pamuk was ordered to pay 6,000 liras in compensation for having insulted the plaintiffs' honor. Pamuk was born in Istanbul , in 1952, and grew up in a wealthy but declining upper-class family, an experience he describes in passing in his novels The Black Book and Cevdet Bey and His Sons , as well as more thoroughly in his personal memoir Istanbul: Memories and the City . Pamuk's paternal grandmother
2516-606: The charge that Pamuk insulted Turkey's armed forces, although the charge of "insulting Turkishness" remained. The charges against Pamuk caused an international outcry and led to questions in some circles about Turkey's proposed entry into the European Union . On 30 November, the European Parliament announced that it would send a delegation of five MEPs led by Camiel Eurlings , to observe the trial. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn subsequently stated that
2584-734: The city looking for his clues to her whereabouts. He suspects that his wife has taken up with her half-brother, a columnist for Milliyet named Celal, and it happens that he is also missing. The story of Galip's search is interspersed with reprints of Celal's columns, which are lengthy, highly literate meditations on the city and its history. Galip thinks that by living as Celal he can figure out how Celal thinks and locate both him and his wife, so he takes up residence in Celal's apartment, wearing his clothes and eventually writing his column. Galip starts getting mysterious phone calls from one of Celal's obsessed fans, who displays an astonishing familiarity with
2652-405: The columnist's writings. After Galip's columns under Celal's name start to take the form of impassioned pleas to Rüya, a woman from Celal's past misinterprets the articles and calls Galip, thinking they are actually Celal's attempts to win her back. It turns out that Celal and the woman had an affair, and the fan who is calling Galip is the woman's jealous husband. In an eerie twist, it turns out that
2720-403: The conflict between Islamism and Westernism in modern Turkey. Snow follows Ka, an expatriate Turkish poet, as he wanders around the snowy Kars and gets caught up in the muddle of aimless Islamists, MPs, headscarf advocates, secularists, and a number of factions who die and kill in the name of highly contradictory ideals. The New York Times listed Snow as one of its Ten Best Books of 2004. In
2788-428: The creative arts, such as literature and painting. Pamuk's work often touches on the deep-rooted tensions between East and West and tradition and modernism/secularism. Pamuk speaks about "the angel of inspiration" when he discusses his creativity: "I am just listening to an inner music, the mystery of which I don't completely know. And I don't want to know." "I am most surprised by those moments when I have felt as if
Orhan Pamuk - Misplaced Pages Continue
2856-677: The favorite authors tipped to win the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature were the Syrian poet Adunis , Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk (who eventually won), American prolific writer Joyce Carol Oates , French writer Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (awarded in 2008 ), Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami , Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer (awarded in 2011 ), Danish poet Inger Christensen , Israeli writer Amos Oz , South Korean poet Ko Un , American author Philip Roth , Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski , American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (awarded in 2016), and Indo-British novelist Salman Rushdie . When
2924-417: The fear of counting for nothing, and the feelings of worthlessness that come with such fears; the collective humiliations, vulnerabilities, slights, grievances, sensitivities, and imagined insults, and the nationalist boasts and inflations that are their next of kin ... Whenever I am confronted by such sentiments, and by the irrational, overstated language in which they are usually expressed, I know they touch on
2992-403: The first 10 years, I worried about money and no one asked how much money I made. The second decade I spent money and no one was asking about that. And I've spent the last 10 years with everyone expecting to hear how I spend the money, which I will not do. Pamuk followed this with the novel Kar , published in 2002 (English translation: Snow , 2004). Set in the border city of Kars , it explores
3060-415: The gallery called "a period of intense creativity". Pamuk's international reputation continued to increase when he published Benim Adım Kırmızı ( My Name is Red ) in 1998. The novel blends mystery, romance, and philosophical puzzles in a setting of 16th-century Istanbul. It opens a window into the reign of Ottoman Sultan Murat III in nine snowy winter days of 1591, inviting the reader to experience
3128-457: The husband has been following Galip around Istanbul in an attempt to find Celal through him, accounting for Galip's frequent apprehension that he is being watched. Galip finally agrees to meet both of them at a public location, a store called Aladdin's that figures in much of the narrative. Soon after, Celal is shot to death in the street. Rüya is found also shot in Aladdin's store. The identity of
3196-444: The killer is never discovered for certain. The novel ends with the postmodern twist of the author revealing his presence in the narrative. The story is more concerned with exploring the nature of story-telling as a means of constructing identity than with a straightforward plot. As such, it is full of stories within the main story, relating to both Turkey's Ottoman past and contemporary Istanbul. In 1992 Kara Kitap üzerine Yazılar
3264-460: The magazine Time listed Pamuk in the cover article "TIME 100: The People Who Shape Our World", in the category "Heroes & Pioneers", for speaking up. In April 2006, on the BBC's HARDtalk program, Pamuk stated that his remarks regarding the Armenian genocide were meant to draw attention to freedom of expression issues in Turkey rather than to the massacres themselves. On 19–20 December 2006,
3332-420: The melancholic soul of his native city, [Pamuk] has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures." The choice of Pamuk was generally well received. "It would be difficult to conceive of a more perfect winner for our catastrophic times.", said Margaret Atwood , "Pamuk gives us what all novelists give us at their best: the truth. Not the truth of statistics, but the truth of human experience at
3400-454: The most controversial and popular books in Turkish literature , due to its complexity and richness. In 1992, he wrote the screenplay for the movie Gizli Yüz ( Secret Face ), based on Kara Kitap and directed by a prominent Turkish director, Ömer Kavur . Pamuk's fifth novel, Yeni Hayat ( New Life ), caused a sensation in Turkey upon its 1994 publication and became the fastest-selling book in Turkish history. By this time, Pamuk had also become
3468-627: The narrative, and housed them at an Istanbul house he purchased. Pamuk collaborated on a documentary "The Innocence of Memories" that expanded on his Museum of Innocence. Pamuk stated that "(Museum of Dreams will) tell a different version of the love story set in Istanbul through objects and Grant Gee’s wonderful new film". In both Snow and the Museum of Innocence Pamuk describes tragic love-stories, where men fall in love with beautiful women at first sight. Pamuk's heroes tend to be educated men who fall tragically in love with beauties, but who seem doomed to
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#17327837269683536-470: The position of visiting scholar there, using the time to conduct research and write his novel The Black Book at the university's Butler Library . This period also included a visiting fellowship at the University of Iowa . Pamuk returned to Istanbul, a city to which he is strongly attached. In 1991 he and his wife had a daughter, Rüya, whose name means "dream" in Turkish, and to whom his novel My Name
3604-408: The prosecution, saying that they had no authority to open a case against Pamuk under the new penal code. With the trial in the local court, it was ruled the next day that the case could not continue without Justice Ministry approval. Pamuk's lawyer, Haluk İnanıcı, subsequently confirmed that the charges had been dropped. The announcement occurred in a week when the EU was scheduled to begin a review of
3672-420: The same time (2010–12), which Pamuk expressly denied. Since 2011 he has been in a relationship with Aslı Akyavaş, whom he married in 2022. In 2005, after Pamuk made a statement about the Armenian genocide and mass killings of Kurds , a criminal case was opened against him based on a complaint filed by lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz . The charges were dropped on 22 January 2006. In Bilecik , his books were burned in
3740-422: The sentences, dreams, and pages that have made me so ecstatically happy have not come from my own imagination – that another power has found them and generously presented them to me." A group of writers assert that some parts of Pamuk's works are heavily influenced by the works of other writers, and some chapters are almost totally quoted from other books. Pamuk himself said that his works have been inspired by
3808-558: The stars." The show was curated by Gianfranco Maraniello. It also showed from 4 November 2016 to 29 March 2017 from 5–6 November 2016 at the Palazzo Madama , Piazza Castello, Turin , and at Infini-to, the Planetarium of Turin (Infini.to - Planetario di Torino, Museo dell'Astronomia e dello Spazio) by invitation. Pamuk published a memoir/travelogue Istanbul—Hatıralar ve Şehir in 2003 (English version, Istanbul—Memories and
3876-532: The tension between East and West from a breathlessly urgent perspective. My Name Is Red has been translated into 24 languages and in 2003 won the International Dublin Literary Award , one of the world's most lucrative literary prizes. Asked what impact winning this last award (currently $ 127,000) had on his life and work, Pamuk replied: Nothing changed in my life since I work all the time. I've spent 30 years writing fiction. For
3944-564: The writings of rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam . One of the writers, nationalist popular historian Murat Bardakçı , accused him of counterfeiting and plagiarism in the Hurriyet , a Turkish newspaper. Another accusation is that Pamuk's novel The White Castle contains exact paragraphs from Fuad Carim's Kanuni Devrinde İstanbul ("Istanbul in the Time of the Kanuni ") novel. After a question raised at
4012-600: Was Circassian . He was educated at Robert College secondary school in Istanbul and studied architecture at the Istanbul Technical University , a subject related to his dream career, painting. He left architecture school after three years to become a full-time writer, and graduated from the Institute of Journalism at the University of Istanbul in 1976. From ages 22 to 30, Pamuk lived with his mother, writing his first novel and attempting to find
4080-628: Was a taboo. But we have to be able to talk about the past." But when CNN TURK asked Pamuk about his speech, he admitted that he said that "Armenians were killed" but he denied that he said "Turks killed Armenians", and estimated the number of deaths as 1 million in that speech. At the time, Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code stated: "A person who publicly insults the Republic or Turkish Grand National Assembly, shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months to three years." Pamuk
4148-467: Was also a writer-in-residence at Bard College . In 2009, he was Harvard 's Charles Eliot Norton Lecturer , delivering a series of lectures titled "The Naive and Sentimental Novelist". Orhan publicly acknowledged his relationship with the writer Kiran Desai . In January 2011, Turkish-Armenian artist Karolin Fişekçi told Hürriyet Daily News that Pamuk had a two-and-a-half-year relationship with her during
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#17327837269684216-644: Was among the figures this group plotted to kill. The police informed Pamuk about the assassination plans eight months before the Ergenekon investigation. In 2005, Pamuk received the € 25,000 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade for his literary work, in which "Europe and Islamic Turkey find a place for one another." The award presentation was held at Paul's Church , Frankfurt . 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature Orhan Pamuk,
4284-458: Was charged with violating this law in the interview. In October, after the prosecution had begun, Pamuk reiterated his views in a speech given during an award ceremony in Germany: "I repeat, I said loud and clear that one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in Turkey." Article 301's old form before 2005 (and also the new form after the amendments in 2008) required that prosecution under
4352-473: Was consequently subjected to a hate campaign that forced him to flee the country. He returned later in 2005 to face the charges against him. In an interview with BBC News , he said that he wanted to defend freedom of speech , which was Turkey's only hope for coming to terms with its history: "What happened to the Ottoman Armenians in 1915 was a major thing that was hidden from the Turkish nation; it
4420-401: Was dead, but my mother is still alive. But I can’t care about that; I must care about the beauty of the book. Pamuk's books are characterized by a confusion or loss of identity brought on in part by the conflict between Western and Eastern values. They are often disturbing or unsettling, and include complex plots and characters. His works are also redolent with discussion of and fascination with
4488-478: Was firmly established with Benim Adım Kırmızı ("My Name is Red", 1998) and Kar ("Snow", 2002). Pamuk's novels are characterized by the search for identity in the borderland between Western and Eastern values, an attempt to understand differences and similarities and an ambivalent yearning for both modern and old traditions. Among his other famous works include Sessiz Ev ("Silent House", 1983) and Masumiyet Müzesi ("The Museum of Innocence", 2008). Among
4556-418: Was in a crisis; I don’t want to go into those details: divorce, father dying, professional problems, problems with this, problems with that, everything was bad. I thought if I were to be weak I would have a depression. But every day I would wake up and have a cold shower and sit down and remember and write, always paying attention to the beauty of the book. Honestly, I may have hurt my mother, my family. My father
4624-473: Was published as an anthology of critical essays. The main theme of the novel is identity, and it returns on many levels. Galip for example, is clearly not happy with who he is. He dislikes his life as a lawyer, and has envied the successful Celal for years. The plot shows how he gradually changes his identity to become Celal, living in his flat, wearing his clothes and even writing his columns. We know however, that Celal longs to become someone else as well (this
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