Snow | Orhan Pamuk | Read SNOW first.

Snow | Orhan Pamuk | Fascinating

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Snow

	Snow Orhan Pamuk Vintage, 2005 - 480 pages average customer review:based on 135 reviews view larger image
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Read SNOW first.

I find the writing of Urhan Pamuk to be captivating. "Snow" cannot be skimmed or `speed read'. Every sentence paints a picture that may or may not be critical to the book, but in itself gives pleasure. The simple plot set in modern times in a remote NE village of Turkey is mostly revealed in the beginning, so there is no need to collect files of information in the reader's head to solve a mystery. Just sit back, enjoy the writing and allow a longer than usual time with the book and with the people snowbound in the small village of Kars. The political intrigues of rural Turkey have changed in the decade since this book was written, but this book of fiction and the history it paints is certainly destined to be kept with the classical writings of all ages.
As an additional note; my attempt to read 3 of Pamuk's Books in the order he wrote them failed. I was not able to enjoy "My Name is Red" until after I had read "Snow" and had acquainted myself with his writing style. I then re-began "Red" and found myself enjoying a different type book - a mystery set in 16th Century Istanbul, each chapter written from the different perspective of each character. At times, the lengthy ancestry lines being cited of shahs and miniaturists meant little to me and I admit to skimming over them. The novel way [to me] many scenes were written is quite enjoyable. I now feel I have visited 16th Century Istanbul with all its color and gore.
The latest of Pamuk's books is his autobiographical "Istanbul" , a third genre that I have only just begun and am enjoying in a different way. But I feel I have read them in the best order and Snow is my recommendation for anyone's first or only read of Pamuk's books.

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Fascinating

Snow is a fascinating novel about the place of religion, love and politics in modern rural Turkey. This is an area that is largely ignored by the world, and this book opens up new vistas for the reader.

The writing style is very unusual. The author moves back and forth between the first and third party. This speaks to the merging of the author and the main character, in understanding and character. It makes a fascinating and multi-faceted read.

Relevant, Beautiful and Absurd

SNOW is the story of Ka, an exiled poet who returns from Germany to Kars, a small town in Turkey, purportedly to report on a rash of suicides by religious girls who are legally forbidden to wear head scarves. The head scarf debate is a hot political issue in Turkey even today, yet Ka's return to Turkey is driven less by an interest in politics and more by an interest in Ipek, a beautiful woman who lives in Kars. Although Ka is not particularly interested in the political situation, his behavior while in Kars lands him in the center of a political storm that erupts during an actual snow storm-- a storm which leaves Kars temporarily isolated from the rest of Turkey.
Pamuk uses the image of snow beautifully and effectively as an analogy throughout the story. He also does a wonderful job of capturing the complexity of Turkey as a country that bridges East and West. Pamuk poignantly portrays the nuanced tension between religion and secularism, rich and poor and educated and uneducated. He manages to do this through both plot twists and character development.
That said, at times SNOW seemed like snow itself, a random sprinkling, but of people and of information, particularly related to Ka's poetry. Some of the characters were far better developed than others. And some of the plot points verged on being absurdist. Even so, SNOW is an important and timely book that deserves to be read.

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