Snow | Orhan Pamuk | I love this book

Snow | Orhan Pamuk | Snow falling on Turkey

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Snow

	Snow Orhan Pamuk Vintage, 2005 - 480 pages average customer review:based on 133 reviews view larger image
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Dread, yearning, identity, intrigue, the lethal chemistry between secular doubt and Islamic fanaticism?these are the elements that Orhan Pamuk anneals in this masterful, disquieting novel. An exiled poet named Ka returns to Turkey and travels to the forlorn city of Kars. His ostensible purpose is to report on a wave of suicides among religious girls forbidden to wear their head-scarves. But Ka is also drawn by his memories of the radiant Ipek, now recently divorced.
Amid blanketing snowfall and universal suspicion, Ka finds himself pursued by figures ranging from Ipek?s ex-husband to a charismatic terrorist. A lost gift returns with ecstatic suddenness. A theatrical evening climaxes in a massacre. And finding god may be the prelude to losing everything else. Touching, slyly comic, and humming with cerebral suspense, Snow is of immense relevance to our present moment.

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I love this book

Although it was kind of hard to get into at first, it was well worth it. Orhan Pamuk really takes on modern day issues in this book, and it helps you understand that part of the world a little better.

Snow falling on Turkey

If the contents of the book didn't happen in the real world, this book could be read as a work of Science Fiction or even extreme fiction. Unfortunately, the ideas and practices of what is written happen in the real world. Even though, this part of the world is so remote from my reality, that it seems almost like a science fiction: such issue as whether or not to wear a head scarf, face cover in public or school. Cables are strung and hooked up ad hock through out the neighbor hood just to c...more If the contents of the book didn't happen in the real world, this book could be read as a work of Science Fiction or even extreme fiction. Unfortunately, the ideas and practices of what is written happen in the real world. Even though, this part of the world is so remote from my reality, that it seems almost like a science fiction: such issue as whether or not to wear a head scarf, face cover in public or school. Cables are strung and hooked up ad hock through out the neighbor hood just to catch the live broad cast of a television show. It is almost a work of dystopia but this is the real world that Orhan Pamuk is writing about.

When reading about exotic locales, I'm often reminded of the works of Paul Bowls. He was an American who went to live in Tangiers and wrote novels about those foreign places. There is certainly an element of expatriation and distance as the narrator Ka goes back to his place of birth to explore his past relationships. While, Bowls explores cultural difference and the dangers of mixing white culture with the natives, Orphan's work takes on political and moral issues. He mixes the issue of suicide, religion, and morals with a political act. This political act seems like a fashion choice in some parts of the world, but a major rebellious act in this region. It's an all too real a premise: whether or not to be allowed to wear a head scarf and whether or not to kill oneself if one is not allowed to do so.

If it was imaged as a work of fiction or even science fiction, it would have been brilliant. Although it happens in the real world, it is even more frightening. This is a case where life is stranger then fiction and reporting straight from it with honesty and being able to see the concept of the novel in its simplicity is an amazing work of recognition.

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