Snow (2002)

In this novel the Turkish poet Ka, who has spent 12 years in Frankfurt, returns to Turkey for his mother's funeral and to do research for an article on the situation in Kars in far eastern Turkey. A friend from Istanbul now lives there, and is recently divorced. And through a mysterious narrator (who is...the actual author inserting himself into his novel) and Ka's own perspective, we learn about the Islamists, the Nationalists, the Kurds, the communists, and leftists that are trying to coexist in this city.

Cut off from the rest of the country by a snowstorm, a theatrical coup occurs--and Ka has somehow found himself as a go-between. And for the first time in years, he is writing poems again. Really all he wants is to take Ipek back to Germany with him, so they can live happily ever after and he can publish his new book of poems.

I know there is a lot in this book that I missed. The poet's name (nickname) is Ka. The city is Kars. The title of the book in Turkish is Kar (snow). Obviously this all means something, but what, exactly, I don't know. Do "Kar", "Kars", and "Ka" sound alike in Turkish? The city of Kars has a very different history than most Turkish cities, as it had a Russian garrison in the past, and has a lot of Armenian architecture. Does the setting of a Turkish city with a different history than most Turkish cities to explain the various factions in modern Turkey mean anything? What?

So, then story itself is interesting, but I am certain I missed a fair amount due to lack of cultural and historical knowledge about Turkey. ( )

Interesting to read now that it is clear that the "head scarf" faction has won in Erdogan's Turkey. I preferred My Name is Red, but a good read nevertheless. ( )

DNF ( )

Read the first fifty pages of this, but just couldn't get into it. Maybe its the problem of trying to read a book featuring snow in the middle of July. Will try again in winter.

A very complex novel, with many layers, about the pain an exhiliration of love, a small town torn by religious and political divide, its proventiality and pride, its being caught between east and west; police brutality, fear, theater, head scarves, suicide, innocence and corruption. Mesmerizing, rich in detail, empathy and close observation of humans, their beliefs, their gestures. All the while the snow keeps falling, enveloping the town of Ka, the tragedy and the mystery in poetic magic.

Pamuk’s writing evokes Dostoyevsky in its dialogs and Tolstoy in its observation of people; Thomas Mann’s description of places; Garcia Marquez’s magical realism in the relationships of people in the town. An extremely gifted writer, a modern classicist, who brings back the best traditions of the old masters yet makes it his own. ( )