A hauntingly beautiful childhood memoir. Pamuk shares with us his own personal journey of life in Istanbul-it is not only the description and the history of the city,its landscape and people-but the relationship between Istanbul and Pamuk that is poignant. There is a certain oneness between the two;the fall of the Ottoman Empire is his personal loss, the ruins of the city his cause for lament. The B&W pictures complement his state of mind. Yes there is a strange somewhat unfinished shadow of beauty that hangs in the air, in spite of the sorrowful and wistful writing (like the old Ottoman villas still have ivy creeping over the crumbling walls).
I probably liked the book a lot because I am tired of Naipaul miserably bumbling about trying to find his roots.
Drawback: You might never want to hear the word 'melancholy' again after seeing it appear about a hundred times in the book.
Still I'd say its a must-read, at least once.
I probably liked the book a lot because I am tired of Naipaul miserably bumbling about trying to find his roots.
Drawback: You might never want to hear the word 'melancholy' again after seeing it appear about a hundred times in the book.
Still I'd say its a must-read, at least once.
