Particularize Regarding Books The Black Book
Title | : | The Black Book |
Author | : | Orhan Pamuk |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 466 pages |
Published | : | July 11th 2006 by Vintage (first published March 1990) |
Categories | : | Fiction. Asian Literature. Turkish Literature. Mystery. Cultural. Turkish. Novels |
Orhan Pamuk
Paperback | Pages: 466 pages Rating: 3.92 | 9365 Users | 742 Reviews
Commentary Toward Books The Black Book
A New Translation and Afterword by Maureen FreelyGalip is a lawyer living in Istanbul. His wife, the detective novel–loving Ruya, has disappeared. Could she have left him for her ex-husband or Celâl, a popular newspaper columnist? But Celâl, too, seems to have vanished. As Galip investigates, he finds himself assuming the enviable Celâl's identity, wearing his clothes, answering his phone calls, even writing his columns. Galip pursues every conceivable clue, but the nature of the mystery keeps changing, and when he receives a death threat, he begins to fear the worst.
With its cascade of beguiling stories about Istanbul, The Black Book is a brilliantly unconventional mystery, and a provocative meditation on identity. For Turkish literary readers it is the cherished cult novel in which Orhan Pamuk found his original voice, but it has largely been neglected by English-language readers. Now, in Maureen Freely’s beautiful new translation, they, too, may encounter all its riches.

Mention Books As The Black Book
Original Title: | Kara Kitap |
ISBN: | 1400078652 (ISBN13: 9781400078653) |
Edition Language: | English |
Characters: | Galip, Rüya, Celal |
Rating Regarding Books The Black Book
Ratings: 3.92 From 9365 Users | 742 ReviewsCriticize Regarding Books The Black Book
*Available from KOBOBOOKSThe book, in a nutshell, traces the protagonists search for his wife and, subsequently, also his cousin. There is indeed a vague plot resembling a detective novel here, but that is hardly the point of the novel. The real point of the novel is Turkey, as Galips search for Ruya takes him around Istanbul meeting various people who he thinks might help him find her, and via this process the novel morphs into an examination of identity, both individual and national. On oneA mans search for his wife and her journalist ex-husband becomes intertwined with the latters bizarre articles/columns turning this book into a bewildering hall of mirrors of Dostoevsky styled feverish monologues, storytelling sessions like a Dinesen or Potocki tale, and Borgesian labyrinths of history and literature (and fake detective tale). Each chapter is its own unit; a short story, mock essay, or monologue. This book is exasperating, annoying, thrilling, and provocative at different points
Plotless in Istanbul,---but intriguing nonethelessNobody could say THE BLACK BOOK is a thriller, but it is thrilling writing. An Istanbul lawyer's wife disappears. A related columnist also disappears. The lawyer looks for them. That's about it. But the search and the thinking is the thing. Pamuk's style blends Proust with Borges. If you find that intriguing, read the book. Pamuk manages to combine intimate details of life in the modern city of Istanbul with tales of Sufi masters, long ago

This is a massive achievement. It's quite exhausting to read as the author throws stories, characters, similies at us at a very rapid rate.What is so special about it is the way he works on several levels: he brings home what it is like to be Turkish, how Istanbul is the frontier of cultures, and how much history is there. But on another, more modernist level, he raises questions of what it is to be an author, the relationship between reader and writer, and ultimately, what defines our identity.
This is a massive achievement. It's quite exhausting to read as the author throws stories, characters, similies at us at a very rapid rate.What is so special about it is the way he works on several levels: he brings home what it is like to be Turkish, how Istanbul is the frontier of cultures, and how much history is there. But on another, more modernist level, he raises questions of what it is to be an author, the relationship between reader and writer, and ultimately, what defines our identity.
What can I say? I loved it at the beginning, but then it became so repetitive, so illogical... Galip could have been some of the deepest characters ever, but there are moments he seems so dummy... The issue of "being someone else instead of being one's self" is really deep and interesting, but although the story is brilliantly written, it never got to the point of being a book you can't put down. In fact, putting it down was sometimes a relief! Finishing it actually became a challenge for me!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.