A shimmering evocation, by turns intimate and panoramic, of one of the world’s great cities, by its foremost writer. Orhan Pamuk was born in Istanbul and still lives in the family apartment building where his mother first held him in her arms. His portrait of his city is thus also a self-portrait, refracted by memory and the melancholy–or hüzün– that all Istanbullus share: the sadness that comes of living amid the ruins of a lost empire.
With cinematic fluidity, Pamuk m... (show more)
A shimmering evocation, by turns intimate and panoramic, of one of the world’s great cities, by its foremost writer. Orhan Pamuk was born in Istanbul and still lives in the family apartment building where his mother first held him in her arms. His portrait of his city is thus also a self-portrait, refracted by memory and the melancholy–or hüzün– that all Istanbullus share: the sadness that comes of living amid the ruins of a lost empire.
With cinematic fluidity, Pamuk moves from his glamorous, unhappy parents to the gorgeous, decrepit mansions overlooking the Bosphorus; from the dawning of his self-consciousness to the writers and painters–both Turkish and foreign–who would shape his consciousness of his city. Like Joyce’s Dublin and Borges’ Buenos Aires, Pamuk’s Istanbul is a triumphant encounter of place and sensibility, beautifully written and immensely moving. (show less)
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Istanbul, like all cities, presents different faces to different people. Those who have lived in a city their entire lives, like Pamuk, often have... (show more)
Istanbul, like all cities, presents different faces to different people. Those who have lived in a city their entire lives, like Pamuk, often have a difficult time separating themselves from the city. Pamuk understands this. His study of Istanbul is as much biography as a study of the city, yet in this way we are able to understand more deeply the impact of the city on its citizens.
I can't wait to return to Istanbul so I can see it from Pamuk's eyes rather than as a tourist. He focuses not on the Haga Sophia or Grand Bazaar but on the shabby neighborhoods and the melancholic spirit that he feels pervades the city.
I must say that I never felt that spirit, not once. But I have no doubt that he is right.
The memoir, like all great literature, changed my perception of myself and surroundings. I am glad I saw the city first without having read the book. I may not have wanted to visit if I had read it, and that would have been a great pity. (show less)
Es la autobiografía de Pamuk contada desde la ciudad. Aprendí algo sobre Estambul y su relación dependiente con el Bósforo... pero la verdad si que... (show more)
Es la autobiografía de Pamuk contada desde la ciudad. Aprendí algo sobre Estambul y su relación dependiente con el Bósforo... pero la verdad si querés leer algo de Orhan Pamuk... este no es su mejor libro definitivamente, incluso se me tornó aburrido en ciertas partes. (show less)
I read this while I was traveling to, within, and back from Istanbul for the first time. It is full of gushing passages of love for the Bosporous, Orhan Pamuk's so this and so that life, flowery abstractions about the city's chiaroscuro evening appearance, and the (almost sickeningly overwrought) romantic portrayal of the unique brand of sorrow that is felt in a fallen empire. (I've lived in a fallen salt empire and a fallen camera empire, and I don't feel anything.) All of this probably wou... (show more)
I read this while I was traveling to, within, and back from Istanbul for the first time. It is full of gushing passages of love for the Bosporous, Orhan Pamuk's so this and so that life, flowery abstractions about the city's chiaroscuro evening appearance, and the (almost sickeningly overwrought) romantic portrayal of the unique brand of sorrow that is felt in a fallen empire. (I've lived in a fallen salt empire and a fallen camera empire, and I don't feel anything.) All of this probably would have seemed like public masturbation and quite dishonest to me, were I not in the midst of the city while I read.
In the circumstances, I think it added some depth to my understanding of the city, and for brief moments, while riding on a boat from the Golden Horn to the Black Sea or walking around Beyoğlu at bizarre hours, I actually felt that I could understand well what was being said. I was particularly happy that it avoided much discussion of the obvious tourist attractions and instead focused on broad impressions or the areas that are inhabited by real people. Though I've never shared Orhan Pamuk's type of deep connection to any of the cities I've lived in, I could easily imagine it and falsify it. And in turn it forced me to feel some soft feelings during the trip that I may not have otherwise allowed myself.
I recommend it if you know or care at all about Istanbul. (show less)
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wow, took me a really long time to finish this one.
Orhan Pamuk provides a unique account on being a native of a city whose identity is split, with its honor rooted in the past fallen empire and the present insecurely palling by comparison to the West that it mimics. Especially interesting is the Instabullu's concept of Huzun, a sort of melancholic and nostalgic glorification of an ancestry that feels beyond one's own reality and without future. I particularly revel in the language of other... (show more)
wow, took me a really long time to finish this one.
Orhan Pamuk provides a unique account on being a native of a city whose identity is split, with its honor rooted in the past fallen empire and the present insecurely palling by comparison to the West that it mimics. Especially interesting is the Instabullu's concept of Huzun, a sort of melancholic and nostalgic glorification of an ancestry that feels beyond one's own reality and without future. I particularly revel in the language of other cultures when they possess a word to describe an idea that is lacking in name from my own.
Sliding back into his personal memoirs leaves the book feeling unfocused, and the reader gets trapped in the inertia the author describes as Istanbul. There are a few gems to hearing what it is like to grow up in a city whose atmosphere pervades every moment of one's development, but that in turn made the read too torpid for my contemporary sensibilities. He posits that past writers often were happy enough just to have made the visit and not dig beneath the surface attraction, but even a native can feel the hollowness of a city that can no longer flourish.
I think the shortcoming of works as homage is that they rarely offer the possibility of newness, it is resignation without equanimity. (show less)
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Good begining, not able to finish
It begins as an interesting descripton of the City of Istanbul an Pamuk himself, all from different perspectives and points of view. Then the the reading turns tedious and boring.
I couldn't finish it.
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