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afterttherain's review against another edition
5.0
“How much can we ever know about the love and pain in another heart? How much can we hope to understand those who have suffered deeper anguish, greater deprivation, and more crushing disappointments than we ourselves have known?”
My first Turkish literature! I spent a lot of time considering whether I'd like to read this or not, but I'm very happy that I did. I loved how much Orhan Pamuk himself was a part of this story and the approach he took in telling Ka's story. There is so much depth in everything that's happening, and all told in such a beautiful way. I also learnt a lot about Turkey and the idea of religious vs secularism, and it has really helped me think a lot about a lot of difficult things in the world.
My first Turkish literature! I spent a lot of time considering whether I'd like to read this or not, but I'm very happy that I did. I loved how much Orhan Pamuk himself was a part of this story and the approach he took in telling Ka's story. There is so much depth in everything that's happening, and all told in such a beautiful way. I also learnt a lot about Turkey and the idea of religious vs secularism, and it has really helped me think a lot about a lot of difficult things in the world.
sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
4.0
"To play the rebel heroine in Turkey, you don't pull off your scarf, you put it on"
If you were interested in the whole controversy raised by ban of veil in France a few years ago, then this book too might interest you. It is based on real events in a modern and secular Turkey. Here too there is a ban on wearing head-scarves in universities and like, though this is in a country where the majority of the population is Muslim but rulers are still liberals (or rather ultra-liberals). As a consequence several innocent religious women are deprived of their right to education and, forced to choose between education and religion; they end up committing suicide. What made their misfortune worse is the guilt they must have carried to graves since Koran prohibits suicide. And so, in a way, they must have felt condemned by the very religion they were fighting for.
To me, the book shows that the dangers of ultra-liberalism. Liberals should and must fight for the oppressed - Turgut Bey, a liberal who is also one of the better characters, argues "It's not enough to be oppressed, you must also be right". I find Kadife more agreeable who puts on scarf, not for religious reasons but to protest against an unjust law. Here liberals are causing the oppression by forcing their values on unwilling people.
Most people sort-of get married with their religious beliefs over time, to force them to leave behind their religion is like forcing a drug addict to abandon his drugs. To begin with, it is inhumane. Next, it is too late - it will create a lot of pain and you probably won't succeed. And even if you did, religion (or drug) will leave behind a void (a sort of need it has created in person for itself) and the person will never be comfortable. Marx was right when he said religion is the opium of masses. It is the case here.
The suicides are, of course, turned into political symbols. Some good religious young men disturbed by what is being done to women took to revolt. Pamuk managed to humanized one such young man by making him tell the protagonist about his love for a girl who had committed suicide and his own wish to be a science fiction writer.
jwproctor's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
novelette's review against another edition
1.0
My book club read this book, and we thought that this was the most boring book ever. I couldn't care less about the main character, and felt the book left me cold and uninterested.
megmoo's review
3.25
Close DNF. Beautiful prose is glimpsed throughout. A lot of confusion around the religious theatrics and motivations.
karenluvstoread's review against another edition
4.0
This novel feels quite hard to review. It had so many different elements to it - from mystery to a cultural clash to interpersonal relationships to religious factions. There was also quite a bit of philosophy in this book, but in such a way that it didn’t feel confusing but instead, understandable. I really appreciated that because sometimes highly philosophical discussions can get a bit abstract for me. 🙃
The story very much had the feel and tone of some of the Russian classic literature novels I’ve read…that melancholy tone that seems to pervade the pages of a Dostoevsky novel for example.
The writing itself was beautiful. Very poetic. The writing sometimes had a cadence to it, especially when talking about the snow. Here’s a sample:
"Much later, when he thought about how he'd written this poem, he had a vision of a snowflake; this snowflake, he decided, was his life writ small; the poem that had unlocked the meaning of his life, he now saw sitting at its center." (p. 94)
This book pulled me in but then I admit, I was very glad to finish it. The last few chapters felt like it took forever to read. In spite of that though, I really liked the storytelling, the writing, and the depth of the novel. Deeply written, probing, and very thought-provoking, this book was a solid 4 star read.
The story very much had the feel and tone of some of the Russian classic literature novels I’ve read…that melancholy tone that seems to pervade the pages of a Dostoevsky novel for example.
The writing itself was beautiful. Very poetic. The writing sometimes had a cadence to it, especially when talking about the snow. Here’s a sample:
"Much later, when he thought about how he'd written this poem, he had a vision of a snowflake; this snowflake, he decided, was his life writ small; the poem that had unlocked the meaning of his life, he now saw sitting at its center." (p. 94)
This book pulled me in but then I admit, I was very glad to finish it. The last few chapters felt like it took forever to read. In spite of that though, I really liked the storytelling, the writing, and the depth of the novel. Deeply written, probing, and very thought-provoking, this book was a solid 4 star read.
helenope's review
Sorry I cannot get through 300 pages of a 40 year old man who is a POET. I am a enjoyer of prose. But this prose, be boring. I can imagine the author talks about interesting topics but I've evolved and I won't suffer getting through a book that isn't flowing. I'm not made for slow paced books.
walshdj's review against another edition
3.0
I want to like Orhan Pamuk’s books. At least this one I was able to finish, but I still found it just OK. His characters are very difficult to like, but there are many lines in the book that are profound and thought-provoking. It offers helpful insight on Turkish life and is worth reading.
lynguy1's review against another edition
3.0
Snow by Orhan Pamuk is literary fiction that brings some tough themes to the reader. Political intrigue, philosophy, romance, secularism, religious fanaticism, East-West relations, radicalism, Western ideals, suicide, murder, and torture are all explored in this novel.
Ka is a Turkish poet who has recently returned to Turkey from Germany after 12 years as a political exile. While he comes back for his mother’s funeral, he also heard that a girlfriend has recently divorced her husband and heads to Kars, their home town. He arrives during a blizzard and the roads and trains are closed. Ka tells people that he is in town as a journalist to do stories on the municipal elections and on the young women who have been committing suicide in Kars. What happens next is somewhat eventful, but also very introspective.
Unfortunately, Ka is an annoying character and very immature for his age. The star character is the city itself. Kars is an actual city in northeast Turkey. Through the novel, we learn something of its history. Due to its location, the city has had a turbulent past and is something of a fusion of nationalities, cultures, and ethnicities. The world-building was fantastic and I was able to clearly picture the snowbound city. The story line had great potential and does reflect on some contemporary issues, but felt more like vignettes than a cohesive novel.
While this book is much more about telling than showing during a large part of it, readers do get glimpses of poverty, hopelessness, anger, regrets, freedom of thought, the loss of innocence, and loneliness, and the search for happiness along with the other themes mentioned above. It is researched well and reasonably well-written, but somewhat slow.
If you enjoy politics, learning about other countries and cultures, and/or slice of life novels, then this may be one you wish to consider. This book is very relevant to today.
Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way.
Ka is a Turkish poet who has recently returned to Turkey from Germany after 12 years as a political exile. While he comes back for his mother’s funeral, he also heard that a girlfriend has recently divorced her husband and heads to Kars, their home town. He arrives during a blizzard and the roads and trains are closed. Ka tells people that he is in town as a journalist to do stories on the municipal elections and on the young women who have been committing suicide in Kars. What happens next is somewhat eventful, but also very introspective.
Unfortunately, Ka is an annoying character and very immature for his age. The star character is the city itself. Kars is an actual city in northeast Turkey. Through the novel, we learn something of its history. Due to its location, the city has had a turbulent past and is something of a fusion of nationalities, cultures, and ethnicities. The world-building was fantastic and I was able to clearly picture the snowbound city. The story line had great potential and does reflect on some contemporary issues, but felt more like vignettes than a cohesive novel.
While this book is much more about telling than showing during a large part of it, readers do get glimpses of poverty, hopelessness, anger, regrets, freedom of thought, the loss of innocence, and loneliness, and the search for happiness along with the other themes mentioned above. It is researched well and reasonably well-written, but somewhat slow.
Spoiler
However, the author does a self-insertion into the story which I did not like.If you enjoy politics, learning about other countries and cultures, and/or slice of life novels, then this may be one you wish to consider. This book is very relevant to today.
Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way.
jesslolsen's review against another edition
3.0
DNF: I made it 50% of the way in before I decided to close it for good.
I started reading this book as it was on my world reading list challenge, and this was the nominated book for Turkey. I understand why it was on the list, but it was so slow moving and while I found the lifestyle and landscape very eye opening, I just don’t care to read about men arguing the existence of god.
I started reading this book as it was on my world reading list challenge, and this was the nominated book for Turkey. I understand why it was on the list, but it was so slow moving and while I found the lifestyle and landscape very eye opening, I just don’t care to read about men arguing the existence of god.