Snow

Rating:
Summary: Snow as "political"???
Review: I absolutely love Orhan Pamuk's work. LOVE it. And Snow is better than most other books that I've read recently. That said, Snow gets a 2 because every other Orhan Pamuk book is a better read than Snow, and they are all just as political. I find it very strange readers believe Snow is "important" & "political" when it deals with the same themes and issues that permeate all Orhan Pamuk's work: being able to truly know yourself as a Turk in the context of Western oppression and a country situated literally on the divide between east & west, europe & asia. My advice: buy a different Pamuk book, you will enjoy it much more. Then read it a second time and pay attention to identity and power issues.

Rating:
Summary: Is Turkey this surreal?
Review: I bought this book based on the idea that Turkey is a model for a secular Islamic republic. Because "Snow" is a novel, one cannot get a true feel what aspects of the book are taken from reality and what are made up. For this reason "Snow" is a horrible first book for a Westerner to read about the people of Turkey, because one can get a skewed idea of what the country is like outside the metropolis of Istanbul.
I found the book disturbing because it portrays Turkey not as a secular state--showing no partiality toward Islam--but as a bigoted state--that Islam is stupid and should be suppressed. The author seems to be this way himself: the theme of the"head scarf girls" is portrayed as a political movement: one wears the scarf to thumb your nose at the government, not to show your desire for modesty as Islam directs. The government insists that if a girl wears a head scarf she is expelled from school. I understand that Turkey is making steady progress toward acceptability from a Western standpoint because of the government's desire to join the European Union. But this book suggest that Turkey is back in the stone age, and the author gives no suggestion that this is an historical novel. Is the book set in the 70s, 80s, or the present? We are given no clue. So this book is a disaster if you are trying to get a sense of the country and its culture from this novel.

Rating:
Summary: Another Pamuk classic, if you can "read" Pamuk
Review: I enjoyed the book a lot and would rank it as his second best (my name is red being the best). Having said that, if you don't know anythink about the islamist vs. secularist struggle in the moslem world, then the book may seem boring or too intellectual.

Rating:
Summary: An important book
Review: It is left to the novelists to make sense of a world that is riven by Islamism, secularism, militarism, and the rest, because the advocates no longer convince anyone. So Orhan Pamuk has done a tremendous service to Western readers by seriously, though fictionally, examining the secular/religious/military conflicts of modern Turkey. He has wrapped this astute political novel inside a love story that is often touching, then thrown in some thriller effects, and magic, heavy symbolism and poetry to boot. In short, it is too much of a mishmash. And the translation is rather clunky. But SNOW, for its seriousness and insight, demands to be widely read.

Rating:
Summary: great book, though not as enjoyable as "my name is red"
Review: Orhan Pamuk is a revelation. His "My Name is red" was a joy to read, full of wit and vivacity, ensuring a light-hearted flow through the most philosophical passages. His latest novel Snow on the other hand is a serious political novel, with nary a light moment in it. However, Snow is an extremely powerful novel of ideas that sheds light on Turkey's socio-political environment, caught as it is in the grips of modernity and fundamentalism.

In Snow, Ka a Turkish poet who has been living in Frankfurt for the last 10 years returns to his native land as a journalist, and goes to Kars a sleepy town rocked by a series of suicides by young girls. However, the real reason for his presence in Kars could be to reunite with his college day flame, now separated from her husband. Turkey has been polarised into two segments, those that want it to join the European Union and become westernised and those that want it to retain its fundamentalism. Caught in the crossfire, Ka finds himself politically uncertain but invigorated as a poet and lover.

Snow is a relevant and timely work of a master of contemporary world literature.


Rating:
Summary: I challenge you to stay awake.
Review: Reviewers of Orhan Pamuk seem to fall into two categories: those who find his work breathtakingly brilliant; and those who find it distant, overly-intellectualized, and downright dull. As much as I'd like to belong in the first category, there's no denying I'm smack-dab in the second. This, despite the fact that I consider myself a patient reader and have long been fascinated by Pamuk's native Turkey.

The book's central character is a poet named Ka. Its setting is the Turkish frontier town of Kars. What falls throughout the book is snow, which, translated in Turkish, is "kar." Hmm. Let this be your first warning that you are deep in the throes of post-modernist art.

The plot of "Snow" is drawn straight from headlines in Turkey today. Religious young women, pressured by the State to take off their headscarves, are committing suicide. While Pamuk has plenty of value to say about this and other issues which define modern day Turkey -- on the crossroads of East and West -- the problem is how he goes about saying it:

'Does your father have to be out of the hotel for you to get into bed with me naked?' asked Ka.
'Yes. And he hardly ever leaves the hotel. He doesn't care for the icy streets of Kars.'
'All right then, let's not make love now. But let's kiss some more,' said Ka.
'OK.'
Ipek leaned over Ka, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, and they enjoyed a long and sensual kiss.

Hmm. Maybe it's not fair to blame Pamuk since his prose must first be dragged through the filter of translation. Is it really possible to create elegant English from Turkish -- a language rich in suffixes but dirt-poor in vocabulary, with paragraph-length sentences that run, from the western perspective, precisely in the wrong direction?

Perhaps not. But so what? "Snow" is boring. It's boring in the same way that "The White Castle" was boring, and in the same way that "The New Life" was boring (and incomprehensible!). And there's just no excuse for boring. Great novels inform -- but great novels also entertain.

This is not a great novel. Once again, Pamuk gives the reader a blizzard of ideas, accumulating to remarkable depth. But reader beware -- this just makes for a long, cold slog.

Note: No need to struggle with Pamuk's high art to get a fictional taste of Turkey. Try "Savarona" by J. Patrick Hart, "Blood Tie" by Mary Lee Settle, and the vintage "Towers of Trebizond" by Rose MacAuley.

Rating:
Summary: A memoir-like novel that captivates then bores
Review: The first words that came to my mind about the author's approach to the novel were "shock and awe". Orhan Pamuk came across as being controversial for the sake of controversy. By presenting the two opposing camps in Turkey through dialogues between the characters, he caught my attention immediately. There were the fundamentalist Islamists (who insisted on the wearing of the headscarves and opposed the westernization of Islamic Turkey) and the liberals (who advocated a Western-styled development model for Turkey). But after the various arguments were presented (and then annoyingly repeated throughout the rest of the book), my interest waned. Orhan then built the novel on a flimsy and lame storyline, which failed to engage the reader.

"Snow" would have been better off being a memoir or a non-fiction read, and hence gain more credibility. Nevertheless, those who wish to learn more about the establishment of a secular Turkey against an Islamic context should read the novel. It certainly acts as a bridge between Turkey and the rest of the world. 2 stars off "Snow" for its dismal performance in the category of "recreational value".

Rating:
Summary: S-L-O-W Read, But Recommended
Review: The plot, in summary, with no spoilers:

Ka is a Turkish poet/journalist who has been living in exile in Germany for many years. He returns to Istanbul to go to his mother's funeral, and then he goes to the city of Kars. He remains in Kars, while it suffers the worst snowstorm in decades.

One reason he journeys to Kars is because he is doing a story about a group of young girls who have committed suicide because they were not allowed to wear their head scarves to school.

The other reason is because he has heard that his old schoolmate, the beautiful Ipek, has divorced, and he wants to see her and perhaps make her his wife.

Snow is an interesting book. It's truly gives one insight as to what life is like in Turkey, and in particular, for those not acquainted, with the Islamic world itself.

It is a bleak portrait. But an eye-opening one. The differences between the various cultures described are enormous, and the mistrust, misunderstanding, and hatred between all the political and religious groups within Turkey itself are profound.

For those of you who enjoy a quick read, be aware that this novel starts off at a good pace, but it becomes a very slow read by page 100 or so. I am usually a fast reader, but I found it impossible to read more than 50 or 75 pages at a clip, without having to put the book down.

Perhaps part of the problems with the flow of this book come from it being a translation. The dialogue is a little clunky, and the prose in general is dense and intense.

That said, I still recommend this book. It may not be the easiest read, but it's an interesting one. And I think it's a book that would be good for group discussions.

Rating:
Summary: Snow-blind
Review: This book is a kaleidoscope. Twist the lens and the intricacies of the plot transform into different patterns but nonetheless are held together by the three intersecting axes of the structure of a snow crystal. On the prongs of each axis, opposites are juxtaposed in terms of character, ideologies, passions and aesthetics.
The complexities of modern Turkey fall through the pages like snowflakes on the beleaguered border town of Kars. The beauty of the snow acts as a blanket for the underlying ugliness of the conflicting philosophies. As the snow melts, the violence of these opposites is slowly revealed and the reader begins to understand the reasons for the divisions: Secularists are pitched against Political Islamists, Communists with Nationalists, Atheists with the God-Abiding, Iconoclasts with Artists and Informers with the Innocent of Heart. All of these types play a role.
It is the symbolic placement of these conflicts in a border town that alerts the reader to a central problem that the novel exposes; that of cultural marginalization. This is particularly apt at a time when Turkey seeks entry into the European Union.
But after the thaw, the novel requires the reader to engage in some serious reflection. We begin to understand how the world has been snow-blinded by its own burlesque and farcical dramas: the statements, the conferences, the forceful agendas. It takes such a novel, published in 2002, to remind and warn us of the possible reasons for the vengeance and major psychological coup d'etat of 9/11: marginalization, poverty, condescension, rejection, containment. Have we been bridge building or foolishly circumventing?
I found this multi-faceted novel an enriching experience that works in the mind long after it has been read. Some understanding is reached and wisdom gathered on the enormously complex issues that plague East and West.
The translation is flowing and captures well the various genres that this work employs. The stereotyping of character is not a flaw but an integral technique used for the better understanding of the whole; yet, at the same time a deep humanity emerges as the frailties of the varied characters put their credos to the test. The novel is arranged in chapter vignettes that reminds one of the diversions of serial novels of the 19th century or even the best articulations of TV soap. But to mention such terms is not to belittle the magnificent dexterity, fun and range of the narrative; its plays within plays and its conjuring with plot and subplots. The writing is electrically charged and moves onwards with a pace that does not sacrifice depth.
I hope this novel will encourage readers to follow the development of Orhan Pamuk who straddles the divide between East and West; a writer who offers a prophetic insight that requires not only investigation but informed participation in a world that needs to listen.


Rating:
Summary: first-rate art novel - and political thriller
Review: This is a very complex novel about a backwater town in Turkey. Ka, the poet protagonist, goes to the town as a journalist, but like all poets his motives are deeply personal and particular: he is seeking love. What he enters is a political inbroglio so complex that it is far beyond anything he could imagine, let alone fathom. Through it all, after a four-year draught as a political exile in Germany, his muse returns and he begins to write. The result is a novel that does what the best of Naipal does: illuminate a place and time with vivid and unforgettable images. This novel will shape my perceptions of Turkey for the rest of my life.

The cast of character is truly dazzling. In addition to Ka, there is a kind doppelganger genius, Blue, who is a religious fanatic accused of murder and a great seducer of women and youth. These two enter the most subtle of conflicts, mixing personal motive and political purpose. Then there are struggling youths, who wonder what it is all about while seeking some firm ground for their ambitions and talents, which are wasted in the backwater town on the border with Russia and in decline from the times when it was a bustling crossroad. Finally, there is the family that Ka attempts to enter, which is broken from divorce and failed hopes. These characters are so real that it is simply painful to behold. And there is so much about the plight of modern Turkey, with its warring ethnic groups, identity confusions (is it European or Muslim?), and the all-powerful "repulbican" Kemalist state, which does not hesitate to use violent force in its secular mission to meld nationalism and democratic values. The depth here is truly Tolstoyan.

Then, there is the plot. While I do not want to reveal anything here, it involves unexpected violence and repression as a reaction to young women who want to (illegally) wear head scarves to state schools and a large number of whom are committing suicide for mysterious reasons. Ka walks into all this, declaring his love and grasping, in perhaps his last opportunity, for personal happiness - his political ideals are long given up and even ironic now. His fate is out of his control.

Pamuk is brilliant in his use of themes, which he weaves into a labyrinth that will occupy the time of many a PhD student seeking to unravel them. It is extraordinarliry rich, involving artistic longing, poltical power, egotistic narcissism, and the search for love. There are plays within plays, with a dramatist who wants to influence the political fate of the nation, and Ka's adoptive family, who in themselves are leaders and social harbingers. I think that there is genius in this work, not that anyone would care that I made that pronouncement!

Warmly recommended.