A Strangeness in My Mind

I'm absolutely glad I stumbled onto this book. Not the type I'd normally pick up but being in Istanbul for a weekend motivated me to go for one of Pamuk's book.

The rich, deep and realistic tapestry he weaves of both human and urban development is bound to stay with you days and days after you put this book down.

An absolutely enthralling read, one that creeps in slowly and becomes more and more meaningful in its description of regular human beings and their (extra) ordinary lives.

At first, I thought I had come across an author whose work I could really dig into. Mr. Pamuk certainly has a gift for language and describing scenes. But, the main character, Mevlut, merely trudges from one thing to the next, never learning anything. Never.

I know our lives are paragraphs and pages of the same day-in, day-out tasks. There is no vacation for boza and yogurt sellers who go up and down residential streets from morning until late in the night. There was some involvement in political upheaval and controversy over some letters, but for 18 CDs (I wouldn't have completed the book if I hadn't listened to it on my daily commute)?!?

Truly, if this book has been edited to about half of its size, it could have been great. But, instead, it just goes on and on.