Still, the melancholy of this dying culture was all around us. Great as the desire to westernize and modernize may have been, the more desperate wish was probably to be rid of all the bitter memories of the fallen empire, rather as a spurned lover throws away his lost beloved’s clothes, possessions, and photographs.
–Orhan Pamuk
Istanbul [...]
Archive for the ‘Orhan Pamuk’ Category
A Spurned Lover
Posted in East and West, Orhan Pamuk, Turkey on July 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
No One Was Quite Sure
Posted in East and West, Islam, Literature, Orhan Pamuk on July 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Although everyone knew it was freedom from the laws of Islam, no one was quite sure what else westernization was good for.
–Orhan Pamuk
Istanbul (2006, p.10)
read 6-26-08
So I’ve Been Told
Posted in Literature, Orhan Pamuk, memory on July 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I feel compelled to add or so I’ve been told. In Turkish we have a special tense that allows us to distinguish hearsay from what we’ve seen with our own eyes; when we are relating dreams, fairy tales, or past events we could not have witnessed, we use this tense. It is a useful distinction [...]
