24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Resurrection of the Ordinary, November 1, 2007
"Pamuk has two enduring loves: books and Istanbul. Often they converge as his journeys through his hometown come to resemble excursions through memory itself." Pico Iyer
I had the extraordinary good fortune to see and hear Orhan Pamuk speak at Dartmouth College about his life, his writing, his family and his books, on the first anniversary of his Noble Prize for Literature. Orhan Pamuk elicited total attention as he brought us from his education as an architect to a realization that his life was in writing. His life was not complete without books, paper and pen, and he spoke emotionally about his writing life. "It keeps me sane", he said. There you have it. In this day and age of stress and strain, as he said "I feel as if I have two souls, sort of schizophrenic". I understand this completely after reading his book 'Other Colors'. Like his country, Turkey, he is caught between two continents Asia and Europe. He sits at his desk looking out towards the Bosphorus Sea and writes about the land and the people he loves.
After Pamuk won the Nobel he was badgered by the press for new stories. He was used to writing slowly, a couple hundred pages a year, but now he needed to have 4 pages in two hours every week. These stories in 'Many Colors' are the accumulation of that time. He was also asked over and over why all his books had the titles of colors, 'The White Castle', 'The Black Book', and 'My Name Is Red'- thus, to satisfy his urge to put one over on the media, he titled this book, 'Many Colors'. This book contains so many fascinating stories. One of my favorites is that of the Ferries of the Bosphorous. When Pamuk was a boy, his father and his friends all chose one ferry that they could identify as theirs. As the ferries would come down the sea towards Istanbul, they could make out their ferry by one characteristic, usually the shape and size of the smokestack. They could then place their ferry, and it seemed their world was a little smaller. Those large ferries are gone now replaced by motorized, faster versions. And, Pamuk speaks lovingly of his daughter, Ruya. One year she did not like school and would spend hours giving her father reasons why she should not attend. He wrote down these daily messages verbatim, and into a story we can all relate to, we have been there. Pamuk tells us about his favorite authors. Dostoevsky, Nabokov, Camus, Bernhard and each author has a place in his heart. He reads them every day and it is because of them he became a writer. He relates his personal experience in an earthquake that took the lives of many of his countrymen. His books are his life, and he writes about book covers, his library, his to be read lists, the Freedom of the writer. Pamuk's guide to the Mediterranean, to the European bank, and the Views from the Capital of the World, New York City. His Interview by Paris Match is a must read, as is his PEN Arthur Miller Speech. And, of course his arrest for his speaking out about the Armenian tragedy. So much to read and to discover about this man.
"In "Other Colors," his first big assemblage of nonfiction, Pamuk gives us several of his many selves inta centrifugal gathering of memory-pieces, sketches, interviews and unexpected flights. The result is a gallery of Pamuks: here is the author of the haunted, half-lit inquiry into melancholy and neglect, "Istanbul: Memories and the City," with further glimpses of the "forest of secret stairways" that is his home; here is the man who so loves books that he wrote a whole novel." Pico Iyer
Orhan Pamuk is a fascinating man who is a writer of the extraordinary. He has taken the extraordinary of life and turned it into a 'resurrection of the ordinary',Marilynne Robinson's novel "Housekeeping" by way of Pico Iyer's"
so that we can better understand the day to day existence of his world. It is easy to fall under Pamuk's spell when he is talking about his writing and his country. I found this book so illuminating. Pamuk has a wonderful sense of humor and irony. He gives photographers 5 minutes to take pictures at the beginning of his lecture, he finds the flashes interfere with his concentration. At the end of his lecture when the question and answer period started, Pamuk would take a flash picture of each questioner. A roar of approval from the audience! Bravo, Pamuk!
Heartily Recommended. prisrob 11-01-07
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Other Colors? Think Rainbow, January 26, 2008
Not a moment or detail of life and living appears to pass Orhan Pamuk by without notice. This collection is breathtaking, both in terms of the wide range of topics he tackles and how easily he transitions between what might otherwise be considered mundane vs. majestic moments. The glue here is that Pamuk brings an incredible eye and humanity to everything he touches, leaving little to get lost in translation. Few writers that I have come across over the years capture the texture and tone of those often simple daily scenes more sparingly, vividly and memorably. Fewer still write as though literally every single word on every page matters. Here, they do, in the hands of someone who clearly loves everything about putting pen to paper. You can't help but read a book like this and savor the experience. What a joy--I finished it only a few days ago and I'm already looking forward to re-reading.
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