Black Book by Orhan Pamuck

[Paulclem]

I’ve just finished Black Book by Orhan Pamuck, a Turkish writer who lives in Istanbul. I really enjoyed the book for the breadth of its themes and the way Pamuck draws such a convincing cityscape.
The novel is a mystery about the simultaneous disappearance of Ruya, Galip bey’s wife, and Celal, Galip and Ruya’s cousin. It begins on the morning of Ruya’s disappearance. Galip goes to work and returns to find her gone having left a short note in green ink. He later is unable to discover his cousin, Celal, and realises that he too is missing.
So begins a journey through the streets of Istanbul to track them both down, sometimes resembling a detective novel, but it is far more than this, as Istanbul itself is described in fantastic detail through lists of its endless features.
The chapters are interspersed with columns written by Celal for a daily newspaper over his writing career. These are full of stories ranging from descriptions of gangsters to historical executioners. In fact stories are a major theme in the book. They include people’s personal stories and the fictions they weave about them from such influences as western movies and religious figures.
Other themes include self image and being oneself. He quotes and adds to Hamlet: “To be, or not to be oneself. That is the question” and Galip’s journey allows him to eventually take the place of Celal in writing his column.
It is packed full of detail, and has been compared to Rabelais’ use of comic lists, but the range of Pamuck’s writing leaves a lot to be studied and critically analysed. It is a very enjoyable book with masses to think about and reflect upon.

[Paulclem]

I'd just like to add a few notes, to my previous post, though a short review can hardly do justice to the book.

Pamuck has explored the influence of the West in another book - "My name is Red" where the Islamic prohibition upon painting figures was compromised by miniaturists who instead drew stylised images of the stories they wanted to illuminate.

In Black Book, the focus on this theme is the mimicry of western film stars by Turks, who then seem to lose a sense of identity with their own past. In turn this devolves down to individuals who relate to their lives through stories, which are not always true, but are fabrications basd upon their own wishes.

The story of the Prince illustrates one such extreme towards the end of the book where, to fully be himself and realise his own voice, he retreats from the kingdom he aspires to rule, but succumbs to a madness of isolation. This contrasts with the rest of the book where the people, including the protagonist Galip Bey, all seem to strive to be someone else. In Galip's case it is the detectives from the novels that his wife Ruya loved, and then his cousin for whom he begins to write in his place.

I think there is a resolution of sorts at the end of the book, though it is imperfect and based around the tragic outcomes found at the end. A thoroughly worthwhile read, and you'll get a taste of Istanbul, which it depicts very well.

[Paulclem]

As a further note. I'd like to add that Pamuck also investigates a sect of Sufism - Hurufism, which was persecuted in history by the Muslim authorities. It has the fascinating idea that there are letters on each's face which reveal their destiny. This seems implausible with our western alphabet, but makes sense with the curlier arabic languages.

[*Classic*Charm*]

This was the one novel I never finished. For some reason I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

[Paulclem]

This was the one novel I never finished. For some reason I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

It is unusual and diverse. I kept thinking of more things I could have stuck in the review. It's like an old man's house. stuffed full of...stuff.

I liked it though.

[*Classic*Charm*]

That's an excellent way of putting it! It was very full of stuff. I remember the columns being beautiful- very vivid and descriptive in an almost surreal fashion. Other than that, I found myself confused a lot of the time. Unfortunately, I think there may have been a cultural barrier as well. Things that I suspect would have been day-to-day details confused me, which distracted from the actual plot. I'm sure I'll give it another try sometime!

[Paulclem]

That's an excellent way of putting it! It was very full of stuff. I remember the columns being beautiful- very vivid and descriptive in an almost surreal fashion. Other than that, I found myself confused a lot of the time. Unfortunately, I think there may have been a cultural barrier as well. Things that I suspect would have been day-to-day details confused me, which distracted from the actual plot. I'm sure I'll give it another try sometime!

Yes -the plot and themes were quite difficult to tease out. I don't think I did a particularly good review - there was so much that I could have included.