Istanbul: Memories and the City (2003) | By Orhan Pamuk
On the one hand, this is a mosaic of many possible views of the city: from Theophile Gautier and Melling to the popular Turkish journalists of Atatürk’s era at its height. On the other hand, Istanbul is above all an autobiography. At the end of the day, that is the city in which Orhan Pamuk has always lived and which he has described in all of his works – from The Black Book to The New Life.
Even though Istanbul is not written in the fictional form Orhan Pamuk usually employs, it stays true to the logic of his remaining works, by presenting a mixture of philosophical considerations, fantasies, love, sadness and melancholic political and social reflections.
The book’s autobiographical elements offer an interesting insight into the life of the Europeanised Turkish elite in the second half of the twentieth century, and its attitude toward the religiosity that rushed into the city from the country’s interior. In this book, Orhan Pamuk describes the same problem he addressed in his novel Snow, but supports it with more factual and documentary evidence.
| Readers' Comments: "I loved this book - I purchased it in Stansted airport on my way to Northern Cyprus and started reading it as we flew to our scheduled stop-over at Istanbul airport for the regulation 45 minutes, frustratingly not able to get out of the plane, just catching a glimpse of the minarets and the bosphorus as we came in to land! Unlike some other readers who appear to have found this a monotonous read, I found it fascinating and Orhan Pamuk succeeded in evoking the era of his own upbringing in Istanbul. The nostalgia for the city of his childhood is overwhealming and the photographs and postcards which illustrate this biographical work add to the intense feeling he has for the place. I have not yet visited Istanbul but it is definitely on my list! Now I have also read and thoroughly enjoyed The Museum of Innocence too, that desire to visit has increased!" Rachel Markwick
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Epicure
Turkey
Izmir Gourmet: Food is in the Air
Food is literally everywhere in Izmir.
The first stop a traveller would usually make, is Passaport – the vivid promenade along the seaside, which has turned into a landmark with its black and white pavement.
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Curiosity Chest
Turkey
Santa Claus Museum in Turkey to Attract Newlyweds and Tourists
4 May 2010 | A Turkish travel agency intends to popularize the birthplace of Santa Claus’s prototype, Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, in present-day Turkey, not just as a tourist but also as a wedding destination. Full Story
Useful Reads
Turkey
A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire (2008) | By M. Şűkrű Hanioğlu
Far too often, the narrative of the collapse of an empire becomes a moral drama. Wealth is drained away by decadence, and power undercut by corruption. There are attempts at recovery, reform, re-consolidation; perhaps a war, or a grand alliance, or another gamble which seems mad in hindsight. Private fiefdoms emerge, tribes break away, and hostile external powers chip away at the borders.
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Music
Macedonia
Macedonia: Esma Redžepova's Passion for Humanity
"A Gypsy from the city of Skopje", as she calls herself, Esma Redžepova has more than 40 years of singing and humanitarian efforts under her belt. Full Story
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Photogalleries
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A Perfect Shot
Koprivshtitsa Fair, Bulgara. Photographs by Neva Micheva
In Homo Urbanus Europeanus, exhibited May 9-24 in front of the National Theatre in Sofia, Jean-Marc Caracci presents his photographs of people in the urban environment of European capitals.
RED&WHITE SOFIA. On the 1st of March Bulgarians say goodbye to the winter. They buy each other red&white threads to carry around until they see a stork and spring can begin. Photography by Lode Desmet
BULGARIA D'OR: The Bulgarian countryside, patinated with the noble golden dust of the autumn. Photographs by Lode Desmet
360 degrees Bulgaria, an exhibition by photographer Alexandar Ivanov, is on display at the Sea Garden in Varna until August 28. It will be shown at Plovdiv’s Central Square from Sept 5.
The exhibition Photographs of a Trip Through Bulgaria by Hungarian photographer András Balla can be seen in Sofia's Hungarian Cultural Institute, at Aksakov 16 Street, until August 22
Instant Spring in Sofia | Photographs by Lode Desmet
Off-the-season Beauty of Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast | Photographs by Adelina Iliev
Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea Coast
Photographs by Albena Shkodrova
excellent smugs
