- Hardcover: 448 pages
- Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group (Aug 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0375406972
- ISBN-13: 978-0375406973
- Product Dimensions: 16.8 x 3.5 x 24.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,276,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Snow
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Product Description
Review
'An act of bravery... A vital book.' --Daily Telegraph
'Profound and frequently brilliant... Illuminate[s] the confrontation between secular and extremist Islamic worlds better than any work of non-ficition I can think of.' --New Statesman
'A novel of profound relevance to the present moment.' --The Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
'Profound and frequently brilliant... Illuminate[s] the confrontation between secular and extremist Islamic worlds better than any work of non-ficition I can think of.' --New Statesman
'A novel of profound relevance to the present moment.' --The Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Book Description
Part political thriller, part absurdist farce, part love story, Orhan Pamuk's second novel to appear in an Everyman edition has a contemporary setting - a remote Turkish city where Eastern and Western values overlap and collide.
--This text refers to an alternate
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
52 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Here is an explanation of some cultural references that might help with your appreciation of this book
21 April 2010
Format:Paperback
I am of Turkish origin and have read "Snow" in its original Turkish print. I feel that the reason why there are so many lukewarm reviews for this book is that the themes & references might not be so accessible to readers who are not quite familiar with the culture and recent history of Turkey.
One underlying theme of the book was that the protagonist Ka is living in exile in Germany (a situation many Turkish intellectuals & political activists found themselves in, following the 1980 coup d'etat in Turkey) in a small state-subsidied apartment, a lonely outsider in a foreign culture. All this alienation and need to belong are, I feel, behind his thought that it would be a good idea to marry a girl he has fancied back when they were both little, and even his rapproachment with the religious groups.
The whole thing is a nod to feelings of isolation reported by the poor, uneducated, "rural" Turks who went as factory workers to Europe decades ago, and whose descendants still import brides from Turkey. The book seems to be saying that those of us who are better educated, who consider ourselves above our "rural" countrymen, are still the same down inside, with the same cultural longings.
Another theme is the play on names. All Turkish names and surnames mean something, and most are words that are still commonly used in everyday language - Rock, Fire, War, Peace, Rain, Water, etc are all given names in Turkey. The two female characters in the book are Ipek ("Silk") and Kadife ("Velvet"), for example.
Going back to the play on words - KARS is the name of the city, 'Snow' is 'KAR' in Turkish, and KA is the name of the main character. What might not be so obvious to the foreign reader is that no Turk would be called "Ka" - it is too short, and above all, it does not mean anything. Author could be trying to show that the protagonist has lost all meaning, cultural relevance as well as the "meaning" of every Turk's name. He is set apart from the culture he longs for, even in his name. The whole wordplay of "Kars > Kar > Ka" not only links the place, the blanket of snow that isolates the city from the world, and the protagonist, but also seems to be pointing towards a diminishing effect, a reduction to absurdity.
One last thing I would like to mention: "Mavi" ("Blue") is not a name in Turkish. It is a code name, with heavy reference to "Yesil" ("Green") - the code name used by a Turkish ex-cop, ex-MIT (Turkish CIA) assassin used by the state in 1990s for illegal executions.
One underlying theme of the book was that the protagonist Ka is living in exile in Germany (a situation many Turkish intellectuals & political activists found themselves in, following the 1980 coup d'etat in Turkey) in a small state-subsidied apartment, a lonely outsider in a foreign culture. All this alienation and need to belong are, I feel, behind his thought that it would be a good idea to marry a girl he has fancied back when they were both little, and even his rapproachment with the religious groups.
The whole thing is a nod to feelings of isolation reported by the poor, uneducated, "rural" Turks who went as factory workers to Europe decades ago, and whose descendants still import brides from Turkey. The book seems to be saying that those of us who are better educated, who consider ourselves above our "rural" countrymen, are still the same down inside, with the same cultural longings.
Another theme is the play on names. All Turkish names and surnames mean something, and most are words that are still commonly used in everyday language - Rock, Fire, War, Peace, Rain, Water, etc are all given names in Turkey. The two female characters in the book are Ipek ("Silk") and Kadife ("Velvet"), for example.
Going back to the play on words - KARS is the name of the city, 'Snow' is 'KAR' in Turkish, and KA is the name of the main character. What might not be so obvious to the foreign reader is that no Turk would be called "Ka" - it is too short, and above all, it does not mean anything. Author could be trying to show that the protagonist has lost all meaning, cultural relevance as well as the "meaning" of every Turk's name. He is set apart from the culture he longs for, even in his name. The whole wordplay of "Kars > Kar > Ka" not only links the place, the blanket of snow that isolates the city from the world, and the protagonist, but also seems to be pointing towards a diminishing effect, a reduction to absurdity.
One last thing I would like to mention: "Mavi" ("Blue") is not a name in Turkish. It is a code name, with heavy reference to "Yesil" ("Green") - the code name used by a Turkish ex-cop, ex-MIT (Turkish CIA) assassin used by the state in 1990s for illegal executions.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Snow, the story of Ka, a poet who visits the troubled city of Kars, is narrated from a viewpoint four years after the events. The narration is (intentionally) cold, hazy and distant, as our narrator tries to piece together the events that have befallen poor Ka. The plot is brutal and tragic, centred on death and failing relationships. This isn't an easy read. If you want an uplifting novel, Pamuk isn't your man. But there is a lot to be admired in the way the sense of pathos and loss builds up to a beautiful crescendo.
In places the prose is brilliantly inventive. There is a whole chapter comprising a taped final conversation between a murderer and his victim (it's chilling, because you know how it will end). The alternations between the present day and four years previously work very well. A powerful subplot revolving around a book of lost poetry reflects the mood of the whole novel wonderfully. The reviewer who describes this as "Dostoevsky without a plot" is not so far off the mark, but Pamuk doesn't aim for the richness of characterisation Dostoevsky specialised in. He's more in the business of evocative, symbolic description. His settings are as alive as his characters, if not more so.
Pamuk's cities are achingly beautiful, but they're also creepy, claustrophobic and waiting to knife you in the back. Stepping into a Pamuk novel is at the same time like looking over a glorious panorama and like looking under your bed. In Snow, Kars is brought to life with the skill a Pamuk fan would expect. My only caveat is that it's not as compelling as The Black Book, a stunning evocation of 1980s Istanbul. If you want a full idea of what this sensational novelist is capable of, try The Black Book.
In places the prose is brilliantly inventive. There is a whole chapter comprising a taped final conversation between a murderer and his victim (it's chilling, because you know how it will end). The alternations between the present day and four years previously work very well. A powerful subplot revolving around a book of lost poetry reflects the mood of the whole novel wonderfully. The reviewer who describes this as "Dostoevsky without a plot" is not so far off the mark, but Pamuk doesn't aim for the richness of characterisation Dostoevsky specialised in. He's more in the business of evocative, symbolic description. His settings are as alive as his characters, if not more so.
Pamuk's cities are achingly beautiful, but they're also creepy, claustrophobic and waiting to knife you in the back. Stepping into a Pamuk novel is at the same time like looking over a glorious panorama and like looking under your bed. In Snow, Kars is brought to life with the skill a Pamuk fan would expect. My only caveat is that it's not as compelling as The Black Book, a stunning evocation of 1980s Istanbul. If you want a full idea of what this sensational novelist is capable of, try The Black Book.
40 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Describing 3 snowbound days in a remote Turkish town, this novel examines politics and religion in modern Turkey. Pamuk examines the uneasy relationship that exists between nationalism and Islam, and the conflict between a desire for prosperity & progress and the fear of a creeping Westernisation that threatens to undermine Islam and republicanism. Alongside this Pamuk sets Kurdish nationalism, and never lets the reader forget the legacies of Armenia, and Russian colonialism.
The novel is fascinating in its analysis of Islamic extremism, particularly the examination of women's place in Islam and in Turkish society. Pamuk doesn't flinch from allowing his characters, on all sides of the arguments, to express their opinions and their doubts. In the environment of restricted free speech that exists in Turkey, you can but admire his bravery.
I have to admit that reading this book was hard work, partly because the subject matter is so foreign to my liberal Western background, but also due to the intense prose style. But it is a book that merits close attention and is worth persevering with - you really need to read the whole thing to fully appreciate it.
The novel is fascinating in its analysis of Islamic extremism, particularly the examination of women's place in Islam and in Turkish society. Pamuk doesn't flinch from allowing his characters, on all sides of the arguments, to express their opinions and their doubts. In the environment of restricted free speech that exists in Turkey, you can but admire his bravery.
I have to admit that reading this book was hard work, partly because the subject matter is so foreign to my liberal Western background, but also due to the intense prose style. But it is a book that merits close attention and is worth persevering with - you really need to read the whole thing to fully appreciate it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good service - interesting book
It is great to be able to buy books pre-used and know they are in good condition. Condition descriptions always useful and accurate.
Published 7 months ago by patcsn
first-rate art novel - and political thriller
This is a very complex novel about a backwater town in Turkey. Ka, the poet protagonist, goes to the town as a journalist, but like all poets his motives are deeply personal and... Read more
Published 11 months ago by rob crawford
Complex, enthralling
When I read Snow by Orhan Pamuk a second time, I will pay more attention to its central character, nicknamed Ka. He is a poet, a Turkish émigré, fresh from Germany. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Philip Spires
Too schizophrenic to get its point across
This is a book which suggests the reader should learn something by the end of it. All well and good, and I think there is a bit of latitude in readability in a book which teaches. Read more
Published 16 months ago by J. Draper
Behind the scenes of Kars
Ka, a journalist visits his native town of Kars. Kars, has changed , its troubled and there is an epidemic of head-scarf girl suicides, mixed with political tension. Read more
Published 21 months ago by MidnightSummer
A truly wonderful book
Beautiful, engaging, evocative, dense, many layered. This book took me to worlds that I have never experienced and that would be impossible for as a western, christian, white... Read more
Published 22 months ago by K. Barnacle
Great novel that captures your attention
I purchased this book after recently finishing Orhan's "My Name is Red" - "Snow" doesnt disappoint. I couldnt put the book down, as its story captures your attention with its... Read more
Published 22 months ago by G. Youngson
Theatre of snow
For me this is a book that drowns under its weight of symbolism. It begins with the name "Snow", which is "kar" in Turkish. Our hero is "Ka". The town is "Kars". Read more
Published 23 months ago by Isafish
Don't bother trying to keep going!
This book has made me lose some faith in The Nobel Prize for Literature. The most simple explanation of my dissapointment is that this book is dull. Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2010 by Emma Merrikin
Wonderful use of snow a metaphor
This wonderful book has been playing around in my mind since finishing it a few days ago. Beyond the story, the point of it, I think, is an examination of the nature of... Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2010 by P. J. Willis
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