Visiting Orhan Pamuk’s Istanbul

Travel Blog  •  Jim Benning  •  05.21.08 | 11:05 AM ET

imageNobel Prize-winning writer Orhan Pamuk’s Istanbul: Memories and the City is “the perfect literary companion” for a visit to Istanbul, Ben Quinn observes in the Guardian. The memoir evokes 1950s and ‘60s Istanbul. Writes Quinn: “[F]or those seeking to avoid the tourism trail—revolving around the “old” city and the undoubted beauties of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque—Pamuk reserves a special fondness for Istanbul’s lesser known quarters.”

Quinn’s top five Pamuk spots include Galata Bridge and the Bazaar District.

It’s worth noting that many readers may not recognize the Istanbul they’ve seen in Pamuk’s work.

In a 2005 review in the New York Times, Christopher de Bellaigue wrote:

In this memoir of his youth, as in the six novels he has set in the city, Istanbul bears only a fleeting resemblance to the smiling and vibrant place many Westerners know from vacationing there. Pamuk’s hometown is rarely consoling; it is more often troubled and malicious, its voice muffled and its colors muted by snowfalls that happen more often in the author’s imagination than in real life.

Related on World Hum:
* Slide Show: Rug Burn in Istanbul
* The Joy of Steam

Related on TravelChannel.com:
* Istanbul Travel Guide



3 Comments for Visiting Orhan Pamuk’s Istanbul

Ling 05.22.08 | 2:12 AM ET

This is one great writer. You should read a transcriptof his Nobel speech. One line he said got stuck in my head, and I just can’t shake it. He said he writes beacuse he loves to write, as opposed to writing for money, or just to see a finished book on his book stand. Meaning, that he loves the ‘process’ of writing. Now that’s somnething every writer needs to have.

ImagineImagine 05.30.08 | 10:08 AM ET

I am always glad of new book recommendations - especially when the book is about Istanbul, which has to be my favorite city. Thanks!

Tatil 09.11.08 | 12:52 PM ET

The only thing I am sorry about at this moment is that I never been to Istanbul despite all my efforts. I must see Istanbul and Turkey and right now I am making plans for a wonderful vacation. I will keep you posted when I come back.

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