Orhan Pamuk
Orhan Pamuk
Ferit Orhan Pamukis a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, his work has sold over thirteen million books in sixty-three languages, making him the country's best-selling writer...
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth7 June 1952
CityIstanbul, Turkey
strings incidents wells
Ka knew very well that life was a meaningless string of random incidents
stupid poor distinction
We're not stupid! We're just poor! And we have a right to insist on this distinction
home soul identity
Most of the time it's not the Europeans who belittle us. What happens when we look at them is that we belittle ourselves. When we undertake the pilgrimage, it's not just to escape the tyranny at home but also to reach to the depths of our souls. The day arrives when the guilty must return to save those who could not find the courage to leave.
taught literature painting
Painting taught literature to describe.
children color voice
Over time, I have come to see the work of literature less as narrating the world than "seeing the world with words." From the moment he begins to use words like colors in a painting, a writer can begin to see how wondrous and surprising the world is, and he breaks the bones of language to find his own voice. For this he needs paper, a pen, and the optimism of a child looking at the world for the first time.
hands imperfection style
What was venerated as style was nothing more than an imperfection or flaw that revealed the guilty hand.
beautiful short-life greatness
The sight of snow made her think how beautiful and short life is and how, in spite of all their enmities, people have so very much in common; measured against eternity and the greatness of creation, the world in which they lived was narrow. That's why snow drew people together. It was as if snow cast a veil over hatreds, greed, and wrath and made everyone feel close to one another. -- Snow pg 119
being-yourself want said
What is the thing you want most from me? What can I do to make you love me?' Be yourself,' said Ipek.
writing years trying
A writer in someone who spends years patiently trying to discover the second being inside him, and the world that makes him who he is.
body wells bottom
I am nothing but a corpse now, a body at the bottom of a well.
writing consolation surprising
[N]othing is as surprising as life. Except for writing. Except for writing. Yes, of course, except for writing, the only consolation.
use calendars forgotten
Clocks and calendars do not exist to remind us of the Time we've forgotten but to regulate our relations with others and indeed all of society, and this is how we use them.
happy-life very-happy knows
Let everyone know, I lived a very happy life.
istanbul appreciate tree
To savour Istanbul's back streets, to appreciate the vines and trees that endow its ruins with accidental grace, you must, first and foremost, be a stranger to them.