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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was reluctant to even continue this book, however some mystical force drew me to not let it go - ah, oh, so rewarding the feeling I didn't! I could barely resist its last 150 pages, when the story really began to unfold and create some tension.
I admire Pamuk's work and ultimately found it enticing. It is a story about fathers, sons, and fatherless sons, and their twisted connections, a history which almost repeats itself. It is partly also a story about the urbanization of Istanbul and its Westernization.
Without giving away too many details, I would just say: if you feel like reading something different, with a trace of mythical tales, and above all, if you have patience to get over the well-digging apprenticeship descriptions, then read it.
I admire Pamuk's work and ultimately found it enticing. It is a story about fathers, sons, and fatherless sons, and their twisted connections, a history which almost repeats itself. It is partly also a story about the urbanization of Istanbul and its Westernization.
Without giving away too many details, I would just say: if you feel like reading something different, with a trace of mythical tales, and above all, if you have patience to get over the well-digging apprenticeship descriptions, then read it.
I have read 2 or 3 of Pamuk's previous books and enjoyed them. This, however, I couldn't finish. I read the first 50 pages and the last 50 pages.
It's a coming of age story, and I felt as though the female characters were very flat. The men focus on women as caregivers and sex objects, and many the men abandon women and children. There is a lot of father-son tension (and surrogate father/ surrogate son tension). And there are a lot of allusions to Oedipus Rex. I just don't have time for such sexism and narcissism. And I feel as though this is a narrative that has been told ad nauseum.
BLARGH.
SPOILERS:
The story starts with a young man who is alienated from his own father, who is a philanderer and a disappears after criticizing the Turkish government. The young man gets a job digging a well and is mentored by his boss. The young man then gets obsessed over a woman with red hair. It turns out that the father and son both had a sexual relationship with this woman. Lots of fathers are thought to be dead, or to be killed or to be not really killed, or to soon die, or to be killed but not on purpose. GAH.
It's a coming of age story, and I felt as though the female characters were very flat. The men focus on women as caregivers and sex objects, and many the men abandon women and children. There is a lot of father-son tension (and surrogate father/ surrogate son tension). And there are a lot of allusions to Oedipus Rex. I just don't have time for such sexism and narcissism. And I feel as though this is a narrative that has been told ad nauseum.
BLARGH.
SPOILERS:
The story starts with a young man who is alienated from his own father, who is a philanderer and a disappears after criticizing the Turkish government. The young man gets a job digging a well and is mentored by his boss. The young man then gets obsessed over a woman with red hair. It turns out that the father and son both had a sexual relationship with this woman. Lots of fathers are thought to be dead, or to be killed or to be not really killed, or to soon die, or to be killed but not on purpose. GAH.
The first half of the book was a lot more captivating for me. Orhan's relentless effort to stick to Sohrab & Rostam and Oedipus's tales feels somewhat very controlling (aka engineered) especially in the second half of the book. I enjoyed elements and similarities between 'Crime and Punishment' and 'The Red-Haired Woman' specially with internal emotional and logical struggles.
"It was the same way the words in my head couldn't keep up with my dreams. My emotions moved too fast for words to do them justice".
The Red Haired woman, is a tale of young teenager Cem, Who is living in Istanbul with his parents. His leftist father abandons them owing to his political agenda. Cem having left with his mother moves to Ongoren where he is hired as the apprentice to a master well digger to find water on a barren plain of Istanbul. As the Struggle in summer heat, excavating meter by meter with no luck the two develop affectionate bond of father and son. During this time Cem meets a beautiful Red Haired woman, a travelling theater artist and fall in love with her and spends a passionate night. Soon due his negligence Master dies and Cem holds him responsible for fateful incident that killed his fatherly Master Mahmut.
Parallel to this tale , there is frequent mention on ancient tales, the old story about Oedipus, in which son kills father and the Persian story of Rostam and Sohrab in which father kills his son. The story in the book largely talks about father and son relationship and Cem's obsession with these age old myths.
The story is on similar lines with Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Marakami. The modern retelling of Oedipus myths. Same myths but completely different story and very different narration, yet equally captivating. May not be the good choice as a first read by Orhan Pamuk, as in no doubt the author is one of the best. I would love to read other works by the author
The Red Haired woman, is a tale of young teenager Cem, Who is living in Istanbul with his parents. His leftist father abandons them owing to his political agenda. Cem having left with his mother moves to Ongoren where he is hired as the apprentice to a master well digger to find water on a barren plain of Istanbul. As the Struggle in summer heat, excavating meter by meter with no luck the two develop affectionate bond of father and son. During this time Cem meets a beautiful Red Haired woman, a travelling theater artist and fall in love with her and spends a passionate night. Soon due his negligence Master dies and Cem holds him responsible for fateful incident that killed his fatherly Master Mahmut.
Parallel to this tale , there is frequent mention on ancient tales, the old story about Oedipus, in which son kills father and the Persian story of Rostam and Sohrab in which father kills his son. The story in the book largely talks about father and son relationship and Cem's obsession with these age old myths.
The story is on similar lines with Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Marakami. The modern retelling of Oedipus myths. Same myths but completely different story and very different narration, yet equally captivating. May not be the good choice as a first read by Orhan Pamuk, as in no doubt the author is one of the best. I would love to read other works by the author
English Review Below.
اختياري لدولة تركيا في تحدي كتب من حول العالم وقراءتي الأولى لأورهان باموق، لذا ما زلت لن أحكم عليه وفقا لرواية واحدة.
رواية عن تركيا بالفعل، وأظن أن هذا ما أبحث عنه في روايات هذا المشروع. على ظاهرها تبدو كقصة عن علاقة أب وابنه، ويستخدم الكاتب قصتين خياليتين للإشارة إلى علاقة الآباء والأبناء في هذه الرواية: أسطورة أوديب، وكذلك قصة الشاهنامه. ففي إحداهما يقتل الأب ابنه وفي الأخرى يقتل الابن والده، ونرى كيف تلعب هاتان الثيمتان دورا مهما في أحداث الرواية.
تركز على أشياء أخرى محورية في تركيا مثل التطور العمراني على مر الأعوام وحفار الآبار ومكانتهم في المجتمع وجدال العلمانية والتدين والنظرة إلى التشبه بأوروبا وصراع الأجيال في النظر إلى العادات والتقاليد والقرآن والإسلام وكذلك علاقة إيران وتركيا. هي رواية اجتماعية وسياسية وتحاول أن تطرح الكثير من القضايا عبر بطلنا.
من الأشياء التي لم تعجبني فيها أن الشخصيات كانت سطحية وبالذات بطل روايتنا الذي شهد ومر بالكثير من المآسي وارتكب الكثير من الأخطاء ولكن رغم ذلك شعرت بأنه خال من المشاعر ولم أتعاطف معه أو حتى أغضب منه. قد تكون الترجمة السبب، لذا سأنتظر قبل حكمي على شخصيات أورهان باموق حتى أقرأ رواية أخرى له، لكن من الأشياء الأخرى التي لم تعجبني أنني شعرت بإجبار القصة والثيمة وكأنه يحاول أن يجبر الأحداث أن تسطير على خطى قصة أوديب أو الشاهنامه دون أن يكون تطور الأحداث طبيعيا. لم تعجبني الرواية جدا، لكنها كانت نظرة جيدة وبداية جيدة لي مع الأب التركي ومعرفة القليل عن تركيا، ولن تكون قراءتي الأخيرة لباموق، ما زلت آمل أن يكون كاتبا مفضلا لي.
My choice for Turkey in Around the World challenge.
This is my first read of Orhan Pamuk, and it's not one of the people recommended, so I won't judge him as an author just based on this book.
It's a novel about Turkey in the true sense of the word, and I think that's what I'm truly looking for from these novels, besides being entertained of course. On the surface, it's the chronicles of a father-son relationship, multiple fathers and their sons and their relationships. The author uses two important myths and recounts them a number of times to allude to the characters' relationships: The story of Oedipus, and the story of Sohrab and Rostam from the The Shahnama. Both are important mythological texts, where a father kills his son in one of them and a son kills his father in another, and we see how both of these "plot points' come into play on this novel.
It also focuses on a lot in Turkey, like construction development over the years, well-diggers and their role in society, the secular society in Turkey and the clash between religious and secular people, also the relationship between Iran and Turkey. It's a social and political look at the country through the eyes of out characters.
Some of the things I didn't like were the characters which were so flat, despite some of the traumatising things that happened to them and their actions, I might think it's the fault of the translation and I'll wait for my judgement on his characters till I've read another book by him. Some of the plot points didn't make sense or were too convenient, or the connection between real life and the myths and stories felt too artificial and imposed, but it had some touching moments and in the end, it really did feel like a glimpse into Turkey, as I knew a lot about the country from reading it, but the jury is still out on whether I like Orhan Pamuk's writing or not.
اختياري لدولة تركيا في تحدي كتب من حول العالم وقراءتي الأولى لأورهان باموق، لذا ما زلت لن أحكم عليه وفقا لرواية واحدة.
رواية عن تركيا بالفعل، وأظن أن هذا ما أبحث عنه في روايات هذا المشروع. على ظاهرها تبدو كقصة عن علاقة أب وابنه، ويستخدم الكاتب قصتين خياليتين للإشارة إلى علاقة الآباء والأبناء في هذه الرواية: أسطورة أوديب، وكذلك قصة الشاهنامه. ففي إحداهما يقتل الأب ابنه وفي الأخرى يقتل الابن والده، ونرى كيف تلعب هاتان الثيمتان دورا مهما في أحداث الرواية.
تركز على أشياء أخرى محورية في تركيا مثل التطور العمراني على مر الأعوام وحفار الآبار ومكانتهم في المجتمع وجدال العلمانية والتدين والنظرة إلى التشبه بأوروبا وصراع الأجيال في النظر إلى العادات والتقاليد والقرآن والإسلام وكذلك علاقة إيران وتركيا. هي رواية اجتماعية وسياسية وتحاول أن تطرح الكثير من القضايا عبر بطلنا.
من الأشياء التي لم تعجبني فيها أن الشخصيات كانت سطحية وبالذات بطل روايتنا الذي شهد ومر بالكثير من المآسي وارتكب الكثير من الأخطاء ولكن رغم ذلك شعرت بأنه خال من المشاعر ولم أتعاطف معه أو حتى أغضب منه. قد تكون الترجمة السبب، لذا سأنتظر قبل حكمي على شخصيات أورهان باموق حتى أقرأ رواية أخرى له، لكن من الأشياء الأخرى التي لم تعجبني أنني شعرت بإجبار القصة والثيمة وكأنه يحاول أن يجبر الأحداث أن تسطير على خطى قصة أوديب أو الشاهنامه دون أن يكون تطور الأحداث طبيعيا. لم تعجبني الرواية جدا، لكنها كانت نظرة جيدة وبداية جيدة لي مع الأب التركي ومعرفة القليل عن تركيا، ولن تكون قراءتي الأخيرة لباموق، ما زلت آمل أن يكون كاتبا مفضلا لي.
My choice for Turkey in Around the World challenge.
This is my first read of Orhan Pamuk, and it's not one of the people recommended, so I won't judge him as an author just based on this book.
It's a novel about Turkey in the true sense of the word, and I think that's what I'm truly looking for from these novels, besides being entertained of course. On the surface, it's the chronicles of a father-son relationship, multiple fathers and their sons and their relationships. The author uses two important myths and recounts them a number of times to allude to the characters' relationships: The story of Oedipus, and the story of Sohrab and Rostam from the The Shahnama. Both are important mythological texts, where a father kills his son in one of them and a son kills his father in another, and we see how both of these "plot points' come into play on this novel.
It also focuses on a lot in Turkey, like construction development over the years, well-diggers and their role in society, the secular society in Turkey and the clash between religious and secular people, also the relationship between Iran and Turkey. It's a social and political look at the country through the eyes of out characters.
Some of the things I didn't like were the characters which were so flat, despite some of the traumatising things that happened to them and their actions, I might think it's the fault of the translation and I'll wait for my judgement on his characters till I've read another book by him. Some of the plot points didn't make sense or were too convenient, or the connection between real life and the myths and stories felt too artificial and imposed, but it had some touching moments and in the end, it really did feel like a glimpse into Turkey, as I knew a lot about the country from reading it, but the jury is still out on whether I like Orhan Pamuk's writing or not.
dark
emotional
sad
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I have mixed feelings about this novel. I liked the integration of the tale of oedepius by sophocles and how he killed his own father and rostam kiling his son in ferdowsi’s book into the plot and how it affected the flow of events but also somehow the novel turned a bit cliche and the ending became predictable.
The language wasnt the best either which could be due to the translation and the pace of the novel was ok. overall i think its worth checking out
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes