Scan barcode
vpar's review against another edition
https://lifestyle.livemint.com/news/big-story/free-speech-is-the-biggest-value-i-believe-in-orhan-pamuk-111665594718817.html
kjbryant99's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
ginkgotree's review against another edition
Read Harder 2023 #15: Read a historical fiction book set in an Eastern country.
What was most interesting to me about this book (which honestly I found a bit of a slog) was the way it depicted reactions to quarantine, which seem to be much the same no matter the time period or culture.
This book was also so long that I was obliged to read it as an ebook, audio book, and print book because my library loan kept expiring. The audio was narrated very well but since there were so many characters to keep track of I think ebook provided the easiest experience.
What was most interesting to me about this book (which honestly I found a bit of a slog) was the way it depicted reactions to quarantine, which seem to be much the same no matter the time period or culture.
This book was also so long that I was obliged to read it as an ebook, audio book, and print book because my library loan kept expiring. The audio was narrated very well but since there were so many characters to keep track of I think ebook provided the easiest experience.
marsthehuman's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
spaceisavacuum's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
Library books challenge me under the crunch of time so I’m hasty to read as many as I possibly can before they come due, and for most part, succeeding, and libraries are wonderful little sanctuaries that have informative non-fiction, an eclectic range of fiction from historical past to present day. Such things I wouldn’t normally read, for lack of need, but since the opportunities present themselves, I can and will. I started this back on the eighth, let it go for more interesting things, returned to it again today for one last push to the conclusion… decided, Pamuk was wrapping it up already and probably nothing groundbreaking in the last 80 pages, & frankly I’m not compelled to read somethings and others I am, but this would be something some girls who study history or are reading about the middle East might enjoy and appreciate more than I did; well, anyone could, objectively, read it, but since it was written from the point of view of a biographer who has a vagina, Orhan sure has some phallic organ, but the foreword was also a work of fiction, it’s something of speculation in that Orhan Pamuk invented a country to tell it. Mostly associated with Türkcę during a period of quarantine, I have a hard time understanding the caste system: I don’t know what a Sheikh or a Pasha is and I can’t tell the difference nor tell them apart, ala when Russian literature extemporizes a royal character with different surnames, it gets to be a headache for this uninformed Westerner.
“When you read as many of these books as he had, your mind would do what the sheikh’s was doing now, and begin of its own accord to find clues and words embedded in every corner of the universe.”
Let it be said that I was bored with The Way of the Rose too. Sure, I like the movie but the book was long-winded, detailed and how to say boring? I was never thrilled by Sherlock Holmes mysteries at all, and the kind of guessing game isn’t how I like reading, so when I’m reading a murder mystery I don’t clue it out and I really just read for the plot and the prose and for the ideas represented, and to me Sherlock Holmes mysteries are, maybe childish, or empty in something integral that I like. Orhan Pamuk attempts to include this theme in Nights of Plague by playing on the Sheikh’s interest in mystery novels, while the plague is rampant and the government is frantically pursuing to control the disease from spreading, someone’s poisoning the flour with rat’s bane (arsenic); & it isn’t interesting, I like the detail that she (he isz a sze) writes with, but then authors will draw it out too long and not include any of the epistolary articles they were mentioning, for example the foreword says Princess Pakize was writing letters and the narrative brings up her letters time and time again but there are no examples of these letters, and they aren’t included, I don’t like being teased for epistolary. Eh, not much more to be said.
“When you read as many of these books as he had, your mind would do what the sheikh’s was doing now, and begin of its own accord to find clues and words embedded in every corner of the universe.”
Let it be said that I was bored with The Way of the Rose too. Sure, I like the movie but the book was long-winded, detailed and how to say boring? I was never thrilled by Sherlock Holmes mysteries at all, and the kind of guessing game isn’t how I like reading, so when I’m reading a murder mystery I don’t clue it out and I really just read for the plot and the prose and for the ideas represented, and to me Sherlock Holmes mysteries are, maybe childish, or empty in something integral that I like. Orhan Pamuk attempts to include this theme in Nights of Plague by playing on the Sheikh’s interest in mystery novels, while the plague is rampant and the government is frantically pursuing to control the disease from spreading, someone’s poisoning the flour with rat’s bane (arsenic); & it isn’t interesting, I like the detail that she (he isz a sze) writes with, but then authors will draw it out too long and not include any of the epistolary articles they were mentioning, for example the foreword says Princess Pakize was writing letters and the narrative brings up her letters time and time again but there are no examples of these letters, and they aren’t included, I don’t like being teased for epistolary. Eh, not much more to be said.
christa_amnell's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
clarejc's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
book_click_deo's review against another edition
4.0
One imaginary island. Half inhabitated by Greeks, half by Muslims. No love between the groups. 1901 - the bubonic plague comes in.
.
In between 79 chapters and a total of over 680 pages Pamuk the novel prize winner - puts in a love story, a killing epidemic, political upheavals, a murder and tops it all by throwing light into human psychology!
.
The island of Mingheria is ruled by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, plague has broken out and the one sent to control the plague with quarantine has been murdered. The sultan now sends the daughter of his deposed brother, Pakize with her doctor husband to this island to discover the murderer and control the spreading disease. The story goes to on show the socio economic turmoil such a pandemic can bring and it quite displayed I think very well the insights of the pandemic we faced and are facing.
.
As then and now modern medicine is given a throwover to traditional religious beliefs and the disease with death accelerates and reaches a sad height. The details of history and the disease are so so precise that time and again I see why Pamuk is a nobel prize winner!
.
It does take a lot patience to get into the actual story at its slow pace but the facts in the garb of beautiful writing does take soaking in. We see how the people actually call upon doom of the island, there is government toppling, separation from the outside world, means to curb the plague and so much more!
.
What I loved most - politicians of all types has been depicted critically and its a notion I vehemently believe in too. People mixing in personal aspirations with those of the people often end up doing worse!
.
Well I could go on but I dont have the merit to rate this book to be honest. Will be a special one for me!
.
PS: Kudos to the translatot Ekin Oklap who has translated this from Turkish
.
In between 79 chapters and a total of over 680 pages Pamuk the novel prize winner - puts in a love story, a killing epidemic, political upheavals, a murder and tops it all by throwing light into human psychology!
.
The island of Mingheria is ruled by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, plague has broken out and the one sent to control the plague with quarantine has been murdered. The sultan now sends the daughter of his deposed brother, Pakize with her doctor husband to this island to discover the murderer and control the spreading disease. The story goes to on show the socio economic turmoil such a pandemic can bring and it quite displayed I think very well the insights of the pandemic we faced and are facing.
.
As then and now modern medicine is given a throwover to traditional religious beliefs and the disease with death accelerates and reaches a sad height. The details of history and the disease are so so precise that time and again I see why Pamuk is a nobel prize winner!
.
It does take a lot patience to get into the actual story at its slow pace but the facts in the garb of beautiful writing does take soaking in. We see how the people actually call upon doom of the island, there is government toppling, separation from the outside world, means to curb the plague and so much more!
.
What I loved most - politicians of all types has been depicted critically and its a notion I vehemently believe in too. People mixing in personal aspirations with those of the people often end up doing worse!
.
Well I could go on but I dont have the merit to rate this book to be honest. Will be a special one for me!
.
PS: Kudos to the translatot Ekin Oklap who has translated this from Turkish
minakocaman's review against another edition
4.0
Basta zor akiyor ama sonra cok iyi. Orhan Pamuk ulkemizin tarihine sevgiyle karisik bir bicimde takilmis, kardesle dalga gecer gibi dalga gecmis ama ayni zamanda yuceltmis de. Gecen pazar kendisinin bir konusmasina gittigimde hep Turkiye’de resmedildiginin aksine mutevazi ve muzip oldugunu fark ettim ve kitapta satirlarin arasindan okuyucuya gulumseyisi guldurdu. Kitabin anlaticisinin adasim olmasi, adimin adanin eski tanricasinin adi olmasi da ilginc bir tesaduf.
reeris's review against another edition
3.0
Orhan Pamuk artık benim gözümde Fowles'un [b:Abanoz Kule|24761482|Abanoz Kule|John Fowles|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1510688986l/24761482._SX50_.jpg|1816473]'sindeki ressamın ta kendisi. Ezberletilmiş hisleri anlatmak istemesinden mi, yoksa kendisi de birçoğumuz gibi başka bir dilde biyoloji dersi öğrenmekten muzdarip olduğundan mı çıkmış bu kitap bilemedim.
Karakterlerin hiçbiri ile bağ kuramayıp lisans ders kitabı okuyormuş gibi hissettim. Üniversitedeki politika ders kitabımda kutucuklar vardı. Kavramları açıklayan..Bu kitapta da ona çalışılmış gibi hissettim. Bilmiyorum ben gidip [b:Sessiz Ev|270872|Sessiz Ev|Orhan Pamuk|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1286895072l/270872._SY75_.jpg|9685722]'i tekrar okuyacağım.
Karakterlerin hiçbiri ile bağ kuramayıp lisans ders kitabı okuyormuş gibi hissettim. Üniversitedeki politika ders kitabımda kutucuklar vardı. Kavramları açıklayan..Bu kitapta da ona çalışılmış gibi hissettim. Bilmiyorum ben gidip [b:Sessiz Ev|270872|Sessiz Ev|Orhan Pamuk|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1286895072l/270872._SY75_.jpg|9685722]'i tekrar okuyacağım.