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kategci's review against another edition
2.0
This was on a my TBR pile and I along with a couple of others suggested it for one of my book clubs. It was a heavy, dense read and at the end, almost none of us felt it was worth the effort. I appreciated the writing and descriptions, but the female characters were not fully evoked. Some of the scenes seemed crazy set ups, but the author in an afterword in another edition stated that most of what happened in the book, happened to him. At the book club meeting,it provoked an excellent discussion of Islam and to a lesser degree, most religions. How "religious" does someone have to be? Can you not follow all parts of a belief system yet consider yourself a member of a religion? We had no firm answers, but a lot of thoughtful comments.
cms28's review
Really boring and I found myself not being interested enough to even listen to the audiobook.
fantine729's review against another edition
I didn't like it as much as I wanted to like it.
juliebcooper's review against another edition
I really tried. But I couldn't get past some of the dream-like and random sequences and digressions.... and I think it boils down to Pamuk's writing style is not my cup of tea - I found it rather impenetrable. I was curious about where he was going with the suicide girls and the competing ideals in Kars and Turkey with "modernists" and "Political Islamists", but then Ka would stop and have a plate or 3 of food and I wouldn't care anymore. And again - I get that his character is an allegory (at least I assume so).... But he was so infantile at times I wanted to throw the book across the room. So - I didn't finish. Too many other things out there I'd like to read.
bookslut007's review against another edition
3.0
This was well written in a sense but a shit read simultaneously. Kinda glad it’s over.
lizaroo71's review against another edition
1.0
i don't know quite what to think of this novel. i felt such relief when i finished it. the beginning of the story held promise, but as the book moved forward, i felt less engaged with the characters and what was happening. i kept waiting for Ka to get a backbone or Ipek to declare her love, but nothing ever happened for 400 pages! perhaps the politics of the novel is above my head. whatever the case may be, i found it work to get to the end. i almost gave up with fifty pages left, but i felt the task should be completed. grueling. i am glad to leave it behind.
kamckim's review against another edition
3.0
This book read like heavy Russian lit, which is not my first choice. Things I appreciated--being swept into another world. Authors should be able to make you believe their worlds, and I believed this one enough to want to go back to visit every night. The characters were imperfectly real, really imperfect--I think even more so if I knew that part of Turkey better. Also, it seems that Pamuk is using the sisters as a metaphor for the country of Turkey--desirable, irresistible, unattainable, inexplicable, yet somehow within reach and even abused and used by various warring factions as represented by the various men and their relationships to them in the book. But, yes, like others, I did wish to see the poems. I didn't find the snowflake metaphor/structure to be contrived. The name of the book is SNOW. I thought his thoughts on the formation of the snowflake and its brief, unique but also universal being were pretty dead on. If anyone presumes to think that at the core, human existence is much more, then perhaps this isn't the novel for her.
thegulagula's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not a poet nor can I write a poem. Hence, it was interesting to read about how a poet like Ka wrote his poems. How his inspiration came at unexpected times, during his commute, while he was walking, while he was talking.
Orhan Pamuk is only the second Turkish author that I've ever read after Elif Shafak. Honestly, I do not know much about Turkey. The language, the alphabet, the culture are all alien to me. I feel like if only I could learn more about the history and culture, I could appreciate the books by these Turkish authors more.
Reading Snow, I have the idea that Turkey is either one of two things. You are either a European or a Turkish. A Western or an Islam. An atheist or a God-believer (practicing or not is never the point).
You may not agree with all his thoughts but it is interesting to read about his thoughts on Islam and the Turkish. Overall I enjoyed reading his writings and the political situation in Kars, more than when he was touching about Ka's love story.
"I'm proud of the part of me that is not European. I'm proud of the things in me that the European find childish, cruel and primitive. If the Europeans are beautiful, I want to be ugly; if they are intelligent, I prefer to be stupid; if they're modern, let me stay pure."
P/S: Even after finishing the book, I still cannot comprehend why the girls in Kars committed suicide.
Orhan Pamuk is only the second Turkish author that I've ever read after Elif Shafak. Honestly, I do not know much about Turkey. The language, the alphabet, the culture are all alien to me. I feel like if only I could learn more about the history and culture, I could appreciate the books by these Turkish authors more.
Reading Snow, I have the idea that Turkey is either one of two things. You are either a European or a Turkish. A Western or an Islam. An atheist or a God-believer (practicing or not is never the point).
You may not agree with all his thoughts but it is interesting to read about his thoughts on Islam and the Turkish. Overall I enjoyed reading his writings and the political situation in Kars, more than when he was touching about Ka's love story.
"I'm proud of the part of me that is not European. I'm proud of the things in me that the European find childish, cruel and primitive. If the Europeans are beautiful, I want to be ugly; if they are intelligent, I prefer to be stupid; if they're modern, let me stay pure."
P/S: Even after finishing the book, I still cannot comprehend why the girls in Kars committed suicide.
dude_watchin_with_the_brontes's review against another edition
4.0
I would give it three point five if they had half-stars.
It was a really interesting book, as someone who wasn't very familiar with Turkish culture when I started reading it. I generally have trouble with novels where I don't like the protagonist, but there were other compelling characters, and the theme of deception versus reality was very interesting.
It was a really interesting book, as someone who wasn't very familiar with Turkish culture when I started reading it. I generally have trouble with novels where I don't like the protagonist, but there were other compelling characters, and the theme of deception versus reality was very interesting.
expatally's review against another edition
1.0
Simply can not put anymore time into this book. Normally, I wouldn't rate a book that I haven't completely finished but I'm 75% through and am giving myself permission this time. I can not figure out how this book won a Nobel Prize unless it is western readers' first introduction to Turkey. How disappointing, as Turkey is a fascinating, colourful place and so much more alive and multi-dimensional than these characters. Maybe, the starkness of the characters, language, and plot are meant to emphasise the isolation of the city of Kars. Maybe, the ambivalence of the main character Ka is meant to demonstrate Turkey's ambivalence as it balances precariously between the west and the east, geographically, politically, and culturally. Perhaps the translator is responsible for the stilted, simple sentences that may have sounded so much more lyrical in Turkish. I have no idea and have lost interest in trying to find reasons to like this book.