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A review by book_click_deo
Nights of Plague by Orhan Pamuk
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