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A review by ejazhusseini
The Naive and the Sentimental Novelist by Orhan Pamuk
5.0
The Naïve and Sentimental Novelists review: of reading and writing, learn from the master…
By: Orhan Pamuk
Genre: Non-Fiction/Writing
Published: 2010 (pages 179)
There are things we learn in life through being taught. Grammar, different subjects, technical skills, sports, using tech, etc. are the examples of this type of learning. Then there are things we learn on our own, like life lessons, making friends, having conversations, falling in love, and getting good at things we are passionate about. And while the former comes with its specific guidelines and rules, which could be taught further, the latter could only be felt so much on our own, and therefore lack any concrete way of passing on the knowledge to others. I learned English in an academy, but I learned to write through a completely solo experience which included reading, writing, and thinking about writing. But because I lack concrete knowledge about writing, I don’t know what my writing needs to improve, and am stuck at writing in the same way and hate it. Having always desired writing classes or mentors, I’ve been bitterly disappointed at the unavailability of such classes. However, books as always have answered to my needs once again. Although my very first book on the art of writing and reading, I not only thoroughly enjoyed reading this masterful book, but was also able to sense too how good it was. ‘Understanding what happens when we write and read novels’ says the subtitle of this book, and captures articulately the whole of this book. Reading, though on its own has always been a most joyous activity for me, when explained here with the influence it has on our minds while we read, and then its impact on our lives as we read more, is just absolutely marvelous. On the other hand, writing, too, is as much of complex, beautiful, and profound experience as reading. Writing and reading, I realized as I read this book, have a lot more in common that I could’ve ever imagined. No wonder it is important, and natural, for every writer to read, and read a lot. From the very first chapter, in which Pamuk explains what our minds do when we read novels, every passionate reader who has read enough novels, would find himself mesmerized in the details on his own mind for every time he/she read a novel. Drawing on Friedrich Schiller’s distinction between naïve – spontaneous, and sentimental – reflective and aware – writers and readers, Pamuk goes in deeper to shows two unique way to processing and composing novels. Under this dichotomy, Pamuk also discusses one of the mysteries of reading a novel, which I until now thought specific to myself, that how much of a novel is the writer’s imagination and how much of it is his real experiences. And he explains how deep and important this interplay between novel’s fictional world and its appeal to our real lives, as well as the one between the writer as he writes the novel keeping the reader in mind and the reader who then reads the novel while thinking what the writer thought when he wrote this, actually is. Continue reading, and we see how learned and passionate a writer and a reader is Pamuk himself, as he starts explaining parts of his book through his own journey of reading, writing, and thinking about the art of both in his thirty-five year’s of writing, and longer years of reading. I always thought about how much a writer has to read before he becomes one, and while I didn’t get any specific number, I certainly understood that a lot has to be read before one starts to write. Pamuk’s sheer knowledge and understanding of much of the classical works of English literature, and the changing meaning of novel in history since its emergence as a work of art, is almost overwhelming, but in a good way. Pamuk explains, through his own comprehensive and convincing understanding, the literary character, time, plot, and words, pictures, and the fascinating link between museum and novels, and eventually comes to explore the idea and driving force of ‘the center’ in a novel. One can’t help but fall under the influence of the master, and believe, that from him one can learn the art of novel – both reading and the writing of it.
Ratings: 5/5 ***** (September 4, 2020)
By: Orhan Pamuk
Genre: Non-Fiction/Writing
Published: 2010 (pages 179)
There are things we learn in life through being taught. Grammar, different subjects, technical skills, sports, using tech, etc. are the examples of this type of learning. Then there are things we learn on our own, like life lessons, making friends, having conversations, falling in love, and getting good at things we are passionate about. And while the former comes with its specific guidelines and rules, which could be taught further, the latter could only be felt so much on our own, and therefore lack any concrete way of passing on the knowledge to others. I learned English in an academy, but I learned to write through a completely solo experience which included reading, writing, and thinking about writing. But because I lack concrete knowledge about writing, I don’t know what my writing needs to improve, and am stuck at writing in the same way and hate it. Having always desired writing classes or mentors, I’ve been bitterly disappointed at the unavailability of such classes. However, books as always have answered to my needs once again. Although my very first book on the art of writing and reading, I not only thoroughly enjoyed reading this masterful book, but was also able to sense too how good it was. ‘Understanding what happens when we write and read novels’ says the subtitle of this book, and captures articulately the whole of this book. Reading, though on its own has always been a most joyous activity for me, when explained here with the influence it has on our minds while we read, and then its impact on our lives as we read more, is just absolutely marvelous. On the other hand, writing, too, is as much of complex, beautiful, and profound experience as reading. Writing and reading, I realized as I read this book, have a lot more in common that I could’ve ever imagined. No wonder it is important, and natural, for every writer to read, and read a lot. From the very first chapter, in which Pamuk explains what our minds do when we read novels, every passionate reader who has read enough novels, would find himself mesmerized in the details on his own mind for every time he/she read a novel. Drawing on Friedrich Schiller’s distinction between naïve – spontaneous, and sentimental – reflective and aware – writers and readers, Pamuk goes in deeper to shows two unique way to processing and composing novels. Under this dichotomy, Pamuk also discusses one of the mysteries of reading a novel, which I until now thought specific to myself, that how much of a novel is the writer’s imagination and how much of it is his real experiences. And he explains how deep and important this interplay between novel’s fictional world and its appeal to our real lives, as well as the one between the writer as he writes the novel keeping the reader in mind and the reader who then reads the novel while thinking what the writer thought when he wrote this, actually is. Continue reading, and we see how learned and passionate a writer and a reader is Pamuk himself, as he starts explaining parts of his book through his own journey of reading, writing, and thinking about the art of both in his thirty-five year’s of writing, and longer years of reading. I always thought about how much a writer has to read before he becomes one, and while I didn’t get any specific number, I certainly understood that a lot has to be read before one starts to write. Pamuk’s sheer knowledge and understanding of much of the classical works of English literature, and the changing meaning of novel in history since its emergence as a work of art, is almost overwhelming, but in a good way. Pamuk explains, through his own comprehensive and convincing understanding, the literary character, time, plot, and words, pictures, and the fascinating link between museum and novels, and eventually comes to explore the idea and driving force of ‘the center’ in a novel. One can’t help but fall under the influence of the master, and believe, that from him one can learn the art of novel – both reading and the writing of it.
Ratings: 5/5 ***** (September 4, 2020)