Being a great fan of the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature, I was excited to see a "new" book by him that I hadn't yet read. The book, Silent House, was written in 1983, which makes it his second novel. It was only recently translated and published in English this year. The book is a good one - themed as a portrait of a nation on the verge of the particular social collapse that led to the 1980 military coup. As in his beautiful novel Snow, the political situation is filtered through the experiences of "ordinary" people. In the case of Silent House, though, "ordinary" is a relative term. The book has a distinctly claustrophopic or even gothic atmosphere, suggested by the title. The case of characters is a grandmother, her dwarf servant, middle class members of her family visiting from Istanbul, and a young, disaffected family acquaintance who falls in with 'nationalists" and inpacts the family in a serious way. There are plenty of skeletons in the closets.The story is told via multiple narration by the main characters and consequently meanders widely across history and psyches. It's a strong novel, and an interesting insight into the historical period and early Pamuk for his many fans.
For a review of the book from NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/books/review/silent-house-by-orhan-pamuk.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
For a review of the book from NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/books/review/silent-house-by-orhan-pamuk.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
