Türk Edebiyatı'nda Orhan Pamuk'u bu kadar geç keşfetmek gerçekten üzücü. Geçtiğimiz yıla kadar mantıklı bir sebebi olmasa da, Orhan Pamuk okumaktan kendimi hep uzak tutumuştum. Ancak, Beyaz Kale romanını ilk okumaya başladığım andan itibaren, konusu ve anlatım tarzı beni kendisine bağladı.

Orhan Pamuk yine tarihsel bilgisini ve ayrıntıları ile çok güzel bir eser çıkartmış. Kitabın son kısmında kullandığı kaynakları da belirtmiş olması beni ayrıca sevindirdi. Böylece kitabın içeriğinde bahsedilenlerin gerçek ayrıntılarına da ulaşabilmemi sağladı.

Kitabın konusu Osmanlı döneminde, Vedenikli bir köle ile bir Osmanlı’nın arasındaki farkların ve benzerliklerin üzerinden geçmektedir. Bu iki kişi efendi - köle ilişkisi ile birlikte yaşamaya başladıktan bir süre sonra, birbirlerinin kopyası haline gelirler ve kendileri de hangi özelliği hangisinin hangisinden aldığını ayırt edemez hale gelirler.

Bu roman, insanların arasındaki farklardan çok aralarındaki benzerlikleri görüyor olmasının çok daha güzel bir davranış olduğunu hatırlatıyor insana. Ayrıca, tarihsel olayların ve toplumsal yapıların insanların yaşamlarına nasıl etki ettiğini de güzel bir şekilde anlatmaktadır.

We continue to read Orhan Pamuk's works chronologically. In March, the third book was "Beyaz Kale" (The White Castle). Different from the other two, it is written in the "novel" genre. We can say it is a short novel.

The connection with the other work was established through Faruk's character in the previous work "Sessiz Ev" (The Silent House) finding this story in the archive.

The story, which takes place in the 17th century, with the characters of the Hodja and the Venetian slave, is a work that I read with great pleasure regarding a person's search for identity, change and transformation, and the understanding of East-West. I was delighted with its historical background and the references made to many well-known characters within the fiction.

Next month's book is "Kara Kitap" (The Black Book). You can send a message when you start reading the book to join our #heraybirorhanpamuk group.

Cervantes' masterpiece "Don Quijote" served as an inspiration for a short story within it. Due to this, I promptly picked up "Beyaz Kale". It became the means for me to have a wonderful encounter with Orhan Pamuk. Pamuk, with his approach to handling the novel, that is, by giving place to a superstructure and making a reference to Cervantes, adapts characters similar to those in Dostoyevski's "The Other" to the Ottoman era, taking the reader on an interesting journey within human nature. In the book, where the relationship between the characters sometimes confounds, the answer to the question "Who am I?" is sought briefly, and the fact that he does this in our own lands endows the story with a more special identity. In short, "Beyaz Kale", which is a thought-provoking, enjoyable, and quite successful work on the East-West divide, is definitely one of the examples of Turkish literature that should not be overlooked.

04.03.2015

Istanbul, Türkiye

Alp Turgut

http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...

This book left me astonished in many ways.

The plot progresses at different paces depending on what best suits the author's purposes, but that becomes understandable in the end.

In the middle of the book, I might have felt a bit bored because I couldn't see how everything was going to be resolved.

However, when the end finally arrives... It's incredible.

I don't even feel entirely ready to write a review or express the merit of what Orhan Pamuk achieves with this story.

I can only say, without a doubt, that I have discovered a master of literature.

His writing style is so engaging and his ability to build a complex and captivating world is truly remarkable.

The characters are well-developed and their relationships add depth to the story.

I found myself completely immersed in the book from start to finish, and it has left a lasting impression on me.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves literature and is looking for a thought-provoking and beautifully written story.

Some time in the 1700s, an Italian scholar unfortunately fell into the hands of a passing Turkish fleet and was enslaved. He was then brought to Istanbul and sold several times. Just when his situation seemed desperate, a scientist-philosopher named Hoja took an interest in him. Hoja saved him from being executed for not converting to Islam. The most astonishing thing was that Hoja and the Italian looked exactly alike. Thus began twenty-five years of a complex game of cat and mouse between Hoja and the Italian. As time went by, their physical resemblance gradually blurred into a psychological resemblance, until they eventually exchanged places.

Until the last chapter, the narrative point of view was rather conventional, starting with a frame narrative. However, the last chapter was a mind-boggling POV inversion. I often had to do a double take to figure out who was telling the story and about whom. Pamuk's stylistic experimentation reached its peak here.

I found the chapters that dealt with the Black Death/the plague to be the most relevant to our own times. The restrictions, plague passes, hygiene measures, tracking maps, and death tolls gave the novel an overwhelmingly familiar feeling. It made me reflect on how history repeats itself and how we can learn from the past.

In conclusion, I think this is the most un-Pamuk novel I've read so far. It challenges the reader's perception and takes them on a journey of self-discovery and exploration.

In the early parts of Rome, I knew where this interesting story would lead me step by step. But in the end, I never predicted that it would affect me so much. It is a postmodern masterpiece that is admired for its craftsmanship.

This story takes you on a journey through the ancient city of Rome, filled with mystery, adventure, and unexpected twists. The author's vivid descriptions bring the characters and the setting to life, making you feel as if you are actually there.

As you read, you will be drawn into the story, unable to put it down. The plot unfolds in a way that keeps you guessing until the very end. It is a must-read for anyone who loves history, mystery, or postmodern literature.

Overall, this book is a true gem that will leave a lasting impression on you. So, don't miss out on the opportunity to experience this amazing story for yourself.

In 1961, while penning "The Rhetoric of Fiction," Wayne C. Booth coined the phrase "unreliable narrator."

This book undoubtedly has one, yet such is the genius of the author, Orhan Pamuk, that I had no inkling until I was nearly at the end of the story!

At first, everything seems straightforward. Pamuk introduces the main story as one he discovered in an old trunk within a forgotten archive in Gebze, Turkey. He used to "rummage" there for a week each summer. It stood out among an assortment of old government documents bound in a "dreamlike blue" with "bright calligraphy," which might have appealed to the "artist" in him. Pamuk would have become a professional artist if his wealthy family hadn't intervened! He was historically distrustful of the manuscript but cherished the story and admits to obtaining it for himself—without permission—in 1982. There were no complaints. A "professor friend" who had examined the manuscript for him told him that in the old wooden houses on the back streets of Istanbul, there were "tens of thousands" of manuscripts filled with stories of this kind, which were probably being torn up page by page by people "to light their stoves." But, as Jay Parini wrote in his New York Times review in 1991: "You can relax. Mr. Pamuk is a storyteller with as much gumption and narrative zip as Scheherazade."

This is indeed the case. He is brilliant and has the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature firmly under his belt. However, this is one historical novel that you may feel the need to read more than once, particularly if you are a student of human psychology!

Warning: you have to relax to read this book. Just let go and let it take you where it wants.

This is a novel about identity. The plot doesn't really matter (is this the defining feature of good literature?). The crucial point is how two individuals actually become one, to the extent that we no longer know who is whom.

Is the Italian slave really taking the place of his "hoja" (i.e. master, according to Adam Shatz in the London Review of Books)? Are they really swapping lives as previously fantasised?

Or is this really a fantasy in itself? The Turk, the Hoja, is so disappointed with his fellow Turks, so disgusted with their intellectual inferiority, their passiveness, their lack of imagination. He craves so much for the intellectually stimulating life that he can just barely perceive through the bearing, knowledge and stories of his learned slave that he decides to live this swapped fantasy himself, willing himself to believe that he is no longer the Hoja, but the Italian former slave.

The conclusion I want to believe is the latter. It is the Italian who really flees the siege of the White Castle, and who knows whether he ever reached his native land. Maybe it's good for him if he didn't, as what could have come out of such an impossible readjustment? Or maybe, it is Hoja himself who killed him on that fateful night. With such a quintessentially unreliable narrator, we will never really know.

But I like to think that having finally reached that zenith he had been aspiring to for so many years, accepting the inevitable debacle was too much to bear, and finding comfort in living a dream nobody could take away from him was almost inescapable.

A great read.

Beyaz Kale = The White Castle, Orhan Pamuk

The story commences with a captivating frame tale presented in the form of a preface penned by historian Faruk Darvinoglu between 1984 and 1985. As per the fictional dedication to his late sister at the beginning of the frame tale, Faruk recalls stumbling upon the subsequent story while rummaging through an archive in the governor's office in Gebze, among a collection of old bureaucratic papers. Intrigued by its presence in such an unexpected place, he takes the transcript.

During his work breaks, Faruk embarks on a quest to find the source of the tale, hoping to authenticate its events and author. He manages to connect the author to Italy but reaches a dead end thereafter. An acquaintance informs him that manuscripts like the one he found could be scattered throughout the numerous old, wooden houses of Istanbul, often mistaken for ancient Korans and left venerated and unread. With some encouragement, he decides to publish the manuscript.
The preface concludes with Faruk noting that the publisher chose the title of the book and makes a remark on how modern readers will attempt to draw connections between the dedication to his sister and the ensuing tale.

The events in "The White Castle" are set in Istanbul in the seventeenth century. It is the story of an Italian scholar who intends to embark on a sea journey from Venice to Naples but is captured by Ottoman imperial ships, imprisoned, and taken as a slave. Initially facing the threat of execution, he is purchased as a slave by a man named Hodja (or Hoca), who closely resembles him. The Venetian scholar aids Hodja, who is close to the sultan, in finding favor and proximity to the pasha. They are introduced to the sultan with the hope that with the help of the Italian man, they can create a powerful cannon. The novel, on one hand, depicts the encounter between the Ottoman Empire and the Europeans, and on the other hand, it is a fascinating story. Pamuk, in creating this work that made him a global author, drew inspiration from his own history, culture, and traditions, and展示了how science progressed in that era to contemporary audiences and readers.

Every great writer has such a hidden book, seemingly an experiment, an abandoned child, an orphan, uglier, which over the years grows into a beautiful swan and represents a literary gem as an example of beautiful art and beautiful literature.

In the people, there is an opinion that spouses after a certain time begin to look alike. In thinking, actions, attitudes... appearance. Assimilation is a normal and natural determinant for all living beings, and also for enemies. Not only do the enslaved peoples adopt the characteristics of the slave owner and the conqueror, but the conquerors also take on the characteristics of the oppressed and enslaved peoples. The plot of this book is actually not important, the action is secondary in the overall course of the story, the only thing that is important to be extracted as a lesson from some fable is the identity of two almost completely different people who over time, in the intertwining of hatred, compassion, suffering and joy, become one and the same to such an extent that they can no longer be distinguished.

Who is who? Is the hodja a slave or is the Italian slave the hodja? A young Venetian intellectual is brought as a prisoner to the Sultan's Constantinople, sometime in the 17th century. Soon he is entrusted to the hodja with whom he works and lives, but not in the capacity of a slave, at least not in the capacity of a slave as we imagine it, but in the capacity of a scientific collaborator, an apprentice, a medium in the process of exchanging knowledge between east and west. The hodja wants his young slave to learn about the progress of science in Western culture, he wants to learn about astronomy, physics and painting. A look at the Golden Horn, a dark room and long conversations with the desire to understand each other, to convey a message to each other, the slave forms knowledge and Western culture for the master, the master forms oriental culture and behavior for the slave. In attempts to charm the sultan and the pasha for a social role, the hodja is often arrogant, aggressive, irritable, but also wise in moments when he has to show himself in the process of pitiless changes in front of the new great man. The interaction, differences and distance that decreases over time lead to a gradual assimilation, the influence of one on the other, until the moment when they become identical twins, who know the same things, who have exchanged the knowledge of different cultures, different scientific achievements of different civilizations. How much of your "I" is really completely yours and whether in your "I" there is something of someone else's "I", assimilated over time and under the influence of many foreign knowledge and attitudes? The changes expressed in us under the influence of new knowledge, the environment, life situations, form each "I", so that what we call our identity represents a set of accumulated values and vices from various sources, chosen, accepted, consciously or unconsciously, and rejected due to their unnecessity or dissatisfaction. The moral and social attitudes of one society cannot be considered as its own identity, but they still exist as part of an individual and form a personality, which will thus approach someone else to some extent, like a robot on a moving track, which is produced under a certain specification, copied and the same. Over time, day and night will merge, the shadows will become the same, until indistinguishable, until the impossibility of asserting "this is mine!"

How sure are you that your own "I" is still yours?

https://yukioblogg.blogspot.com/2019/...

The East-West dichotomy and the human longing to be someone else are observable in every book of Pamuk that I have read. I think he has dealt with this theme extremely well. Maybe "The White Castle" by Orhan Pamuk cannot enter my list of favorites, but nevertheless, I read it with pleasure and love.

Pamuk's works often explore the complex nature of identity and the clash between different cultures. His writing style is both engaging and thought-provoking, drawing readers into a world where they can question their own sense of self and their place in the world.

Whether it is through the eyes of his characters or the vivid descriptions of the settings, Pamuk manages to bring to life the struggles and desires that are common to all of us. His exploration of the East-West divide is not only a commentary on the cultural differences between these two regions but also a reflection on the universal human experience of longing and belonging.

In conclusion, while "The White Castle" may not be my absolute favorite among Pamuk's works, it still offers a valuable and interesting perspective on the themes that he is known for. His ability to write with such depth and sensitivity makes him one of the most important writers of our time.

I didn't become a fan of Orhan Pamuk after this first reading of the author.

I found this "The White Castle" a rather confusing book.

It is set in the 17th century and presents us with a Venetian adolescent artist who is captured by Turkish pirates and tells us his story. He eventually becomes the slave of the Master, a person physically very similar to him, whom he teaches everything he knows and from whom he also learns a great deal.

Throughout the story, both become confused, to the point where even the narrator himself doesn't really know who he is.

It didn't win me over...

Expanded version:

I didn't become a fan of Orhan Pamuk after this initial encounter with his work. "The White Castle" left me with a sense of confusion. Set in the 17th century, it introduces us to a Venetian adolescent artist who falls victim to Turkish pirates. The story unfolds as he recounts his experiences. He becomes the slave of the Master, a figure who bears a striking physical resemblance to him. The two exchange knowledge, with the artist teaching the Master what he knows and also learning a great deal in return. As the narrative progresses, the lines between the two become blurred. Even the narrator himself loses a clear sense of identity. This lack of clarity and the overall complexity of the story failed to capture my interest. It seems that Pamuk's style and the themes he explores in this book are not to my taste.