Snow: A Melancholic Journey

“Pamuk knows that as well as anybody and dramatises it in a raucous scene in which a group of leftists, Kurds and Islamists gather in a hotel room to write a letter to the Frankfurter Rundschau.” 

                   — The Guardian

“The Book is not only an engrossing feat of tale-spinning, but essential reading for our times.” 

         — The New York Times

If you are someone who can embrace the emotion that is melancholy, then you can surely relate to Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk. For the book lovers out there, Star Weekend picks the writer's best interpretation on teenage suicide—Snow.

The story is based on the protagonist Ka, a poet, who returns to Turkey after 12 years of being political exile in Germany. He has several motives, first, as a journalist, to investigate a spate of suicides but also in the hope of meeting a woman he used to know. Heavy snow cuts off the town for about three days during which time Ka is in conversation with a former communist, a secularist, a fascist nationalist, a possible Islamic extremist, Islamic moderates, young Kurds, the military, the Secret Service, the police and in particular, an actor-revolutionary. In the midst of this, love and passion are to be found. Temporarily closed off from the world, a farcical coup is staged and linked melodramatically to a stage play. The main discussion concerns the interface of secularism and belief but there are references to all of Turkey's twentieth century history.

The best part of this book is that it tells a story which we can all relate to. The story summarises many of the political and cultural tensions of modern Turkey and successfully combines humour, social commentary, mysticism, and a deep sympathy with its characters.