American Views Abroad

 
Orhan Pamuk has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. His novel Snow, beautiful reading even in its English translation, can't be read or discussed often enough today in the western world. When asked by an interviewer of Die Zeit in April 2005 why the novel is basically based in the small far-away town of Kars and not in Istanbul, Pamuk replied:

In Kars you can quite literally feel the sadness that comes from being a part of Europe, and at the same time the sparse, hard-fought very un-European life. My novel deals with the inner conflict of Turks today, the contradictions between Islam and modernity, the longing to be part of Europe and the fear of it at the same time.

The full interview can be read in English at www.signandsight.com/features/115.html.
- posted by Gloria @ 6:35 PM