About this title: Weaving history with observations of people, places, and art, Pamuk shows Istanbul's transformation from the seat of faded imperial glory to the capital of a modern nation at the dizzying crossroads of East and West.
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781400040957ISBN:1400040957
Description: Good. Used Condition-GOOD can be a well cared for Book that is in great condition to a Book that may show some signs of wear. GOOD Books sometimes are permanently marked; have some spine or page creases; exibit signs of aging or an ExLibrary copy. ** Sometimes grease pencil or permanent marking on cover. May contain limited notes and or highlighting. 100% Satisfaction guaranteed on all purchases. ** SHIPS FROM USA-Domestic Delivery takes 5-14 days ** read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 6/7/2005
ISBN-13:9781400040957ISBN:1400040957
Description: Very Good. 1400040957 Hard cover book that has very little wear to the cover. There is a small inscription inside the cover. The binding is tight and the pages are clean throughout. Expedited shipping available. Fast shipping. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9781400033881ISBN:1400033888
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. Brand New! No scratches, marks, stains, smudges, etc. Ships within 24 hours. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 384 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. [ No Hassle 30 Day Returns ] [ Underlining/Highlighting: NONE ] [ Writing: NONE ] [ Torn pages: NO ] [ Broken Seams: NO ] Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Pub Date: 1/1/2004 Binding: Paperback Pages: 384. read more
Edition: First edition. 4th print.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9781400033881ISBN:1400033888
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. SC. Front cover has slight curling. Cover and book are clean, unmarked, bright, and with a tight binding. Very good condition. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 384 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. Satisfaction guaranteed. Learn and read more for less. Domestic orders shipped daily using Media Mail rates from USPS with Delivery Confirmation. W/E and holidays orders shipped next business day. read more
"This is the best book I've read about Istanbul, a city I have visited many times and always find something new in. For photographers it cannot be bettered, and the photos are on every page. Pamuk weaves the city into his personal history, his family descended from the upper echelons of Ottoman society. Although I find him somewhat spoilt, his interpretation of why this great city is so different from all others is plausible, and the usual guide books are left standing. I've always since my first visit felt the sadness he describes pervading every aspect of life here, the ever-present imperial past casting a shadow over everyone's life in the shape of Ottoman and Byzantine reminders of former days on every street. The past cannot be escaped in this city. Nor should it be. London has its past too, but it is not so all-pervasive. Of course one must move on, but the past is a part of one's identity as much as the roots are a part of the oak tree's identity, hidden but essential, feeding the branches and leaves and necessary for their survival in the sun, though preferably forgotten in their underground existence. Everything in a city or in a man is a necessary part of the holistic whole. Perhaps the enduring roots are more necessary than the transient leaves."
"I really enjoyed this book. I loved Pamuk's description of his childhood with his family, the mood in Istanbul - attraction to Westernization, the melancholy of the lost/rotting grandeur of the empire times - and his longing to become an artist. He writes about that phase when you resent everything about yourself and your family, resenting what they're not, and then he writes of coming to terms to love things as they are. A very grown up kind of acceptance.
A late chapter is entitled "To Be Unhappy is to Hate Oneself and One's City". Here's an excerpt:
I've never wholly belonged to this city, and maybe that's been the problem all along. Sitting in my grandmother's apartment, drinking beer and liqueur with my family after a holiday feast, or tooling around the city on a winter's day with my rich would-be playboy friends from Robert Academy in their fathers' cars, I felt the same way I feel now if I'm walking the streets on a spring afternoon: The idea rises up inside me that I'm worthless and belong nowhere, that I must distance myself from these people and go hide in a corner--it's almost an animal instinct-but it's the desire the flee the very community that has opened its arms to me, it's God's all-seeing, all-forgiving gaze that induces such deep guilt. p.320"
"Menangkap Huzun Dengan Penuh Kehormatan di Istanbul
Jika Aku berkesempatan untuk jalan-jalan ke luar negeri, salah satu negara yang ingin aku singgahi adalah Turki dan Istanbul khususnya. Umumnya aku mengenal Turki lewat sekolah dan sejenis acara traveling diTV tapi setelah membaca keempat novel Orhan, aku jadi punya mimpi dengan negeri itu terutama Istanbul. Masalahnya dari yang aku dengar dan lihat Turki tidak se-melankolik seperti yang diungkapkan oleh Orhan. Ada banyak keceriaan, eksotisme, romantisme dan misteri di negeri itu. Kalaupun ada kemuraman, aku rasa disetiap kota di belahan dunia manapun pasti punya cerita suram yang sudah biasa dalam kronik pertumbuhan suatu kota. Tapi disini Orhan punya sudut pandang berbeda mengenai negerinya. Aku rasa dia terlalu jujur dan naïf tapi disitulah daya tariknya. Istanbul adalah sebuah memoar yang menceritakan seberapa kuat keterikatan antara Orhan dengan kota tempat dia dilahirkan dan dibesarkan. Meski Orhan datang dari keluarga berada akan tetapi karena lingkungan keluarga dan kotanya yang sangat melankolik membuat dia jarang merasa gembira. Ia menuturkan jika kemurungan yang menaunginya baru menjauh jika dia mabuk2n atau menggoda gadis2 bersama teman-temannya sekolahnya dengan mobil2 mewah milik ayah mereka. Orhan jg menggambarkan bahwa dia sangat berbeda denga kakaknya. Ia merasa tidak mempunyai optimisme yang besar seperti kakaknya dalam memandang hidupnya. Cara pandang Orhan terhadap diri dan kotanya tidak terlepas dari sejarah panjang negerinya. Jatuhnya Kesultanan Ustmani berabad2 lampau seakan2 membuat negerinya seperti terpuruk dalam kesedihan yang sangat mendalam. Dan dengan perlahan2 akhirnya dipenghujung abad 19 Turki merubah system pemerintahannya menjadi Republik yang berkiblat ke Barat. Orhan yang sangat sensitive merasa negerinya kini sedang berada di persimpangan dan kehilangan identitasnya. Tidak seperti kebanyakan orang2 Turki pada umumnya ia bisa melihat dan merasakan jiwa negerinya. Dan hal itulah yang membuat Orhan lebih menyukai menjadi seorang pelukis dan akhirnya menjadi penulis ketimbang menjalani kehidupan sebagai pengusaha, pegawai, pendidik atau birokrat. Orhan berpendapat jika dia memilih untuk menjadi orang kebanyakan dia merasa jiwanya akan kering karena hidup tidak lebih dari pertarungan dan persaingan untuk memperebutkan status dan kelas saja. Sedangkan jalan yang telah dipilihnya saat ini membuat dia bisa mensyukuri dan memaknai hidupnya karena ia merasa Istanbul adalah segalanya. Dalam bahasa Turki kesedihan yang sangat mendalam itu disebut Huzun atau Kemurungan. Huzun di Istanbul tidak hanya terlihat dari kebiasaan dan tingkah laku masyarakatnya saja tetapi juga dapat dirasakan dari bangunan2, lukisan2, tulisan2 dan budaya yang ada di kota itu juga digang2 sempit kawasan miskin Istanbul. Kegemilangan Turki pada masa Kesultanan Ustmani seakan tak berdaya mengahadapi gempuran modernitas barat. Di Istanbul saja misalnya banyak kastil2 bangsawan banyak yang dirobohkan dan berganti dengan apartemen atau di Boshporus Yeli2 juga sudah banyak yang beralih rupa dan fungsi. Keinginan Turki untuk menjadi negara sekuler membuatnya terperangkap dalam situasi melankolik yang berbuah kemurungan. Disatu sisi Turki ingin condong ke barat tetapi disisi lain ia masih mencari ciri2 nasionalismenya. Menurut Orhan ada empat pengarang yang membuatnya bisa menyelami jiwa Istanbul secara jujur. Mereka adalah; Sinasi Hisar, Yahya Kemal, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar dan Resat Ekrem Kocu. Keempat penulis menangkap dilema yang dihadapi oleh Turki dalam menentukan identitas nasionalnya. Dilematis dan ambivalensi kehidupan Orhan ditengah suasana kota Istanbul yang diselimuti kemurungan inilah seakan menjadi ekstasi baginya untuk berkarya. Membaca karya-karya Orhan sangat menguras tenaga dan emosi. Kadang juga aku merasa jenuh dan buntu, jadi untuk mengakalinya sering aku selingi dengan bacaan2n ringan yang lebih menyegarkan. Tapi aku tidak bisa memalingkan sedikitpun kekagumanku pada karya-karyanya yang dahsyat itu...
"A very brief comment for the time being: This book goes beyond a "Memories" and a tale of City with maybe a double history, with her many cultural/political shades. Orhan's sincerity in his either picturesque personal expressions and/or of the city he grows up in its' drastic changes in Twenty Century and beyond is rare -particularly among "Middle Eastern" writers. Short chapters are each one engaging. Occasionally, it appears to be a "simple" narrative of a child's life form a middle class family with many common features of similar families, however, his keen observations, remembrances of "those days" is captivating in its deceiving simplicity. As I finish this book I may add to this "commnet"."
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