ISTANBUL

A shimmering evocation, by turns intimate and panoramic, of oneof the world’s great cities, by its foremost writer. Orhan Pamukwas born in Istanbul and still lives in the family apartmentbuilding where his mother first held him in her arms. His portraitof his city is thus also a self-portrait, refracted by memory andthe melancholy–or hüzün– that allIstanbullus share: the sadness that comes of living amid theruins of a lost empire.
With cinematic fluidity, Pamuk moves from his glamorous, unhappyparents to the gorgeous, decrepit mansions overlooking theBosphorus; from the dawning of his self-consciousness to thewriters and painters–both Turkish and foreign–who would shape hisconsciousness of his city. Like Joyce’s Dublin and Borges’ BuenosAires, Pamuk’s Istanbul is a triumphant encounter of placeand sensibility, beautifully written and immensely moving.