Darcy (The United States)鈥檚 review of Snow

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Snow
by

Orhan Pamuk

Darcy's review

Jul 24, 2007

it was amazing

bookshelves: twentieth-century-novels

(view spoiler)[

In a lot of ways, Snow isn't much different from some of Pamuk's other novels--Ka wanders around Kars just as Galip wanders around Istanbul in The Black Book, and Ka's vacillation between acute perception of others and paralytic insecurities about himself is straight from Black in My Name is Red. It's almost as though Pamuk keeps writing the same novel over and over--a novel about how men define themselves, particularly those men who discover they no longer seem to fit into the very physical space they occupy; in this case, Ka can't decide if he can still be Turkish after living in Germany for so many years.

It isn't a question that the book ends up answering, either. Ka returns to Turkey only to discover that writing doesn't make it any easier to deal with the decisions he finds himself making throughout his stay in Kars: does he believe in God or not? Does he love Ipek or not? Should he stay in Turkey or not? Does he support Westernization or not? It would be easy to reduce this novel to a story in which East meets West through the figure of Ka, but the novel seems to be much more interested not in that intersection, but in what occurs when one tries to write about that intersection. In fact, this is a novel made up entirely of all kinds of writing--newspaper articles, play productions, poems, speeches, video recordings, and Ka's notes. All these are filtered through the narrator, who is attempting to locate "Ka" in those very documents--as though if one could simply find the green notebook, or discover the meaning of the snowflake diagram then one could concretely define Ka's identity. The end result is a rather nasty joke--Orhan Pamuk the narrator spends ages collecting all the bits of paper that comprise the life of Ka and then spends even more time piecing it all together, only to come up with not much: Ka is not a terribly interesting person. He's a washed-up poet and a crappy lover. The intense focus on identity leads only to a dead end in which Ka cannot be recovered through writing, just as the events in Kars cannot be explained or understood through the novel.

Ka's motivations, his misogyny, and his indifference to others generally go unremarked by the narrator, causing the reader to wonder where, exactly, the narrator's fascination with Ka comes from. It is, of course, an ironic fascination--in becoming so wrapped up in Ka and Ka's actions, the narrator has failed to understand the underlying problems in the system and in the coup: there is no "right" side in this novel--the secularists, the Kurdish Nationalists, the Islamic fundamentalists, the Westernized Turkish exiles, the ex-Communists are all simply passing around the same system of power. It is a system (and one that Ka participates in throughout the novel) in which women become icons for men, just as Ipek is an icon for Ka. As a result, the initial story that brings Ka to Kars--the suicide girls--drops out of the narrative until even Kadife becomes fed up with it. This story fizzles out as Kadife neatly sums it all up: "I'm sick of hearing men talking about why suicide girls commit suicide." It is this story--this initial narrative that Ka sympathizes with but does not apply in his own life--that provides the keys to the other stories of isolation, social pressure, and political coercion. But the suicide girls end up forgotten in this book as the men talk about them to the point of rendering those women only stories.

I like Pamuk's novels, but I find them very difficult to read. They are slow, philosophical, and the main character is often so contradictory as to be slippery. This novel doesn't have the same type of experimental structure as My Name is Red--the narrative framework is more subtle. But I think that given the focus on writing (Ka cannot discover himself through his poems, Orhan Pamuk cannot discover Ka through the novel, and no one can figure out the suicide girls), identity and politics, this strategy is better. (hide spoiler)]

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Reading Progress

July 24, 2007 – Shelved

Started Reading

November 1, 2007 – Finished Reading

November 22, 2009 – Shelved as: twentieth-century-novels

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Comments Showing 1-14 of 14 (14 new)

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message 1: by Nikki (new)

Dec 16, 2007 11:04AM

great incite, thanks!

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message 2: by Darcy (new) - rated it 5 stars

Dec 16, 2007 03:09PM

thanks, Nikki! I did really enjoy the book, in case you're thinking about reading it ;)

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message 3: by Lynne (last edited Jan 17, 2010 11:00AM) (new) - rated it 4 stars

Jan 17, 2010 10:58AM

Darcy, I do not know you but I wanted you to know that I enjoyed reading your review about Snow.

Snow is the only book by Pamuk that I have read so far but was thinking about My Name is Red.

I would like to know what books of his you have read that you would rank higher than the others in reading?

I have a feeling that I will be reading several books by him if they are as good as Snow.

Please only reply if you want to but in case you do,thanks in advance for your help.

Happy Reading

Lynne

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message 4: by Darcy (last edited Jan 17, 2010 08:15PM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Jan 17, 2010 08:15PM

Hi, Lynne,

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the review! I've read three of Pamuk's books so far and my favorite is actually My Name is Red. I liked Snow a lot and in many ways Red is very similar. But I found the murder mystery and the narrative structure of Red to be a bit more compelling than the bio of Snow.

I've also read The Black Book, but that novel is much more philosophical than the other two, I think. That said, parts of it are excellent--especially the excerpts from the columns. On the whole, though, I'd say to wait on The Black Book. It's pretty different from the other two.

I hope that helps, Lynne! And I hope you enjoy My Name is Red!

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message 5: by Lynne (new) - rated it 4 stars

Jan 18, 2010 08:53AM

Hi Darcy, I will read My Name is Red next time I read Pamuk then. Thanks for the thumbs up.

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message 6: by Darcy (new) - rated it 5 stars

Jan 18, 2010 09:26AM

My pleasure!

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message 7: by Sherien (new)

Feb 06, 2010 05:16AM

Very interesting review Darcy. I'm planning to read Snow soon.

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message 8: by Ayu (new) - rated it 4 stars

Feb 06, 2010 09:55PM

I'm reading Snow now, and even though your review seems to be very interesting and deep, I try so hard not to read it *closes eyes*

I agree with you that My Name is Red is magnificent!

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message 9: by Bettie (new) - rated it 4 stars

Feb 13, 2010 02:34AM

Great review Darcy and it has pulled out a thread which needed pulling, namely, did Pamuk realise Ka purposefully as a Turkish version of Hamlet?

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message 10: by Ayu (new) - rated it 4 stars

Feb 13, 2010 02:48AM

The Turkish version of Hamlet? Could you explain more about that, Bettie?

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message 11: by Bettie (new) - rated it 4 stars

Feb 13, 2010 02:54AM

Ayu wrote: "The Turkish version of Hamlet? Could you explain more about that, Bettie? "

The indecisiveness and inner turmoil of Ka, and his inability to act in a timely fashion to save an 'ophelia' character.

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message 12: by Niledaughter (new) - rated it 4 stars

Apr 27, 2010 07:35AM

Thanks :)

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message 13: by Frances (new)

Nov 21, 2016 07:10AM

What an excellent and thoughtfu review this is - thank you for writing it. I love 'Snow' and have also read 'Museum of Innoccence' which I also love. The immensity of the task he sets himself in weaving, into one... um... weft? warp? tapestry?... such a mass of threads without ever leaving any holes leaves me dumb with admiration.

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message 14: by Sabeena (new) - rated it 4 stars

Oct 29, 2018 02:24AM

This is an incredibly observant review! You've managed to create some connection between all the tangents- and have explained it wonderfully. Thank you. I feel a huge relief now :D

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