Without exaggeration, the most novels I have read by a foreign author are Orham Pamuk's novels. In 2010, when I read his book "My Name is Red", I became more fascinated by his novels. The reason why I am fascinated by his writing is very simple. As a writer from a neighboring country, he knows Farhank and Iran's society much more closely than other foreign writers and speaks more impartially about it. He is also familiar with the political system and the so-called enlightened thoughts of Abran.
As a prominent Turkish writer, Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006, and he deservedly received this award due to his unique storytelling that originates from the fabric of Turkish society and culture.
In my opinion, the novel "Snow" is the most political novel by Orhan Pamuk, whose story takes place in 2002 in the city of Kars, Turkey, a city near Georgia and Armenia, and the poet and writer exiled to Germany returns to his country Turkey.
"Ka" as a poet and journalist who is the main character of the novel "Snow" goes to a friend's recommendation to research and prepare a report about the increasing number of suicides among girls and young women who are prohibited from wearing headscarves in school, but in the story The reader realizes that "Ka" is looking for Ipak, his former classmate and his student love, who is separated from his wife "Blue". Also, "Ka" is looking for an opportunity to live in that environment, to regain his lost main passion, which is writing poetry.
Ipak's ex-wife is an extreme Islamist, and "Ka" finds himself in a dilemma when faced with her and his like-minded people on the one hand and the seculars of his city on the other hand, and seeks to find a way to preserve his identity, beliefs and love for Ipak.
In the political instability of Turkey at that time, the wave of religious extremism with the support of countries like Iran was castrated and challenged the rule of secularism, and the contradiction between tradition and modernity added to the identity crisis of the people.
Symbols are very important in the novel. The snow, despite its beauty, has covered the ugly face of the city of Kars and Khafghan, and the scarf as a symbol of women's religion has been imprisoned. Narration on page 119 of the book
"As if the snow had thrown a veil over the hatred..."
"Ka" struggles with his learnings and beliefs in the face of Islamists and secularists.
"IPAC" wants to be freed from the shackles of Islamists and be a symbol of modern western women.
Students who are in a crisis between the two official educational models of schools that promote secular life and family education and environment that states salvation through religious beliefs and Sharia law.
"Kars" has sad and bewildered people who are trapped among the big and scary snow grains. Narration on page 146 of the book "The only people who can be happy in Kars are fools and villains."
In this book, Orhan Pamuk presents the perspective of Turkey's socio-political tensions with his story-telling and points out the danger of the growth of religious extremism on the one hand and the humiliation of religion and ethnic minorities on the other hand. And finally, the tension between East and West, which has been clearly revealed in Turkey, should be expressed impartially and does not write biasedly about a particular group.
A few years ago, Khashayar Junidi from BBC Farsi had an interview with Orhan Pamuk, which is so informative and listenable that I put the link in the caption.
I would like to end this video with the eternal sentence from this book on page 298.
"The greatest deception of the last thousand years is this: mistaking poverty for stupidity."
Reading Orhan Pamuk's book "Snow" was the best gift That I gave for myself in these last days of 2021.
Ka has traveled to the city that has born and grow up in to prepare a report about Head Scarf girls' suicides. He has been exiled from his country because of their poems." They are committing suicide because they are unhappy." page 68
Islamists who seek power by promising freedom and not opposing modernity, and after achieving power do not care about freedom and humanity, so return to fundamentalism day by day.
"I have always wanted this country to propose, to modernist... I, ve wanted freedom for its people.” Ka said."But it seemed to me that our religion was always against all this." Page 103
They declare their orders and beliefs as God's point and they consider their opponents to be the opponents of God.
" When a girl has accepted the headscarf as the word of God and the symbol of faith, it’s very difficult for her to take it off." page 129
Orhan Pamuk describes Iran as a vivid example of a government that came to power with the promise of freedom for all and after the government took over, they start to kill Intellectuals and deny freedom.
" to see that whole world destroyed, to see our sisters forced to wear head scarves, to see poems banned for being antireligious, as has happened already in Iran - this is one Spectacle I don't think you would be prepared to take lying down." Page 217
" outside the Snow had Started falling again; The Snowflakes he could see from his window were large and dreary." Page 188
Authoritarian governments even seek to change the Concepts and meanings of words.
" To become an atheist, then, you must first become a westerner. said Necip. I want to become a westerner and a believer said Ka." page 155
" if we use the term Western democracy instead of the West, you'd have a better chance of pricking people’s consciences." page 247
" They considered replacing Humanity with the West." Page 294
Orhan Pamuk's book "Snow" shows very well the traces of Iran in the exchange of the region.
"First, try to be like everyone else, then try to believe in God." page 354
" what do you think you achieve by concealing the whereabouts of an Islamist terrorist wilt blood on hands who is in the pay of Iran?" page 383
"uncle Mahmut was not deterred from describing vividly and at length what the Iranian mullahs had done to their former democratic and communist allies; they stuck dynamite up their asses and blew them sky-high, lined up all the prostitutes and homosexuals and gunned them down, and banned all nonreligious books. When they got their hands on intellectual poseurs like ka, they immediately Shaved their heads, and as for their ludicrous books of Poetry ... " Page 383
Some Note
"If I were an author and Ka were a character in a book, I'd say, 'snow reminds Ka of God! But I'm not sure it would be accurate. what brings me closer to God is the silence of snow." P 65
“It shook me to the core, because it showed me that you believe with all your heart that this world is nothing more than a preparation for the next." page 114
"It was as if snow cast a veil over hatreds…" P 119
" We all sin in our dream with people who wouldn't remotely interest us in our walking lives." Page 131
" The only people who can be happy in kars are the idiots and the villains." page 146
" outside the Snow had Started falling again; The Snowflakes he could see from his window were large and dreary." Page 188
"let the snow keep falling, he thought; let it fall for days and months on end; let it cover the city of Kars so completely that no one will ever find it again. Page 268
" from time to time, Ka turned his head to watch the snow falling in Ipek's eyes." page 270
" People don't know when they are happy, at least not at the moment." page 285
" The biggest deception of the past thousand years is this: to confuse poverty with stupidity." Page 298
"This is hard to explain to people who don't already understand," page 303
" Ka said: for me, heaven was the place where you kept your memories." Page 312
"An intellectual's job is to Speak against holiness," page 319
" to play the rebel heroine in turkey you don't pull off your Scarf, you put it on." Said Kadife. page 337
" all those rebel Sheikhs who rise up because they fear our religion is slipping away. all those militants Trained in Iran."Page 350
"Happiness is finding another world to live in, a world where you can forget all this poverty and tyranny. happiness is holding someone in your arms and knowing you hold the whole world." Snow, Orhan Pamuk page 353
" I want you to see that a heart of oatmeal gets you nowhere and you have no reason to conceal the whereabouts of this murderous monster." page 378
" contrary to popular opinion, a man can shut love out if he wants to. but to do so, he must free himself not only from the woman who has bewitched him but also from the third person in the story, the ghost who has put temptation in his way." page 412
Khalife, the leader of the headscarf girls says:
Khalife gave the following reply:" in a city where men are killing each other like animals just to make it a happier place, who has the right to stop me from killing myself?" page 427
Kadife said: "The main reason women commit suicide is to save their pride. at least that's what most women kill themselves for." Page 430
She said: " A woman doesn't commit suicide because she's lost her pride, She does it to show her pride." Page 430
"Women kill themselves because they hope to gain Something," said Kadife. "men kill themselves because they've lost hope of gaining anything." p 431
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