I´ve read and enjoyed hiIs works. Thus far I´ve read:

Snow

My Name is Red

the New Life

White Castle

Black Book

Istanbul

I´ve found them good reads, if they are great literature, or not, is not for me to say. I like the stream of thought, use of images and semi surrealistic style. One theme I´ve found in all his books is the subject of change, throwing away the old and bringing in the new. We see that all over the world, it´s not unique to Turkey, and I do find it disturbing myself. So many old and beautiful treasures are destroyed so some new thing can take it´s place. I think preservation is more work, as a great deal of tedious sifting through is required. 

You will find he is not a popular author in Turkey. Why, what and all, I don´t get into. I´ve read his works translated by different people and still found them interesting. What they are like in the original Turkish, I can´t say. 

Most Turks I´ve met steer me to Yaşar Kemal, who I´ve also read and greatly enjoyed. It´s unfortunate, most his works are not translated into English. 

Seyh Galip´s Hüsn ü Aşk has a big influence on Kara Kitap. Reading it can help you to understand the novel better. 

http://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Love-MLA-Texts-Translations/dp/0873529340/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1355325109&sr=8-15&keywords=galip

Thank you Gokyum, that´s good to know. I found this analysis to be informative, and interesting. 

Yes, Pamuk seems concerned not only with the loss of ancient history ("When the Bosphorus Dries Up") but also with the loss of the era he grew up in -- the everyday sights, smells, sounds and objects. I had read "Museum of Innocence," in which the main character builds a collection of everyday objects that ends up capturing the era of his young adulthood. So, I was interested to see that years earlier in "Kara Kitap," Pamuk had also focused so on objects -- in Alaaddin´s shop, in Celal´s apartment, and near the end of the book when he has Galip pick up and carry around things that had belonged to Rüya. 

Pamuk in an interview with Maureen Freely: "I think each generation is defined by the objects around it. This feeling that we all had the same things! We were living in a detached national culture, unified ideologically, but protected by the state. There was no international infiltration. ... Now, for me, nostalgia is nostalgia for those objects. To be surrounded by those objects is a comfort. And the world is more like a home." 

As for Yaşar Kemal, I have read only "İnce Memed," but I enjoyed it, too. When I finally saw pictures of that part of Turkey, I was amazed at how he had so perfectly captured the landscape. It is a very vivid book.