Turkish Poetry and Literature |
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Beyaz Kale - White castle
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08 Dec 2007 Sat 09:30 pm |
Did you read Orhan Pamuks White Castle/Beyaz Kale?
If so, what did you think about it?
I have to prepare a short presentation after having read the book in Turkish and am curious to your ideas, maybe they will help me shape mine as I had difficulty to understand the philosophical tone of the book All I understood is that the borders between West and East are fading in his book, as they are eventually even able to take each others place.
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08 Dec 2007 Sat 10:52 pm |
Quoting Deli_kizin: Did you read Orhan Pamuks White Castle/Beyaz Kale?
If so, what did you think about it?
I have to prepare a short presentation after having read the book in Turkish and am curious to your ideas, maybe they will help me shape mine as I had difficulty to understand the philosophical tone of the book All I understood is that the borders between West and East are fading in his book, as they are eventually even able to take each others place. |
I read that book as well as all the rest of Pamuk's books. From what I gleaned from the book, there was a realization the Ottoman Empire had slipped behind in cultural, scientific and other areas. They were in decline and realized the "Franks" were getting ahead. In Beyaz Kale he does an analysis of that phenomenen:
The Ottomans lack of trust their own resources,
Shame in their stagnation.
The (almost) adulation of the West
Distrust of the "West" to their own detriment.
This seems to be (IMHO) a theme in all of his works.
This is, of course, a very short comment on this work, but I hope it helps.
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08 Dec 2007 Sat 11:13 pm |
Thanks, that is definitely useful my problem is that I cant place the happenings in a time frame (and that when having an exam on ottoman empire in 2 weeks :-S lots of work to do!!)
Anyone else?
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08 Dec 2007 Sat 11:16 pm |
I am not really a fan of Pamuk - all his works are a bit too Kafkaesque for me. White Castle is a prime example of this: at the end black is white and white is black, up is down and down is up. West is east and east is west.
Hmm ... my mathematical mind prefers absolutes, not riddles.
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08 Dec 2007 Sat 11:19 pm |
Thats actually what I thought so surprising and interesting about his book Im not a huge fan in any way, but cant say his books havent left an impression.
Especially Kara Kitap and Yeni Hayat.
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09 Dec 2007 Sun 12:00 am |
Beyaz Kale = A post-modern story.
17.yüzyılda Türk korsanları tarafından Venedik'ten Napoli'ye giden bir gemide esir alınıp, veba hastalığının kol gezdiği İstanbul'a getirilen bir Venedikli köle ile bu kölenin sahibi olan Hoca arasında, o zamanki Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun başkenti olan, İstanbul'da geçen romanda;batı bilimi ele alınır; astronomi, fizik, matematik, biyoloji, din ve savaş konuları üzerine psikolojik değerlendirmeler yapılır.Romanın kahramanı olan köle, bir romancı kimliğine girer, soyut düşÃ¼ncelerle kendisini anlatır ve bu soyutlenmış kimliği bir hayalet gibi bir kültürden diğer bir kültüre geçer ve olumlu bir yönde yoluna başarılı bir şekilde devam eder.
Romanın verdiği mesaj şudur =Bir kimse, içinde bulunduğu koşullar ne kadar güç olursa olsun, olumlu bir yönde, sonuna kadar kilşisel bir mücadele içinde olmalıdır; yani
Ernest Hemingway'in de bir romanında vurguladığı gibi,bir insan olumlu bir yönde mücadele verdiği bir yolda yenilebilir, ama mağlup edilemez".
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09 Dec 2007 Sun 01:24 am |
Gee Yilgun....it would be nice if you posted this in English...I would really like to read your opinion...
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09 Dec 2007 Sun 01:26 am |
Quoting Deli_kizin: Thats actually what I thought so surprising and interesting about his book Im not a huge fan in any way, but cant say his books havent left an impression.
Especially Kara Kitap and Yeni Hayat. |
Interesting Yeni Hayat was my favorite. Angel...Angel?
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09 Dec 2007 Sun 01:42 am |
I read a book one day and my whole life was changed = Bir gün bir kitap okudum ve bütün hayatım değişti...
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09 Dec 2007 Sun 02:11 am |
Quoting yilgun-7: I read a book one day and my whole life was changed = Bir gün bir kitap okudum ve bütün hayatım değişti... |
Did you find a big difference in the English translation version from the original Turkish one?
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