Review A Strangeness in My Mind By Orhan Pamuk

“It is not customary to marry the little one while standing older.”

Şinasi – Poet Marriage

Content Summary

In the article, we will present a short summary of the Nobel laureate Turkish author Orhan Pamuk’s A Strangeness in My Mind Novel and make a general review.

A Strangeness in My Mind Price Comparison

A Strangeness in My Mind tels about the life of man named Mevlut, who would not be friends with but would want to chat with. We start the novel with the crowds who came form all over Anatolia to Istanbul to sell yoghurt and boza in the 50’s and 60’s. Mevlut and his father are two men who left Konya’s village to Istanbul hoping to get rich after his uncle.

Mevlut’s uncle and the sons of his uncle are indeed the types who have become rich with ambition in a short time. Mevlut’s father is a naive type who does not take risks. He was jealous of his brother all his life. He thinks he can get rich by selling yogurt and boza. However, he was able to build a one-room house only thanks to his brother and he could not go further than this.

A Strangeness in My Mind Turkish Book Cover

Mevlut is a loser like his father. He is a person who does not take advantage of the wealth opportunities that he has achieved thanks to his Uncle’s sons because he finds it immoral and then regrets it constantly. Mevlut is one of the interesting characters I’ve read so far. It is clear that the author has been thinking about it for years. The character of this lucky and weird man made the text incredibly gripping. There were moments when I woke up from my sleep at night and read the novel.

The Topic of Strangeness In My Mind

The dramatic point of the novel is that Süleyman deceived Mevlut and kidnapped Rayiha instead of Semiha, whom he saw and liked at the wedding. Mevlut realized the night he kidnapped that the girl to whom he had written letters without knowing for three years was not Semiha. However, they got married without telling Rayiha about this and they were happy for many years. Until one day when Süleyman came out and confessed everything in order to get Semiha.

Orhan Pamuk wanders the streets of Istanbul, which he loves so much. Source

There is a family tree with the characters of the novel at the beginning and the end of the book. You realize how useful this is after you start the novel. It allows you to easily visualize the family situations of Aktaş and Karataş until you reach the middle of the novel.

In addition, there is a chronology section at the end of the book, which will also facilitate the reader’s job and at the same time add a historical reality to the novel. Here both the specific situation of the protagonist (Mevlut’s marriage, military service, his father’s death) as well as the dates of some events in the world and Turkey (80 strokes, attacks on the twin towers) ranked chronologically.

In A Strangeness In My Mind, the change of Istanbul and even the country from 1950s to 2012 has found its place with great care. The reader sees this through Mevlut’s eyes and is surprised at the change. The author personally witnessed this change from slum life in Duttepe and Kültepe, which ended with Hacı Hamit Tower.

Orhan Pamuk is in front of the nobel committee.

Mevlut, who never gives up being a boza seller, is very happy while doing this job. The streets he walks around at night are actually in his head. In addition, Bozacı Mevlut benefited from being invited to houses while selling boza, and the determinations made on the sociological and economic situation of the period are also very appropriate.

A Strangeness in My Mind has some language flaws. It’s not up to me to criticize a Nobel laureate writer, but it bothered me that he called the word pictures as a painting. But apart from that, this is all I can highly recommend and tell about the book with the strange inconveniences it causes even when it’s finished. Do not forget to write your thoughts and enlighten us.

Orhan Pamuk’s Book

The author took his first step into the literary world with his book Cevdet Bey and His Sons, published in 1982, and focused on narrative and thought texts, mostly novels throughout his life.

Novels

• Cevdet Bey and His Sons
• Silent House
• The White Castle
• The Black Book
• The New Life
• My Name is Red
• Snow
• The Museum of Innocence
• A Strangeness in My Mind
• The Red Haired Woman

Memory

• Istanbul: Memories and The City

Script

• Secret Face

Course, Speech and Highlights

• My Father’s Suitcases
• Naive and Sentimental Novelist
• Balkon
• Orange

Apart from his books, he also has a museum called The Museum of Innocence, which he opened based on his novel. This museum has recently suffered a fire.

See you at the next review.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orhan_Pamuk