''A Strangeness in My Mind'' () is a 2014 novel by

Orhan Pamuk Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; ) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him ...

. It is the author's ninth novel.

Knopf Doubleday Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the follow ...

published the English translation by Ekin Oklap in the U.S.,A Strangeness in My Mind

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Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

''. August 24, 2015. Retrieved on December 2, 2015. while

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published the English version in the UK. The story takes place in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, documenting the changes that the city underwent from 1969 to 2012. The main character is Mevlut, who originates from central

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

and arrives as a 12-year-old boy; the course of the novel tracks his adolescence and adulthood.Liss, Barbara.
Istanbul is a central character in Orhan Pamuk's 'A Strangeness in My Mind'
" ''

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''. October 30, 2015. Retrieved on December 2, 2015. Mevlut gets married in 1982, and finds a lack of success in making money.A STRANGENESS IN MY MIND

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Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

. Posted online: July 29, 2015. Review issue: September 1, 2015. Retrieved on December 2, 2015. Elena Seymenliyska of ''

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'' described the book as "a family saga that is as much an elegy to Istanbul as to its generations of adopted residents."Seymenliyska, Elena.
A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk, review: 'An elegy to Istanbul'

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''. October 19, 2015. Retrieved on December 2, 2015. ''

'' stated that "what really stands out is Pamuk's treatment of Istanbul's evolution into a noisy, corrupt, and modernized city." ''

'' states that the author "celebrates the city’s vibrant traditional culture—and mourns its passing". The novel is almost 600 pages long. Dwight Garner of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that the book has "the stretch of an epic but not the impact of one."Garner, Dwight.
Review: Orhan Pamuk’s ‘A Strangeness in My Mind’

. ''

''. October 21, 2015. Retrieved on December 2, 2015.

Characters

* Mevlut Karatas – Mevlut was born in

Konya Province Konya Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality in southwest Central Anatolia, Turkey. Its area is 40,838 km2, making it the largest province by area, and its population is 2,296,347 (2022). The provincial capital is the city ...

in 1957 and moves to Istanbul at age 12, during the summer of 1969. Early in the novel he attends Atatürk Boys' Secondary School, and he sells

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

and

boza Boza, also bosa, is a fermented beverage originating from Central Asia and made in parts of the Balkans, Turkey, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and North Africa. It is a malt drink made by fermenting various grains: maize (corn) and wheat in Turkey ...

. Kirkus Reviews describes him as a "nice guy" type person. One character describes Mevlut as "a bit of a weirdo, but he's got a heart of gold." * Rayiha – Mevlut ends up marrying Rayiha even though, in the course of writing love letters to her, he thought he was writing to her younger sister; it turns out the younger sister is named Samiha, but he chooses to marry her anyway and they have a happy relationship. * Süleyman – Mevlut's cousin, he tricks him into writing letters to Rayha instead of Samiha, because Süleyman wants Samiha. * Korkut – Another cousin of Mevlut. Kirkus Reviews describes him as an "odious right-wing" person who "treats his wife like a servant". * Mustafa – Mevlut's father

Style

According to Garner the author was able to write "alert, humane, nonwonky prose" as a result of researching varied topics. Seymenliyska stated that the novel uses the same voice regardless of which of the characters are speaking. Sometimes characters speak directly to the reader. Dwight Garner wrote that the narrators "contradict one another as if they were talking heads in an early Spike Lee movie." According to Garner, the 2015 English version has humor that "flows freely" and was "lucidly translated".

Reception

Seymenliyska rated the story four of five stars. Garner stated that the author had done a good job with research, but while Garner "was not deeply, viscerally bored" with the novel he "mostly turned its pages with polite interest rather than real desire." ''Kirkus Reviews'' stated "Rich, complex, and pulsing with urban life: one of this gifted writer's best." Kirkus named it as one of the "Best Fiction Books of 2015". The book was shortlisted for the 2017

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

and the 2016

International Booker Prize The International Booker Prize (formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize) is an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the International Prize to complement the Man Booker Prize, as the Boo ...

References

External links

*
A Strangeness in My Mind
' -

* Galehouse, Maggie.
Review: Orhan Pamuk’s ‘A Strangeness in My Mind’

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''. October 31, 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Strangeness in My Mind Turkish novels 2014 novels Novels set in Istanbul Novels by Orhan Pamuk