SNOW by Orhan Pamuk

Reviewed by Alex Glaser

Margaret Atwood is correct when she claims that Orhan Pamuk is literally ‘narrating his country into being’ with the book Snow. More than anything else, this novel of a lost poet in search of love and inspiration in small town Turkey concerns itself with heady political, social, and spiritual questions unique to modern-day Turkey. The author treats these debates with care and prudence, and these debates in many ways reflect the ongoing debate about Turkey’s (in/ex)clusion to the European Union, making the novel incredibly relevant to Easterners and Westerners alike.

While the philosophical and spiritual deliberations in the novel are fascinating from a non-Turkish perspective, the storyline gets bogged down in these ongoing arguments. None of the characters, especially the protagonist poet Ka, stands on his or her own. They’re merely sketches of particular aspects of modern-day Turkey (i.e. Ka as the confused atheist, the revolutionary Blue as the radical Islamist, the actor Sunay Zaim as the artistic pro-Westerner). The characters speak with seemingly no inner monologue, commenting upon modern-day Turkey in prolonged soliloquies. While the debating remains far from tiresome, the storyline suffers immensely at its expense. The novel eventually concludes with a ludicrous faux play/assassination. Despite its narrative shortcomings, this remains essential reading in today’s post-colonial world, but be forewarned: the novel is all head, no heart.