Istanbul cover art

Istanbul

Memories of a City

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Istanbul

By: Orhan Pamuk, Maureen Freely
Narrated by: John Lee
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About this listen

Istanbul is a shimmering evocation, by turns intimate and panoramic, of one of the world's great cities, by its foremost writer. Orhan Pamuk, winner of the Nobel Prize in 2006, was born in Istanbul, in the family apartment building where his mother first held him in her arms. His portrait of his city is thus also a self-portrait, refracted by memory and the melancholy-or hüzün- that all Istanbullus share: the sadness that comes of living amid the ruins of a lost Ottoman Empire.
As he companionably guides us across the Bosphorus, through Istanbul's historical monuments and lost paradises, its dilapidated Ottoman villas, back streets and waterways, he also introduces us to the city's writers, artists and murderers.
Like the Dublin of Joyce and Jan Morris' Venice, Pamuk's Istanbul is a triumphant encounter of place and sensibility, beautifully written and immensely moving.

©2013 Orhan Pamuk (P)2013 Faber Audio Europe Middle East Sociology Turkey Urban Ottoman Empire Imperialism Middle ages

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All stars
Most relevant  
Told in an authentic way - memories from a family with lovely descriptive passages about old Istanbul

Fascinatingly interesting 😊

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Took me a few chapters to fully get into it but once I did, I really enjoyed and appreciated Pamuk’s genius. The translation and the narration are also very well done.

Brilliant

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Overall enjoyable but at times a hard listen. Full of facts and references not all relevant. Have read better books from this author.

Worth the effort

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Apart from the excellent descriptions of a fascinating city, I found his struggle through painting and then a failed university diploma in architecture very moving. It is this part of the book that brought it alive for me. His eye for his beloved city may well have been aided by his 2 'failed' careers; it is full of lyricism and insight.

Development of a writer

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The writer describes Istanbul very evocatively, weaving aspects of his personal history with that of the city. Describing atmosphere is a challenging task, but Pamuk does so in a way which draws out many moods and tensions.

Atmosphere

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Great book , well read .
What's not to like?
Highly recommended . A must for those who intend to visit or have visited the city .

Brilliant

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Stuffed full of nostalgic and personal minutiae, it descended into a disorganised miscellany of this and that from times gone by, jumping around and failing to hold my attention

Self indulgent and random

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