A Strangeness in my Mind

     Author                       Orhan Pamuk

     Country                     Turkey

     Genre                         Fiction

     Publication Date       Dec 2014

     Pages                          624

This is my first book by this award winning author and I can’t say anything more than the fact that I have enjoyed this immensely. The simplicity of his writing, the depth of his messages and the strengths of his characters will stay with me for a long time.

Set in Istanbul, against the backdrop of the wave of communism, this is the story of Mevlut and his life as a boza seller. Through the book, Orhan Pamuk very skilfully traces Mevlut’s transition from a young man who migrates to the city with his father to an old and mature Mevlut who relies on his boza selling walks as a means of calming his mind after his wife’s death. The simplicity of Mevlut’s life, his true love for his wife, Rahiya and his daughters is truly enchanting and endearing.

One of the central tenets of the book is boza selling.  On one side it reflects Turkish traditions which are being kept alive by boza sellers like Mevlut. On the other hand, the walks associated with selling boza give us a peek into Mevlut’s soul. These walks are nothing less than meditation for him: they are his windows to the world.

“Walking fuelled his imagination and reminded him that there was another realm within our world, hidden away behind the walls of a mosque, in a collapsing wooden mansion, or inside a cemetery.”

The purity of Mevlut’s soul and the simplicity of his life are truly appealing. Despite eloping with the wrong woman, the fact that Mevlut never lets Rahiya even get an inkling of that, is a true reflection of his character. He grows to become extremely fond of Rahiya and looks towards the time spent with her and his two daughters as the highest points of his life! When asked what he would do if he won the lottery, Mevlut simply responds: “I'd just sit at home with my daughter's and watch TV, nothing more.”

My most favourite part of the book is the ending; which is all encompassing and brings the story back to complete the full circle.  Mevlut does what he does best in the last chapter – walks around the city and sells boza. His reflections on life as he does this and the comments from passer-by’s congratulating him on keeping up an old tradition wind the story up beautifully. And no ending would have been perfect without Mevlut’s thoughts turning to Rahiya;

“I have loved Rahiya more than anything in this world”

These are the words that the book ends with and nothing could have done more justice to the ending that these words.

In summary, I have greatly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend this to one & all!