BootsnAll Travel Community

When I first went to Istanbul in 1999, I wrongly assumed that the only Turkish author anyone had heard of was Yashar Kemal. My (Turkish) girlfriend at the time recommended me Orhan Pamuk a couple of times, but I was so preoccupied with other things, and at the time I don't think many of his books had been translated into English, so I never got round to reading him while I was in the city which he has made very much his own.

Only last year, I was looking through a bookshop in London when I came across Istanbul - memories of a city - and I bought it. It is not a conventional travel book; a series of philosophical questions about Istanbul that he sets out to answer, nor is it always easy - Orhan has a marvellously readable touch but he deals with issues that are not necessarily obvious or tangible. But I was amazed at how accurately he described this great city, both its appearance and the spirit that haunts it - and therefore I would recommend it to anyone about to go there.

Recently, for a Christmas present, I have received My Name is Red , one of his novels, and already it is a fascinating and gripping read. Beautifully written, it is a 16th Century detective mystery set in Istanbul and revolves around illustrators of books. Full of folklore, tall tales, and intrigue, this has to be a truly original and truly great novel. No wonder the guy won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006.

But why I recommend this book on these pages is that he conjures up an Istanbul which you will have to look for when you go there, but you will feel nevertheless.

Does anyone here know of other writers who conjure up the spirit of a place in their work. I would also put on my list Mark Mazower in his historical book about Thessaloniki, Salonica, City of Ghosts, for example.

I don't have much of a contribution here except: I couldn't get into My Name Is Red (though it could have been the stuff going on when I was reading it) but thought Snow was excellent. I'll have a look around for Istanbul.

I think there are a couple of books on Mumbai and I'm curious to hear if anyone has read those...I realize it sounds dumb but I don't have names.

I've heard good comments about Devil In The White City (?? - will check on Amazon if this is the right title after I post) about Chicago but haven't readi it myself.

EDIT: yep, that's the name, but it may not really be on the topic here.

I am reading the "Memories of a City" now. So I will have to report back on that later. So far, 100 pages into it, I really like it. He is the most popular/best selling author right now in Sweden (since he won the nobel prize).

One author, who does not write about big cities, but life in small town America is John Graves. Anything by him is well worth a read.

Also on my list: Norman Lewis' classic about Naples: Naples '44. Some things really don't change, and there are many passages that read as if it was straight out of Naples 2004 (when I last visited). Uncanny. It really is a warm, humane book. Norman Lewis is much-loved in my (and his) native UK, but books like this one aren't really appreciated enough.

Another writer on my list is Milan Kundera. A lot of Czech authors are able to capture the spirit of Prague, though Kundera was born in Brno. I also rate Ivan Klima (for contemporary Prague) and the legendary Bohumil Hrabal, whose short stories especially show the humour of the Czechs.

In an age where Prague is getting increasingly commercialised, it is a good idea to read these authors, though they are fiction writers, as they give a very good idea of what Prague is/was like away from the crowds.

For darker Prague, which just doesn't exist any more, i.e. the Prague of Kafka and Meyrink, you need to go to Zizkov and Josefov and use your imagination. It is hard in a gentrifed and restored place to see the Golem stalking the streets and the nightmarish expressionist world of these two authors.

Orhan Pamuk has the knack of capturing Istanbul both in non-fiction and in fiction; another author, this time English, Jason Goodwin, has also done the 'double'. His Lords of the Horizon is an interesting and highly-acclaimed whirl through the sultans of the Ottoman empire, sometimes in the form of an essay, sometimes historical.

But he is at his most page-turning in the hugely entertaining and highly original detective story, The Janissary Tree, which captures 1830's Istanbul in all its squalor and magnificence. The detective, Yashim, is a eunuch, originally enough, and Jason pulls on his knowledge of the Ottomans to create what is a very atmospheric book with lots of unusual twists and turns, a little like the windy alleyways he describes.

Finally finished Istanbul (after leaving my first copy on the bus and then having to buy a second copy of it, but that is ok, the second copy was a hardback).

Excellent book! It makes me wish I would have traveled there 20 years ago to see the way it was and then travel again this year to compare the difference.

My wife always makes fun of me when it comes to travel books amd biographies. When I am finished with one, I am always interested in learning more about the person or the place. When it comes to the place, it usually is that I want to learn by traveling to the place.

I bought snow as well. It is not next on the endless list of books, so who knows when I will get around to reading it, but it is on the bedside table to read.