Istanbul

AUTHOR: Orhan Pamuk PUBLISHER: Faber and Faber, Allen and Unwin RRP: $24.99

REVIEWER: Mary Ann Elliott

ORHAN Pamuk’s name is virtually synonymous with his home city of Istanbul.

Turkey’s most famous writer and Nobel prize-winner has written many books on his beloved town.

This intricately illustrated edition of his earlier memoirs about life in Istanbul includes more than 200 additional photographs and a new introduction.

Despite global fame, and in an era of mass migration, Pamuk still lives in the old family apartment where he was brought up.

The hundreds of black and white photographs and ancient illustrations interspersed throughout lend an air of poignancy and melancholy to Pamuk’s narrative.

The decaying tumbledown houses, the smoke rising from the ships on the Bosphorus, the tall minarets, vast exotic mosques and calls to prayer are vividly described.

One can imagine oneself in the cobbled laneways of the old town, imbibing the atmosphere.

Traditional life carries on regardless of the 21st century. To read this enchanting story is to be enveloped in a bygone age.

Pamuk’s deep connection to the city and its people are richly evoked in his extraordinarily moving book.