Reviews

Het zwarte boek by Orhan Pamuk

aly_moh's review against another edition

5.0

ساحر وعبقرى ومدهش ...الرواية دى عظيمة جدا لدرجة محيرة ...على مدار الصفحات وبصبر وثقة عظيمين باموق بيمارس الحفر فى وعى القارىء وبيشركه معاه فى رحلة غرائبية مزيج من التصوف وقصص العشق الدنيوى والألهى والمؤامرات والحركات السرية والجدل السياسى والدينى ....يضاف عليها تفرد باموق والتقاطه للتفاصيل الصغيرة والتافهة الموجودة فى الحياة اليومية العادية كغطاء علبة قديم او دمية معلقة فوق التلفاز أو قبو منزل صغير تفوح منه رائحة الأشياء المهملة والمنسية أو زوجة تنظر شاردة للشارع من وراء النافذة فى عصر يوم شتوى غائم والعديد من الحكايات القصيرة الأخرى الفانتازية والساحرة ....بطل الكتاب الاسود يخرج باحثا عن زوجته واخيها ليكتشف أثناء عملية البحث أنه يبحث عن نفسه وعن تاريخ مدينته وهويتها

ercagp's review against another edition

3.0

I won't read Orhan Pamuk anymore.

He depresses me with the sordid environment he created in his books and mostly makes me upset with Dostoyevsky type of conversations.

I wouldn't strongly recommend this book to anyone interested with dark literature.

klara1204's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

inesdalmeida's review against another edition

4.0

The book is wonderfully written and you can definitely feel the passion of the author get in between the lines of the narrative.
I think that for someone (like me) who has not have exposure to Turkish/Middle Eastern culture, it made me want to find out more and I would definitely be reading and googling a lot at first until I got a grasp for it.
In the end, it made my heart fly to Istanbul and participate in the insomnia that was this narrative and I dutifully recommend it to readers looking for a different type of mystery novel.

fdikili's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

hafious's review against another edition

3.0

Touted as one of Orhan Pamuk's best novels 'The Black Book' takes the idea of a detective novel and turns it into an almost 500 page novel about Istanbul and identity. This wasn't a bad book by any means but it's less a thriller and more of a discussion with one chapter a column by Galip/Celal and the other follows the story. If you're used to Orhan's musings then you'll enjoy this novel like I did but if not then be prepared for less action and more exposition. The actual story told on the blurb really only starts halfway through the novel and the ending was kind of predictable but it was really more about the journey. This was my second novel by Orhan Pamuk and having adored 'A Strangeness In my Mind' I wasn't floored by this but I'm eager to read more by Orhan Pamuk.

jenn_h's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

3.0

murmur75's review against another edition

Too much rambling on in extremely long convoluted sentences. Not enough patience.

ali_w15's review against another edition

2.0

Couldn’t even finish it. Some nice descriptions of the setting but otherwise I have no idea what this story is about. Dual narrative doesn’t work- who even is that other narrator?? It just felt dull and pointless. Didn’t even finish it. Life is too short.

yc0210's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

Very much not a book for me, it turns out, but really lovely sections (drying up of the Bosporous and the executioner chapter stand out), rich and complex themes...just not for me