by Orhan Pamuk

One of the most well-known and controversial authors writing in Turkey today, Orhan Pamuk was born in Istanbul in 1952. He aspired to be a painter in his youth, characterizing himself as the artistic member of a family of engineers. His education shows a penchant for writing despite earlier aspirations; after attending an American preparatory school in Istanbul, Pamuk earned a diploma in journalism at Istanbul University. He turned seriously to the craft of writing in 1974. In 1982, after eight years of searching for a publisher, Pamuk released his first novel, Cevdet Bey ve ogullari (Cevdet Bey and His Sons), which won two prizes and launched him on a rapid rise to fame. His subsequent novel Beyaz kale (1985; The White Castle), translated into English in 1990, met with enthusiastic international acclaim. Later novels—Kara kitap (1990; The Black Book, 1994), Yeni hayat (1994; The New...