Point of View

The novel is told through the eyes of the unnamed narrator, a writer travelling to find inspiration for his next book. Written entirely in the first-person, the narration is limited to what the narrator himself sees, feels, and thinks about the events, characters, and settings in the novel. However, as a writer the narrator is very perceptive and adept at reading the room and the intentions of others, and therefore sometimes recounts almost preternaturally divined intentions of other characters.

For example, when meeting Kamile for the first time at Mustafa’ party, the narrator “[swears] that she was thinking about how I made love, how it would be if we made love” (71) despite only having known her for a few minutes. Because we know later the two do have an affair, it is likely the narrator is correct despite the specific nature of his conjecture. Therefore...