Snow

Besides being the weather phenomenon we all know and love, Snow is also the title to the book I'm reading for my final symposium for my middle eastern history class. It's by a Turkish author named Orhan Pamuk, who's won the Nobel Prize in literature two or three times, once for this book. I'm a little over halfway through it right now, and it is fantastic. Even reading it at lightning speed (block plan), I totally understand the cultural context, social nuances, and personal issues going on at several levels. Snow's a recurring theme, obviously, and it's also very deep, but if you have some time and want a really good murder mystery meets sad love story meets social turmoil book, it's a keeper.

Here's two of my favorite excerpts from my reading today. I just love when authors get it exactly right at that exact moment in fictional time. Perfect:
"And how beautiful was the falling snow! How large the snowflakes were, and how decisive. It was as if they knew their silent procession would continue until the end of time. The wide avenue was buried knee-deep; it climbed up a slope to disappear into the night. How white and how mysterious!"

context-- sad, sorry, pathetic, but oddly courageous and charming man "Ka" is trying to win the heart of his long lost "love" (personally, I think he's delusional and should base is love on more than a first glance after 20 years of separation...but whateva. then it wouldn't be interesting.) anyways, this is his love's sister telling him what he needs to do to get the girl:
(Ka): "What do I have to do to convince her to trust me?"
"It may not happen in the first instant, but within ten minutes of meeting a man, a woman has a clear idea of who he is, or at least who he might be for her, and her heart of hearts has already told her whether or not she's going to fall in love with him. But her head needs time to understand what her heart has decided. If you ask me, there's very little a man can do at this point except wait for time to take its course. If you really love her, all you have to do is tell her all the beautiful things you feel about her; why you love her, why you want to marry her."

I don't necessarily agree with all that, but I think it's an interestingly beautiful idea. and in this story, it totally fits with the themes and ideals of the characters.

Hooray historical fiction and no more smelly, yucky, non-fiction essay crap!