He exists in a fantasy world where perfect strangers spill their innermost hopes and dreams to him upon first meeting and perfect poems conveniently materialize out of some spiritual ether. Despite the violence, poverty, and unrest all around him, Ka strolls the streets with the boundless optimism of a love-struck Romeo. What’s less successful is the drama of the characters’ lives.

Snow is at its most authentic and compelling when it is discussing politics and social conditions. This novel is fascinating for what it reveals about Turkey, a nation that most western readers likely know little about. During this period of enforced isolation, a Turkish Republican launches a coup to overthrow the Kars government and installs a conservative regime even more antagonistic to the city’s Islamists, leftists, and Kurds. The entire novel takes place over the course of just a few days, during which time snow falls heavily on Kars, providing inspiration for Ka’s poetry but also shutting down all roads into and out of the city. The political landscape in Kars is a complex patchwork of conflicting sects from all shades of the political spectrum, and the police and military employ torture and beatings to subdue dissent. Soon after arriving in Kars, however, Ka can’t help but get involved in local politics, as representatives of various factions, drawn by his literary reputation, seek him out to share their views and ascertain his political and religious loyalties. Ka’s real reason for venturing to Kars, however, is in hopes of reuniting with a beautiful woman friend from his college days and winning her love. Ostensibly, he is there working as a journalist to report on the political situation in this remote provincial district, and in particular to follow up on reports of young Muslim women who have committed suicide after being persecuted by the secular government for wearing head scarves. Upon returning to his native land, he journeys to Kars, a smaller city on the eastern edge of Turkey. For the past twelve years, he has been living as a political exile in Berlin.

The novel’s protagonist is a Turkish poet named Ka (a pseudonym composed of his initials) who is relatively famous in his homeland. It was originally published in 2002, under the Turkish title of Kar. Snow is a novel by Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Snow by orhan pamuk analysis