Orhan Pamuk once famously quoted..."when I speak of writing, what comes to my mind is not a novel, a poem or a literary tradition, but it is a person who shuts himself up in a room, alone, sitting on a table, turning to himself...". And yet his writings are loneliness filled to the brim with memories, the sights and sounds of his surroundings, people’s voices, dreams etc.
The idea of loneliness of the writer is an important theme in Orhan Pamuk’s writings and he goes back to this theme repeatedly. As an occidental turkish, influenced by Foydor Dostoevsky, Pamuk’s "Other Colors & Essays" depicts every shades of life. Even the Black, Grey and the White are colors here...
...The book starts with "...for 30 long years I have been writing..." for those who read his previous book ’Istanbul’ would remember how he wrote the finis for it. He concluded it by ".
I dont want to be an artist, I want to be a writer.". This book is all about the intervening period between that ending and this beginning. A Must read book, to celebrate one’s solitude, sans any fanfare, but still...loads of drama!