Orhan Pamuk- has anyone read any?

[WhyAlwaysBoris]

I've just bought a copy of the 'Museum of Innocence' in a charity shop and on the blurb it says he has won the Nobel Prize for literature (slightly embarrassed admission that i've never heard of him).

Has anyone read this book or any of his others? I'm slightly put off by the first page which i've now read and has a quite frank sex scene description which isn't really my thing at all.. worth persevering??

I HATED it....disliked central (pretentious) male character...

Do the sex descriptions continue like this all the time, Blackduck?
I was thinking of giving it 50 pages to see how I go but i'm a bit embarrassed about opening it on the bus?!

Also, gosh isn't MN fantastic! You replied to me in about 5 minutes! How long would it have taken me to find someone to ask in real life?

to be honest I am not sure I got past page 50 :) It just didn't grip me and I thought he was totally unsympathetic.....
I have heard some of the other books are better. I personally wouldn't waste my time!

not that one, loved 'My Name is Red'. His books are each quite different.

Had heard of him before reading any as Turkish govt regard him as dangereous dissident.

I read Istanbul and My Name is Read - both had good points, but were good rather than excellent. Although, I hear Snow is supposed to be better

Ooops, Red, not read

I first tried My Nane is Red and just could not get into it. I was really disappointed as I have a long love affair with Turkey and wanted to enjoy Pamuk.

Snow was a totally different experience. I could not put it down. Great plot. Fascinating exploration of women and Islam. A really good read.

I enjoyed Istanbul too but probably because I read it while in, er, Istanbul.

I have not read any of his others.

I read The Black Book.

I was underwhelmed. It was long and confusing and really quite boring, although I did finish it.

I read Snow and once I got into it I really enjoyed it. It is quite hard going to start with though.

thanks everyone, i think i'm going to put The Museum Of Innocence to one side and try Snow instead. :)

that is really interesting, thanks. Do you live in Istanbul, CoteDAzur ?? Can you recommend other novels set there?

(DH and I got engaged there so special for us!)

I bought it but abandoned it.

I've only read Snow but thought that was fantastic. Extremely powerful and atmospheric. It's really stayed with me.

i started reading snow but couldn't get into it- i did wonder if it was maybe a translation issue, as i have found this to be the case sometimes in another language i was fluent in

Indeed.

a more trivial example-for me personally was the shadow of the wind, in spanish it was a gripping potboiler, in english, overboiled i was embarrassed to have recommended it to my english speaking friends.

No, no, it is a book by a different author, not Pamuk - i wanted to concur with you about the way translation can change a book, but using my own experiences

I'm reading "Snow" at the moment. Really well written- I keep on thinking it's going to get too boring as it's a really claustrophobic tale of political infighting, repression and paranoia in a small town, but somehow he manages to pull it off despite the oppressive subject matter.

I'm keen to try another of his books set more in the big wide world, so am following this with interest..