Snow (the book!)

I finished reading Snow this week - it was actually quite nice to read it last Saturday while it snowed all day. For those that don't know, the book is by Orhan Pamuk, who won the Nobel Prize in literature. It took me a good 30 to 50 pages to get into the book, and then it was hard to put down. A fascinating glimpse into the different forces in Turkey (Secular Liberals, Religious fundamentalists, Kurds).

The book takes place in Kars - just a few kilometers from the Armenian border (and greatest historical capital of all, Ani). The references to Armenians are heavily sprinkled throughout the book, including allusions to the Armenian Genocide. Considering he is so famous both in Turkey and out of Turkey, this book has no doubt served as a good reminder to many of the ancient presence of Armenians in a place where today, there are none. Hopefully other Turks will feel more comfortable mentioning a people after decades of having to worry about even saying the word Armenian (forget about the word Genocide).

If you want a very interesting glimpse into what much of Historic Armenia is like today culturally, demographically, architecturally, then you would do well to read this book.