“Close walls can damage the idea of ​​integrity of Europe” – El Universal

The Nobel Prize for Literature Orhan Pamuk believes it is experiencing a “very dramatic” moment with the crisis of the refugees , but the option to “lock walls “may damage” the idea of ​​integrity of Europe. “

Pamuk just published in Spanish A strange feeling (Ramdom House). The story of the life and dreams of Mevlut, who comes to Istanbul from Anatolia to twelve years and through its history draws the transformation of the Turkish capital since the seventies until the first decade of this century.

“The closing of walls, gates, roads (…) I fear it may damage some idea of ​​the integrity of Europe,” said Pamuk, who said that although many come because of the war, “reasons are deeper “and quoted including” economic and perhaps freedom. “

This is” one of the greatest challenges facing Europe for a long time, even though there was a war this situation will continue and will continue, “he said in an interview.

Pamuk speaks of the book in his study of Istanbul where a large terrace framed by minarets of a mosque nearby leads to a magnificent view of the Bosphorus and the silhouettes of some of the most recognizable buildings in the city.

A strange feeling is an “epic about the problems of the people who came to live in Istanbul in the fifties book , sixties and seventies and made their houses with their own hands. “

And the common thread is Mevlut Karatas, a street vendor of” painter “(a fermented traditional drink Turkish) who, despite all turns that gives his life for half a century clings to their night walks by Istanbul shouting “painter”, as the world changes around them.

The book’s title is taken from a verse poem “The Prelude” by William Wordsworth: “A strange feeling of not belonging to that place or the time” and Pamuk explains that a more accurate translation would be “somewhat strange to have the mind, see things in a a little differently, “which is” a compliment he has received throughout life “of your friends

.” The first time I read this sentence, fifteen years ago, remembers told me: this will be a good title for a book, but still do not know what will that book. “

And it Mevlut also has” an odd mind, “so one of the challenges of award Nobel was identified with the protagonist, telling the story of a very different person to him by origin, class and culture, but with which it shares both “see the world differently.”

story in which Pamuk (Istanbul, 1962) creates a universe of very different characters, families and Mustafa Aktas Hasan Karatas, and the life of parents, spouses, siblings and cousins ​​passes through the major events of history Turkish, the seller of “stopper” always faces with optimism and a point of detachment.

“I wanted it to be a passive character, that may be at different times of the Turkish life, because if a character from tough decisions, would become very left or right and that’s not what I wanted. Some may think that is an opportunist, but he’s a good guy, that to survive and continue their life has to adapt and do not always say what they think. “

The author of works such as Istanbul or My Name is Red does not hide his sympathy for Mevlut and recognizes that what he liked about the novel was written on the relationship of the protagonist with his wife, Rayiha, whose relationship is born on a misunderstanding, which does not prevent him from being “very happy”.

The idea of ​​openness is what love is, “Is the ‘romanticizing’ love putting it on a pedestal or continuity of friendship enjoy everyday life and, of course, enjoy sex, “says laughingly Pamuk.

A strange feeling is told by a narrator whose discourse is sometimes completed sometimes interrupted by the voice of the characters, including the three sisters of the two escape not hesitate to marry the man they want.

And that Pamuk does not want to represent their ” women as weak characters, on the contrary, the want to do strong, with a powerful language, with humor “.

The Nobel is a committed and critical intellectual, whom his denunciation of the Armenian genocide in 1915 led to him problems at home, and remains convinced that, “of course, Turkey would be better to continue with its European aspirations”.

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