Outstanding work by an author who can't put a foot wrong. Beautifully constructed, the novel meanders through ideas on ownership, gender, and the oversimplification of the east/west divide magnificently. A deep-thinking novel cleverly executed in the vein of Kafka. ( )

Pamuk's writing is beautiful but, at times, can be verbose and painfully phrased (but that could be because of the translation into English). The other thing I was not a fan of, as far as writing style is concerned, is blatant foreshadowing, which had been utilized several times. I had read that Pamuk was a fan of Dostoevsky, and even if l had not read that, that admiration is clearly exemplified in this nihilistic story of unsatisfied, idealistic yearning and uncompromising choices that have ramifications for a life time. ( )