“Boo-zaaa! Boo-zaa!” Mevlut shouts across the dimly lit streets of Istanbul. Reading A Strangeness in My Mind, I feel like I am walking through the city after sunset, when the noise settles, but every corner still breathes a story. Pamuk leads us into Istanbul through the life of Mevlut, a humble boza seller, and shows how uncontrolled urbanisation and the city’s shifting social, political, and economic tides shape a man’s life just as much as he seeks to shape his own path. Mevlut moves through Istanbul the way many of us move through our own hometown, sometimes in hope, sometimes in confusion, and often, unwantedly, accepting whatever the day brings. As I followed him, I felt a familiar pull of nostalgia, like when I look back at the inner alleys of Kathmandu or the old temples that have stood longer than any of us. Pamuk’s Istanbul, always growing and always unsettled, carries the same restlessness and warmth. The book moves slowly, but never lazily. It mirrors the rhythm of Me...
Monologue .......