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Title: Disappointing
Review: In a nutshell, the author attempts to analyse the rise of Islamic extremism in Turkey (and the wider Middle East) and present this in a simplistic (and very dreary) manner that is obviously aimed at the (uninformed) Western reader. The story, set in a bleak miserable town, is so incredibly boring that I have been trying unsuccessfully to read it for over a year, and have reached the conclusion that if the Nobel Committee chose to award Pamuk based on this, then their criteria could not have included literary talent. There are several other Turkish and Arab writers whose works are far superior. Turkish speakers with whom I have discussed this are of the view that Pamuk's talent perhaps does not translate well, and that reading him in the original language is a different experience.
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