I should really write about the pleasures of inscribing words over paintings. So here I am, writing: Between the ages of 7 and 22, I thought I was going to be a painter. At 22, I killed the painter inside of me and began writing novels. In 2008, I walked into a stationery shop, bought two big bags of pencils, paints, and brushes, and began joyfully and timidly filling little sketchbooks with drawings and colors. The painter inside of me hadn’t died after all. But he was full of fears and terribly shy. I made all my drawings inside notebooks so that nobody would see them. I even felt a little guilty: surely this must mean I secretly deemed words insufficient. So why did I bother to write? None of these inhibitions slowed me down. I was eager to keep drawing, and drew wherever I could.
I started writing in this notebook in 2009. I didn’t just write about my day and my thoughts. Sometimes my hand would start drawing of its own accord. There was a page for each day. I would try to keep the writing and drawings small so that they would fit. But some days a single page wasn’t enough to contain all the incidents, words, and images I wished to record. From 2012 onward, I began to write and draw even more, filling two notebooks every year.
— Orhan Pamuk, opening pages in his new book titled “Memories of Distant Mountains: Illustrated Notebooks, 2009-2022.” Translated by Ekin Oklap. (Knopf, November 26, 2024)
I love this idea. Orhan Pamuk is amazing.
He is amazing Darlene. I agree!
this is amazing and I love how it grew and developed into what it became over time
I agree with you Beth.
How wonderful! Makes me want to try something of that sort.
Agree!
Fascinating – his initial discomfort didn’t get in the way of doing both art and words. Very cool
Well. Discomfort was his way of life between the two worlds.
“Unfortunately it seems the whole world has made a habit of chasing Mr. Painter in his dreams. And Mr. O is always fleeing. As he strides briskly forward he notices how much he has left behind. He has become accustomed to running away from everything and everyone.”
— Orhan Pamuk, “Memories of Distant Mountains: Illustrated Notebooks, 2009-2022.” Translated by Ekin Oklap. (Knopf, November 26, 2024)
As if he was in the and of the world without being seen
“My aim is not to while the hours away, quite the opposite: it is AS IF I were trying to convince myself that THE WORLD is as it should be.”
— Orhan Pamuk, “Memories of Distant Mountains: Illustrated Notebooks, 2009-2022.” Translated by Ekin Oklap. (Knopf, November 26, 2024)
Love this!
Good!