Tales of the cities

摘要

IN ORHAN PAMUK'S novel "A Strangeness in My Mind", a character admits to floundering in the author's native Istanbul: "Being alone in this big city is unbearable." The sentiment is shared by the protagonist of "Walking on the Ceiling", a debut by another Turkish writer, Aysegul Savas. Despite its vitality and bustle, Nunu finds Istanbul infused with "a poetic sadness", and a loneliness that "robs you of words".