Special Quote of the Week-Orhan Pamuk

Today, we quoting the great Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk (b.1952) whose 2003 novel "Snow," set in the remote northwestern Turkey of Kars, near the border with Armenia, captured where Turkey is both socially and politically and that has held true in the close for the ten years since it was first published.

Pamuk, like the other two Turkish literary giants poet Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963) and fellow novelist Yashar Kemal (b. 1923), has had many poltiical problems at home. After the publication of "Snow," he has made provacative comments regarding the Armenian Genocide Controversy (it should be pointed out here that when I use this term, Armenians hate the fact that I use the word controversy, and Turks don't like the use of the g-word, but either way or regardless of how I feel, the spat is not going to be made worse or resolved by whatever opinions I hold about the matter. But, unlike Pamuk, I would rather not go down that dark backstreet alley).

The German author Gunter Grass (b. 1927) who has also had isssues with right-wingers in his country defended Pamuk's right to speak about the matter. We are featuring a quote from Grass on other blog.

Here is the quote from the author of "Snow" and "My Name is Red:"

"Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen."

SIDEBAR: Shifting our attention to minor leage baseball, our beloved Durham Bulls (in Durham, NC) beat the visiting Indianapolis Indians 1-0 in a day game today. The two teams face each other again tommorow night; the Bulls have a record of 21-13.

Also, the Salem Red Sox from my hometown of Salem, Va, lost their last game to the Wilmington BlueRocks in Wilmigton, Del., but they return home to face the Winston-Salem Dash from Camel City (Winston-Salem, NC) on Friday night at 7:05 p.m.