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.

Quote of the Day- Gunter Grass

Perhaps those of you visiting our blog from Boulder, Colo., can find a Gunter Grass novel, like his most famous work "The Tin Drum" (the novel came out in 1959, an award-winning film version came out in 1979), at the Boulder Bookstore.

But, for the rest of us who aren't living in such a hip happening place, well we can always quote Mr. Grass.

The German author, who was born in 1927, was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1999. The film version of "The Tin Drum" was actually banned in Oklahoma City in 1997 after a Christian fundamentalist group saw some controversial sexual scenes from the movie out of context.

The evangelical group did not even watch the film in its entirety! But, the ban was removed in 2001 though we aren't sure if a resident of Tulsa can put the controversial late '60s Swedish film "I Am Curious Yellow" on his Netflix que!

We are quoting Mr. Grass because he is from one of the 32 countries in the upcoming World Cup in South Africa.

Although I haven't been there in a long time, we expect that partisan fans will be rooting for Germany from the Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown, W.Va., which is actually only an hour outside Washington, DC, where one might be able to find "Cat and Mouse" (a 1961 novel by Grass) at Politics and Prose.

Here is the quip from the great writer who also penned "The Dog Years" in 1963:

"Everything bigger than life attracts a crowd."