THE WHITE CASTLE

New York City, NY: George Braziller, 1991. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: George Braziller, 1991. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 161 pages. The author's first novel to be translated into English. Now considered a contemporary classic. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Orhan Pamuk's "The White Castle" in a felicitous English translation. His debut in the West. "In the 17th century, a young Italian scholar sailing from Venice to Naples is taken prisoner and delivered to Constantinople. There he falls into the custody of a scholar known as Hoja ('Master'), a man who is his exact double. In the years that follow, the Slave instructs his Master on Western science and technology, from medicine to pyrotechnics. But Hoja wants to know more: Why he and his captive are the persons they are and whether, given knowledge of each other's most intimate secrets, they could actually exchange identities. A colorful and intricately patterned triumph of the imagination" (Publisher's blurb). Pamuk's books are censored and often banned outright in his native Turkey, a culture that has to strike a delicate balance between (Eastern) Islam and (Western) secularism. The threat to one's freedom makes writing even more urgent and turns talented writers into great ones. His most passionate critic/admirer in America, the late great novelist John Updike, chose "Snow" as the best novel of the year 2004, bar none. An absolute "must-have" title for Orhan Pamuk collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Orhan Pamuk. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great book. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (American) still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws (price-clipped is endemic), are subsequent printings or are remainder-marked yet command as much as $1500. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 2003 for "My Name Is Red". Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006, the first Turkish writer to be so deservedly honored. One of the greatest writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER ORHAN PAMUK TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0807612642.