Around 2006, I was going to visit one of my elementary school teachers. While pondering what gift I should bring, I wandered around the bookstore, hoping to pick up a book with good taste and novelty. The book Istanbul was at the front table of the promotion section and caught my attention. I didn’t know what “Istanbul” meant, but it sounded foreign and adventurous. Thus it became my final pick.
Many years later, while studying Architecture in College, I signed up for a short-term study abroad program in Istanbul, Turkey. This book came into my mind, and I started reading it in preparation for the trip. For various reasons, that trip did not happen, and Istanbul holds a persisting and unique place in my heart, and I became increasingly interested in the other work of Orhan Pamuk, the author; I read a few of his other works like My name is Red, Snow and The Museum of Innocence.