Silent House is not a new novel, in fact it is almost 30 years old. However it has only recently been translated into English, giving us an insight into Turkish politics during the turbulent year of 1980. Orhan Pamuk cleverly follows the country’s struggle for modernity by using five different narrators, all of varying political tendencies, in what seems to be a peaceful, ordinary setting.
The novel is set in Cennethisar, a small village just outside of Istanbul that used to be a quiet fishing port, but is now overrun with tourists. The silent house in question is a slowly decaying mansion where Fatma lives, a ninety year old widowed grandmother who is waiting for her grandchildren to arrive for their summer holiday. Fatma is a Miss Havisham-esque character who refuses to let the house be turned into an apartment block, just as she refuses to let go of her traditions and her pious ways. She lives with her servant, Recep, her husband’s dwarfed and illegitimate son, who is a constant reminder of her disastrous marriage.
When her grandchildren arrive, they explode into the old, dusty village, bringing with them varying points of view. Nilgun, the only girl, is an intelligent, composed Leftist; Metin has Western tendencies, envious of his friends’ riches and itching to go to America; Faruk, the eldest, is a historian who seems to have inherited the alcoholic gene.
However, the most excitingly turbulent chapters are narrated by Hassan, Recep’s nephew. He has recently begun acquaintance with right-wing nationalists, and as the novel progresses, his character becomes angrier and filled with resentment.
The five narrators are wonderfully different, and by both isolating and intertwining their points of view, Pamuk expertly introduces us to political and social issues that culminated in the 1980 coup d’etat in Turkey. Although the characters can be seen as spokespeople for their different political views, they are also developed into vivid, animated people; the book is mostly narrated through monologues or imagined conversations, and the characters often get lost in their memories. Pamuk uses a fascinating technique of interrupting these monologues with present-day dialogues to further indicate how the past and the present are clashing in this rocky time of change.
Pamuk’s novel is an almost timeless story of turmoil that can be applied to present day conflicts. Beautifully written, the story builds to an inevitable ending that depicts how far people will go to defend their cause, and how anger and rejection can often lead to disaster.
Silent House is available now from Faber
words: Llio Maddocks