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Sunday, April 8th, 2018
I am now starting chapter 9 in my reread of The New Life-- if memory (aided by blog) serves, this is as far as I ever got the first time I read it. In the past month or two I've read the first eight chapters in Spanish and then in English. Going forward, I'll be reading each chapter in one language and then the other. (Not really trying to compare the two translations here, I'm just looking to (a) improve my Spanish and (b) get a deeper understanding of the text.)
It is tempting to try to imagine myself in the shoes of the narrator -- as I am reading the book, I'm trying to identify the book I'm reading with the unnamed book that the narrator is reading, so that it will take me to a new level of perception (as it does I, the narrator). But I-the-reader am having some trouble figuring out what's the allure of reading such a book, joining such a peculiar society as those-who-have-read-and-understood "the book", it seems more an onerous burden than a blessing. But as I say I'm only less than halfway through currently. Keep waiting for Pamuk to tip his hat! :) Osman and Janan are meeting Dr. Fine/Delicado, author (IIUC) of the book (not super crazy about either translation, I guess the man's name is a Turkish word with that meaning and it's going to be important somehow to understanding the text, to get that pun) -- maybe they're (we're) going to get access to the supernatural reality of the book (the book).
posted morning of April 8th, 2018: 3 responses
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Wednesday, March 7th, 2018
I'm thinking of an old post by Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution, which asserts that key to understanding Pamuk's The New Life is understanding Dante and how Dante used themes from Islamic writings in *his* La Vita Nuova. I've started reading Dante as I begin to think about rereading Pamuk. The translator's (Barbara Reynolds') introduction was not of much help in regards to figuring out Islamic sources for the work... I'm figuring one reference is to Majnun and Layla, with Dante casting himself as Majnun, approaching divinity by losing his wits over Beatrice. (The allegory doesn't really work for me, it seems kind of silly... Also Dante has twisted it around by portraying Love as a rational voice that tries to counter his mania. I guess he's attributing the mania to something like infatuation?)
 No, not infatuation, definitely Love -- see e.g.
And when I perceived her, all my senses were overpowered by the great lordship that Love obtained, finding himself so near unto that most gracious being, until nothing but the spirits of sight remained to me. But Love is also portrayed as talking him down...
posted evening of March 7th, 2018: 2 responses
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Saturday, February 24th, 2018
None could comprehend the light of his face
The sun next to him a handful of clay
His mouth's essence was mysterious Lahut
His every vow a mirage of Nasut
--Love and Beauty (509-10)
The glossary at the back of the book identifies Nasut and Lahut as "ontological levels," respectively, of the human and the divine. Here's some of what Hazrat Inayet Khan had to say about it:
In Sufi terms, there are five stages of consciousness: Nasut, Malakut, Jabarut, Lahut, Hahut.
1. Nasut
This is the consciousness dependent on our senses. Whatever we see by means of the eye, or hear by means of the ear, whatever we smell and taste, all these experiences which we gain by the help of the material body prove to us that this is a particular plane of consciousness, or a particular kind of experience of consciousness. We call it "nasut."
2. Malakut
This is a further stage of consciousness, working through our mental plane. By means of this higher consciousness we experience thought and imagination, which are beyond our senses. ...
3. Jabarut
Here the experience is like that of a person in deep, dreamless sleep. He is said to be 'sound asleep.'
[...]
4. Lahut
This is a still further experience of consciousness. It raises a person from the material plane to the immaterial plane. In this plane the state of being fast asleep is not necessary. There is a greater peace and joy and nearness to the essence which is called divine. In Christian terms, this stage is called 'communion.' In the Vedantic terms it is called Turiyavastha.
5. Hahut
The further step to this is called 'samadhi,' which may no doubt be described as 'merging into God.' In other words, in this stage we dive into our deepest self-hood, God is in our deepest self. Here there is the ability to dive so deeply as to touch our deepest being, which is the home of all intelligence, life, peace, and joy; and here worry, fear, disease or death do not enter.
[...]
↻...done
posted morning of February 24th, 2018: Respond
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Thursday, February 22nd, 2018
They chose for the girl the name of Beauty
The chosen son was named Love unhappy
As time went on, some called Beauty Leyla
Some called her Shirin, and others Azra
Then some gave the name of Majnun to Love
Some called him Vamik, and others Ferhad
--Love and Beauty (305-7)
Is the intended reading that all of these epics are retellings of the same story?
posted evening of February 22nd, 2018: Respond
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Sunday, February 4th, 2018
 It seems clear that the story of Layla and Majnun is understood as an allegory for the believer's unquenchable thirst for God. But I'm having trouble getting this line of meaning out of the story itself... I'm about midway through, and Majnun's friend Nawfal has led his army against Layla's tribe, seeking to capture her and lay waste--
Like lion’s claws the
spears tore breasts and limbs, the arrows drank
the sap of life with wide open beaks like birds of
prey; and proud heroes, heads severed from
trunks, lay down for the sleep of eternity.
Majnun renounces the quest a few pages later but Nawfal is about to go on the attack again, mustering up reserves... and I'm thinking, how the hell does this fit into the allegory? The gore is nice and vivid in an epic-poetry sort of way."Love is Fire and I am Wood" makes no mention of Nawfal, it seems strange to me to ignore such a central character.
 Update turns out my confusion was based on a confusion between Nizami's epic romance and the underlying story. (See comments.)
posted morning of February 4th, 2018: 2 responses
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Saturday, February third, 2018
While I am reading The Black Book I'm developing something of an interest in Rumi and by extension in Sufi. Here are a couple of links I've tracked down that seem like worthwhile further reading.
More as I find it.
 Also -- I updated the Pamuk Bibliography with link to an essay by Saniye Çancı Çalışaneller, "Doppelgänger in Orhan Pamuk’s
The Black Book".
posted afternoon of February third, 2018: 3 responses
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