2
" They, like me, like all of us, had, once upon a time, in a past so far away it seemed like heaven, caught by chance a glimpse of an inner essence, only to forget what it was. It was this lost memory that pained us, reduced us to ruins, though still we struggled to be ourselves. "
― Orhan Pamuk , The Black Book
5
" I must be myself, I said over and over. I must forget these people buzzing inside my head, I must forget their voices, their smells, their demands, their love, their hate, and be myself, I must be myself, I told myself, as i gazed down at the legs resting so happily on the stool, and I told myself again as I looked up to watch the smoke I'd blown up to the ceiling; I must be myself, because if I failed to be myself, I become the person they wanted me to be; if I had to be that insufferable person, I'd rather be nothing at all. It would be better if I didn't exist,... "
― Orhan Pamuk , The Black Book
7
" When you look into the faces of these quiet creatures who don't know how to tell stories--who are mute, who can't make themselves heard, who fade into the woodwork, who only think of the perfect answer after the fact, after they're back at home, who can never think of a story that anyone else will find interesting--is there not more depth and more meaning in them? You can see every letter of every untold story swimming on their faces, and all the signs of silence, dejection, and even defeat. You can even imagine your own face in those faces, can't you? "
― Orhan Pamuk , The Black Book
11
" Okuduğun kitaptaki becerikli ve kederli kahraman bendim; mermer taşlar, iri sütunlar ve karanlık kayalar arasından rehberimle birlikte yeraltındaki kıpır kıpır hayatın mahkumlarına koşan ve yıldızlarla kaplı yedi kat göğün merdivenlerinden çıkan yolcu bendim; uçurumu aşan köprünün öteki ucundaki sevgilisine, "Ben senim!" diye seslenen ve yazarı onu kayırdığı için sigara küllüğündeki zehir izlerini çözen kül yutmaz dedektif bendim... Sen sabırsız, sessizce sayfayı çevirirdin. Aşk için cinayetler işledim, atımla Fırat Nehrini geçtim, piramitlere gömüldüm, kardinalleri öldürdüm: "Canım, ne anlatıyor o kitap öyle?" Sen evli barklı ev kadını, ben akşam o eve dönmüş kocaydım: "Hiç." En son otobüs, en boş otobüs bütün boşluğuyla evin önünden geçerken koltuklarımız karşılıklı titrerdi. Sen elinde kapağı kartondan kitap, ben elimde okuyamadığım gazete, sorardım: "Kahramanı ben olsam beni sever miydin?" "Saçmalama!" Gecenin acımasız sessizliği diye yazardı okuduğun kitaplar, sessizliğin acımasızlığı nedir bilirdim. "
― Orhan Pamuk , The Black Book
