Snow (titled "Kar" in Turkish) is a fascinating novel set in modern Turkey, in a place called Kars.  The Turkish poet Ka is visiting from his current home of Germany.  He comes to see a woman, Ipek, who he used to be involved with, and who has recently divorced.  He is lonely, and is interested in being with her again.  But her life is complicated, and he is not sure that he will win her over to be able to take her back to the West.  When he arrives, it had already started snowing hard, and soon all routes in and out of the city are blocked.  Ka finds himself immersed in a political struggle between the Islamists and the Government, and through this we learn much more about the ways in which religion and democracy clash. 

The central issue in Kars concerns women wearing headscarves.  The government has forbidden the wearing of headscarves in school, and some girls have killed themselves.   These suicides have gained international attention.  The Islamists are protesting against the suppression of religion, pointing out that the Government that supposedly represents the principles of democracy is being profoundly undemocratic by its actions.  The devout believers are enraged that girls have to go against their religious principles in order to go to school.  Early in the novel, we read the transcript of a conversation between a fervent Islamist and the Director of the Institute of Education who made the order banning the scarf-wearing girls from schools.  The first man tells the Director that he represents the Freedom Fighters for Islamic Justice, and they have sentenced him to death.  It's an incredibly dramatic scene. 

However, the central story is about Ka and his poetry.  For years, he has not been able to write, but upon returning to Kars he becomes inspired and new poems start to come to him unbidden.  The closing of the city gives the local government the chance to clamp down on the religious activists, and at a televised public entertainment some people are shot.  Soldiers go around imprisoning activists, and the city is tense.  Ka meets both a terrorist and students at religious high schools, and in contract to the fanatical killer we saw at first, shooting the Director, these defenders of Islam are far more human and sophisticated.  Ka begins his visit as an outsider, but the more time he spends in Kars, the more he changes. 

Originally published in 2002, the book was finished before 9/11, yet it raises many issues that have subsequently become a major part of discussion concerning the relationship between Islam and the West.  It is a rich novel, with many threads, and works on many levels.  Some readers at Amazon.com complain that it is hard to get through.  I would recommend the 2007 unabridged audiobook read by John Lee, whose performance is masterful.  He keeps the listener engaged with a consistent yet lively voice and manages to evoke many emotions in his reading. 

© 2007 Christian Perring. All rights reserved.

Christian Perring, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Dowling College, Long Island. He is also editor of Metapsychology Online Reviews.  His main research is on philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and psychology.

Categories: Fiction, AudioBooks