Quotes from The White Castle

“في تلك الأيام ربما كانت هذهِ هي الطريقة الوحيدة التي يفهم بها أحدنا الآخر: كان كل منّا لا يبالي بالآخر.”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“You cannot embark on life, that one-off coach ride, once again when it is over,
but if you have a book in your hand, no matter how complex or difficult, when you have finished it, you can, if you wish, go back to the beginning, read it again, and thus understand that which is difficult and, with it, understand life as well.”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“The ideal story should begin innocently like a fairy-tale, be frightening like a nightmare in the middle, and conclude sadly like a love story ending in separation.”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“Es algo sabido que la vida no está predeterminada y que todas las historias son una cadena de casualidades. Pero incluso los que son conscientes de esa realidad, cuando llega cierto momento de su existencia y miran atrás, llegan a la conclusión de que lo que vivieron como casualidades no fueron sino hechos inevitables. ”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“أليست إمكانية الفهم الحقيقي المتبادل بين اثنين أمرًا مثيرًا؟ إن الإنسان يسحره إدراك أن هناك شخصًا ما يعرف عنه أدقّ تفاصيل روحه كأنه يعيش كابوسًا.”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“كان هو الذي أصرّ أن يجلس كلانا إلى طرفي المائدة و نكتب معًا،
كان ذلك وقت كتب كل منّا "لماذا نحن هكذا؟". لكنه مرة أخرى انتهى بعدم كتابة شيء أكثر من "لماذا الآخرون هكذا؟".”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“Luego pensamos que un buen relato debe tener un comienzo infantil, un desarrollo terrorífico como una pesadilla y un final amargo como una historia de amor que termina en una separación. ”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“في صمت الليالي المعتمة ملأنا كتابًا بكل هذه الرؤى التي نبعت من خيالاتنا عن الهزيمة و الفشل الذي حلمنا به و نحن حزانى نفتقد للبهجة، أولئك المعوزون برؤوسهم المحنية، و طرقهم الموحلة، و بيوتهم غير مكتملة البناء، و شوراعهم الغريبة المعتمة، الناس الذين يعتقدون أن كل شيء سيعود كما كان و هم يتلون صلواتهم التي لا يفقهون معناها،الأمهات و الآباء الثكلى، البؤساء الذين لم تسمح لهم أعمارهم القصيرة أن يخبرونا عما أنجزوه و حقّقوه في بلاد أخرى، المصانع و الآلات التي لا تعمل، الأرواح ذات العيون المخضلة بالدمع ترثي الأيام الخوالي، الكلاب الضالة التي ليست في هزالها أكثر من جلد على عظم، الفلاحون الذين لا يمتلكون أراض، المتشردون المتسكعون في المدينة، المسلمون الجهلة و الأميون الذين يرتدون سراويلهم و حروبهم كلها تنتهي بالهزيمة.”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“في خلال هذه الأعوام الأربعة تعلمت أن الحياة يجب أن نستمتع بها، لا أن نتحملها”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“lo habían encuadernado cuidadosamente con un papel de aguas azul que hacía recordar los sueños.”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“Sabía que si regresaba a Venecia no podría retomar una vida que había dejado a medias en el mismo punto en que se había interrumpido. Como mucho, podría iniciar una vida distinta.”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“… se volvió hacia nosotros, que en ese momento estábamos de pie el uno junto al otro, y sonrió como si estuviera viendo una de esas inigualables maravillas creadas por Dios para doblegar el orgullo del ser humano y proclamar su estupidez, un enano perfecto o dos gemelos exactamente iguales.”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“Fue a lo largo de aquellos cuatro años cuando aprendí que la vida no es una espera sino algo que se puede disfrutar.”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“Y lo peor era que mi cara se había transformado en otra completamente distinta, en la comisura de mis labios se abría paso una cierta desvergüenza de tanto beber y besar en las fiestas, mis ojos parecían lánguidos de permanecer despierto sin tener en cuenta la hora o de caer inconsciente por la bebida, en mi mirada había petulancia vulgar como la de esos estúpidos satisfechos de sus vidas, del mundo y de sí mismos, pero yo sabía que estaba contento con mi nueva situación, así que me callé.”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“But we should search for the strange and surprising in the world, not within ourselves! To search within, to think so long and hard about our own selves, would only make us unhappy. This is what had happened to the characters in my story: for this reason heroes could never tolerate being themselves, for this reason they always wanted to be someone else.”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

“...cuando a uno se le contagiaba el mal de la ciencia, resultaba tan imposible escapar de él como de la peste...”
― Orhan Pamuk, quote from The White Castle

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