Painting taught literature to describe.

In his brilliant new book Pankaj Mishra reverses the long gaze of the West upon the East, showing modern history as it has been felt by the majority of the world's population from Turkey to China. These are the amazing stories of the grandfathers of today's angry Asians. Excellent!

Hüzün does not just paralyze the inhabitants of Instanbul, it also gives them poetic license to be paralyzed.

How different from the cosy world of Rüya's detective novels, where authors never vexed a hero with more signs than he needed.

Love is a sacred silence.

I certainly see myself more as a craftsman than as an artist.

In a brutal country like ours, where human life is 'cheap', it's stupid to destroy yourself for the sake of your beliefs. Beliefs? High ideas? Only people in rich countries can enjoy such luxuries.