There are two kind of men,' said Ka, in a didatic voice. 'The first kind does not fall in love until he's seen how the girls eats a sandwich, how she combs her hair, what sort of nonsense she cares about, why she's angry at her father, and what sort of stories people tell about her. The second type of man -- and I am in this category -- can fall in love with a woman only if he knows next to nothing about her.

I want to describe the psychological state of the people in a certain city.

I am proud to be a Turk, and to write in Turkish about Turkey - and to have been translated into about 40 languages. But I don't want to politicize things by dramatizing them.

It's a great relief for me that no one will ask me anymore: "Orhan, when will you get the Nobel Prize?"

Istanbul is a vast place. There are very conservative neighbourhoods, there are places that are upper class, Westernised, consuming Western culture.

I read a book one day and my whole life was changed.

Nationalism stems from catastrophes, whether they are caused by earthquakes or lost wars.