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I'm never happy with my novels, Orhan Pamuk confesses in Krakow

PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge 25.10.2012 10:29
Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk told Conrad Festival-goers in Krakow yesterday that he is "never happy" with his completed novels.

Orhan
Orhan Pamuk: photo - PAP/Jacek Bednarczyk

The author, who is a guest of the 4th Conrad Festival, gave a talk to a packed auditorium at the city's Jagiellonian University.

“When I finish writing, I'm never happy with the book,” he said, as cited by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

“I never have the feeling that I have finished a novel. Everything could be improved, but at some point - as economists say - my productivity drops,” he said.

The Turkish author told journalists earlier however that “above all,” he tries to write the kind of books “which I myself would like to read.

“Life as Nobel Prize-winner is really a great joy,” he said.

"I have a lot of readers around the world and now I have to be responsible towards them. I see it that it is my duty to write beautiful literature for them. A kind that will inspire a good feeling,” he said.

Unlike the festival's namesake, Joseph Conrad (born Jozef Korzeniowski), Pamuk affirmed that he is incapable of working outside his homeland.

"I have to remain in a certain pattern, in the same place, in the same city, on the same street," he said of his native Istanbul.

The author was only in Krakow for one day, and on Wednesday afternoon, instead of visiting worthy museums, he chose to set off in seach of places “with atmosphere.”

With this in mind, he headed for the centuries old farmers' market of Stary Kleparz, currently brimming with mushrooms picked in Polish forests.

The 4th Conrad Festival runs until 28 October. (nh)

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