Strangeness in my mind | Orhan Pamuk

In the four decades between 1969 and 2012, Mouloud worked in a number of diverse jobs on the streets of Istanbul; from selling yogurt and cooked rice to guarding a parking lot. Mouloud observes people in all their forms and personalities as they pass through the streets, witnesses the destruction and rebuilding of the city, and sees migrants from Anatolia making wealth. At the same time, he witnesses every important moment of transformation in the city's history; from political conflicts and military coups that shape the country. Mouloud always wonders what sets him apart from others, about the source of the oddity that nests in his mind, but he does not stop selling ice cream on winter nights and tries to understand who his beloved is. What matters more in love: what we wish for, or what fate hides for us? Do our choices impose happiness, or misery, or are all these things determined by greater forces than us? The novel "Oddity in My Mind" tries to answer these questions as it depicts the tension between urban life and family life, and the anger and helplessness of women inside their homes.