Writer Orhan Pamuk | A Good Novel Should Make Us Feel the Passing of Time | Louisiana Channel

Louisiana Channel

20 Aug 202408:19

Summary

TLDRThe speaker reflects on the significance of time in literature, philosophy, and life. They discuss how writers like William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, and Joseph Conrad explored time in unique ways, affecting both narrative structure and reader experience. The theme of time also plays a key role in personal reflections on life and death, especially as one ages. The speaker mentions their interest in writing a novel set in medieval Ottoman times during a plague, using time to explore human mortality. Time, along with space, is seen as a central concept in art and philosophy, particularly in the works of Kant.

Takeaways

⏳ Time is a central theme of interest, explored both philosophically and in literature.
📚 William Faulkner, in *The Sound and the Fury*, focused on the concept of time, with characters grappling with its meaning.
🔄 Thomas Mann's *The Magic Mountain* explores the perception of time through its setting, making the reader forget about time's passing.
⏱️ Vladimir Nabokov praised Tolstoy's *War and Peace* for its synchronization of narrative time with the reader's experience.
⏪ Joseph Conrad introduced non-linear storytelling, beginning a story in the middle, then jumping backward and forward in time.
🕰️ Chapters in novels serve to convey shifts in time, allowing the story to unfold across various moments and perspectives.
🧠 Death and the passage of time become more prominent themes with age, leading to reflections on life's meaning.
🏺 Timeless objects, such as stones or sculptures, provoke feelings of jealousy in characters, as they remain unchanged while humans age and die.
🎨 Art and literature differ in their handling of time and space: literature deals with change over time, while visual arts represent change in space.
🌀 Human beings' awareness of time and their finite existence makes them unique, and this theme is explored both philosophically and artistically.

Q & A

What role does time play in literature according to the speaker?
-Time is a crucial theme in literature for the speaker, both philosophically and technically. It affects the reader's perception of a story and is a fundamental element in shaping a novel's structure. The speaker believes that a good novel should evoke the passing of time.
How does the speaker relate William Faulkner's 'Sound and Fury' to the theme of time?
-The speaker references William Faulkner's 'Sound and Fury' as a novel where time is central, noting that one character is preoccupied with time, leading to a symbolic gesture of breaking a clock or wristwatch.
Which novel does the speaker mention as one of the best representations of the passing of time, and why?
-The speaker cites Thomas Mann's 'Magic Mountain' as one of the best representations of the passing of time, particularly because the novel's geographical setting makes the reader forget about the flow of time.
What is the speaker's view on how chapters influence the sense of time in a novel?
-The speaker believes that chapters in a novel help convey different senses of time. Chapters not only organize the narrative from the perspective of who is telling the story, but also anchor the story in time, often starting with phrases like 'after such time' or specifying months.
How does the speaker distinguish between the pace of time in life and the reader's experience of time?
-The speaker acknowledges that the pace of time in life and the reader's experience of time while reading can sometimes overlap, but they may also contradict each other. This interplay is important for creating depth in storytelling.
What does the speaker say about Vladimir Nabokov's praise for Tolstoy's 'War and Peace'?
-The speaker mentions that Vladimir Nabokov praised Tolstoy's 'War and Peace' because Tolstoy's depiction of time in the novel closely matches the reader's experience of time as they read.
How did Joseph Conrad influence the way stories are told, according to the speaker?
-The speaker credits Joseph Conrad with revolutionizing storytelling by introducing non-linear narrative techniques, where a story might start in the middle, then jump backward and forward in time.
What does the speaker believe makes a good writer or artist, particularly in relation to death and time?
-The speaker suggests that those who ask deep, existential questions about death and the meaning of life at a young age, in their 20s, are likely to become good writers or artists. Such questions typically become more common as people age.
Why does the speaker fantasize about writing a plague novel set in medieval Ottoman times?
-The speaker fantasizes about writing a plague novel because a pandemic forces people to confront death and think about the meaning of life. Such a setting, where one in three people might die, heightens the existential stakes for the characters.
How does the speaker contrast the timelessness of objects with human existence?
-The speaker reflects on how human beings are constrained by time, while objects, like a stone or a piece of marble, remain timeless. The speaker's characters, and possibly the speaker themselves, are often jealous of these objects, which exist without any sense of time.

Outlines

00:00

🕰️ Exploring Time in Literature and Philosophy

The first paragraph delves into the concept of time from philosophical and literary perspectives. It mentions the works of 1920s philosopher Henri Bergson, William Faulkner's *The Sound and the Fury*, and Thomas Mann’s *Magic Mountain*. The author reflects on the importance of portraying time in literature, not just as a backdrop but as a central theme. The passage also discusses how time in novels can be presented through different techniques, such as Conrad’s non-linear storytelling and the pacing in Tolstoy's *War and Peace*. Time, in this context, becomes not just a narrative tool, but a philosophical exploration of how life and literature intertwine.

05:03

⏳ Time, Death, and the Human Condition

The second paragraph shifts focus to time’s relationship with death, especially as one grows older. The speaker contemplates how the awareness of time running out leads to existential reflections, and admires those who ponder the meaning of life and death in their youth. This personal reflection segues into the idea of writing about time and mortality within the context of a medieval Ottoman plague novel. The author expresses fascination with how plagues force characters to confront their mortality, bringing deeper questions about life. The uniqueness of humans, according to the author, lies in their sense of time, which is absent in timeless objects like stones.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Time

Time is a central theme in the video, examined both philosophically and in the context of literature. The speaker reflects on how time is portrayed in novels, such as in 'The Sound and the Fury' by William Faulkner, where a character symbolically breaks a watch. Time is also discussed as a literary device, influencing the pace of a novel and the reader's experience.

💡Philosophical Time

Philosophical time refers to the broader conceptual and existential nature of time, as explored by thinkers like the French philosopher Henri Bergson in the 1920s. The speaker ties this concept to the way writers, such as Faulkner and Tolstoy, explore time’s flow and meaning in their work, contrasting it with the reader's perception of time.

💡Non-linear narrative

Non-linear narrative refers to storytelling that doesn’t follow a straightforward chronological order. Joseph Conrad is credited with popularizing this technique, starting stories in the middle and then jumping back and forth in time. This approach complicates the reader's experience of time and is something the speaker both admires and cautions against for would-be writers.

💡Passing of time

The passing of time is an important concept in literature as it often mirrors life's progression. Novels like Thomas Mann's 'The Magic Mountain' and Virginia Woolf’s 'The Years' emphasize how time passes, both for characters and the reader. The speaker stresses how effective novels evoke a sense of time’s inevitable flow and its thematic resonance.

💡Death

Death is discussed as a major theme, especially as the speaker reflects on aging and the fleeting nature of time. The inevitability of death makes time precious and drives the existential questions of meaning and life. The speaker also imagines a novel set during a plague, where characters confront their mortality in a deeply personal way.

💡Empathy

Empathy, according to the speaker, is a uniquely human quality that connects individuals to each other. It is suggested that empathy, combined with a strong sense of time, allows humans to understand both themselves and others. This notion is critical in literature, where characters' inner lives and emotional connections are conveyed through time-bound experiences.

💡Timelessness

Timelessness refers to the concept of being outside the flow of time. The speaker contrasts human life, which is limited by time, with objects that can exist indefinitely. This is explored through the example of Salvador Dalí's painting 'The Persistence of Time,' where the landscape evokes a timeless feeling, representing philosophical reflections on eternity versus human transience.

💡Chapters in Novels

Chapters in novels are described as a structural tool that helps manage the sense of time. The speaker explains how chapters not only guide who tells the story but also frame the time in which events occur. This gives the reader a sense of time’s progression within the narrative, reinforcing the theme of the passing of time.

💡Art and Literature

The speaker contrasts art forms, explaining that while literature exists in time, other arts like painting and sculpture exist in space. Literature requires the passage of time to show changes and developments in characters and stories, whereas visual arts capture a single moment in space. This distinction reflects deeper philosophical ideas about time and space, such as those proposed by Immanuel Kant.

💡Immanuel Kant’s Philosophy

Immanuel Kant’s philosophy, particularly his ideas on time and space as fundamental categories of human experience, is referenced to underscore the speaker's interest in how time influences art and literature. According to Kant, time allows for change and continuity, while space enables physical existence, both of which are crucial for storytelling and artistic expression.

Highlights

Time is a particularly interesting theme, both philosophically and aesthetically, for the speaker.

The speaker is influenced by 1920s French philosopher Henri Bergson and writers like William Faulkner, who explored the concept of time in literature.

In Faulkner’s 'The Sound and the Fury,' time is a central theme, with a character symbolically breaking a clock to represent the struggle with time.

Thomas Mann's 'Magic Mountain' is praised for its geographical representation of time, which causes the reader to lose a sense of time passing.

The speaker explores the reader’s perception of time versus the natural passage of time, noting how they may overlap or contradict each other.

The speaker reflects on Vladimir Nabokov's admiration for Tolstoy's 'War and Peace,' where the narrative time aligns closely with the reader’s experience of time.

Joseph Conrad’s narrative technique of non-linear storytelling is highlighted, as it starts in the middle, moves backward, and then forward in time.

The speaker emphasizes that the passing of time should be a key element that a good novel evokes in its readers.

Virginia Woolf’s early novel 'The Years' is noted for its focus on the passage of time, with the speaker connecting it to childhood experiences with comics.

Chapters in novels are viewed as tools to give different feelings of time, shaping the narrative's structure and the perception of time.

Time is considered a central theme in life, and for the speaker, literature should represent time both openly and subtly.

The speaker discusses how aging brings a heightened awareness of time and death, prompting existential questions about life’s meaning.

There’s a fascination with pandemic novels, particularly ones set in medieval Ottoman times, where characters reflect on death during a plague.

The speaker notes the unique human ability to conceptualize time, which distinguishes humans from objects like stones that exist timelessly.

The speaker finds inspiration in Salvador Dalí’s 'The Persistence of Memory,' which philosophically reflects on time and timelessness.

In the novel 'Silent House,' a grandmother laments that objects will outlive her, emphasizing the timelessness of inanimate objects compared to human life.