I’m glad I read this book after visiting Istanbul, not before it. To me, Istanbul stroke as an energetic, vivid city with a wonderful combination of past and present, while Pamuk describes it as a place filled with people indulging in self-pity and omnipresent melancholy (hüzün). Almost made me feel depressed too. Or is it just that anyone visiting Istanbul only as a tourist cannot possibly recognize its real “soul”?

I loved the city and would like to go again. Can anybody recommend a book on Istanbul from a more positive point of view?