The importance of 𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙃𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 has been compared to the Bible and 𝘿𝙤𝙣 𝙌𝙪𝙞𝙭𝙤𝙩𝙚, but I believe the story's brilliance surpasses both. This is the one book everyone should read at least once. As Salman Rushdie put it, "𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘢́𝘳𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘻 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."

I first read Graham Greene when I was 15. I would take British literature and follow him everywhere - from 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙤𝙣 𝙍𝙤𝙘𝙠 to the whiskey priest through Mexico in his most critically-acclaimed 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙮, four weeks in Liberia in 𝙅𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙈𝙖𝙥𝙨, a failing marriage in Sierra Leone in 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙡 in Argentina, then South Africa in 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙁𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧, 𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙈𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙖, and the story I love most in WWII London, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙛𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙧. But it was reading 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙌𝙪𝙞𝙚𝙩 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣, set in 1950s Vietnam, that started it all for me.

"𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮." The reason why I travel? It's because I want to see the world as I have read it. This is my tribute to Orhan Pamuk, his books, and his city.