What is the author's tone in the memoir, Istanbul: Memories and the City?

The tone of this book reflects its primary theme of melancholy. Throughout the work, the author describes the air of melancholy that has descended over Istanbul as the city has become poorer, as well as the personal melancholy that has pervaded his own life, and that feeling clearly has an effect on the book's tone. Even when Pamuk writes about positive experiences during his childhood and young adulthood, those experiences are overshadowed by melancholic events, such as arguments between his parents and the loss of his first love. He devotes a great deal of attention to describing the city's poorer neighborhoods, which are marked by ruins, and the decaying or burned out mansions left over from the Ottoman Empire. The reader is left with a feeling that the author's life has not been particularly happy, as he has a strong tendency to look for the worst rather than the best in most situations. Even his fantasy life is filled with thoughts of killing other people, and he openly admits to embracing his own melancholy. From beginning to end, the book has a definite air of gloom and sadness.