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My Name Is Red
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Categories Textbooks Trade-In   Turkey   Contemporary   Literary   General   Historical   Hardcover   Printed Books  

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Description
From one of the much important and acclaimed writers at work today, a thrilling new novel—part murder mystery, part love story—set amid the perils of religious repression in sixteenth-century Istanbul.

When the Sultan commissions a excellent book to celebrate his royal self and his widespread dominion, he directs Enishte Effendi to assemble a cadre of the much acclaimed artists in the land. Their task: to illuminate the work in the European style. But for the reason that figurative art can be deemed an affront to Islam, this commission is a dangerous proposition indeed, and no one in the elite circle can recognize the full scope or nature of the project.
Panic erupts when one of the chosen miniaturists disappears, and the Sultan demands answers inside three days. The only clue to the mystery—or crime?—lies in the half-finished illuminations themselves. Has an avenging angel discovered the blasphemous work? Or is a jealous contender for the hand of Enishte’s ravishing daughter, the incomparable Shekure, somehow to blame?

Orhan Pamuk’s My Name Is Red is at one time a fantasy and a philosophical puzzle, a kaleidoscopic journey to the intersection of art, religion, love, sex, and power.

Customer Reviews
Customer rating is 4 of 5  Very Unique, Very Enjoyable, A Bit Too Much Detail   2010-03-07
By Richard Pittman (Toronto, ON Canada)
My Name is Red was the 2003 winner of the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Although I love the IMPAC methodology in choosing a book from across the international spectrum, I'm often puzzled by the final choices for this award. I am not puzzled by My Name is Red winning. It's a very unique book and not much about it is typical.

For the most part, the book flows along linearly but is told from many perspectives and not all characters are altogether truthful. It is set in 16th century Istanbul and the focus is on miniaturists who were traditional artists of books based on legends. Like many artists, they are obsessed with their art and are fanatical about details that most of us would see as inconsequential. Pamuk renders the detail of the Istanbul of the time lovingly and in great detail. I definitely felt as if I had been transported to 16th century Istanbul.

The core mover of the plot is the murder of one of the artists and the struggle to find the murderer. Four of the artists have been chosen to illustrate a great book in honor of the Sultan. One of the artists has been murdered and it is due to the philosphical debate over whether the book is an insult to the greatness of Allah.

The lead character named Black has returned from abroad after 12 years and has been involved in the effort by his uncle who is overseeing the creation of the great book. Black's perspective is the one that recurs most. Besides hunting down the murderer, Black is also completely in love with his uncle's daughter, Shekure. He has been in love with her since she was 12 years old and has never forgotten her while he travelled abroad.

So, we have a murder mystery, a love story and obsessions with art interwoven with a plot told from multiple perspectives. Additionally, some of the perspectives are very unusual and while they are mostly from the perspective of main characters, there are also chapters from the perpective of characters in drawings, Satan and the color Red. One of the perspectives is from the murderer who admits he is another character in the novel but disguises his identitiy while telling the story. This is a very interesting novel.

Several people have mentioned that this has a "Name of the Rose" feel to it. I agree with that. The similarities immediately jump to mind.

Some have said that the novel is too long. I don't exactly agree with that. I would say that the level of detail on stories, legends and all aspects of the artists craft is excessive. It makes for some very slow interludes that detract from the flow of the story.

This is a unique novel. I enjoyed it and definitely recommend it. I wish Pamuk had edited out some of the detail.
Customer rating is 2 of 5  Bloated and in need of a good editor   2010-01-03
By B. Wells (Montgomery, Alabama USA)
I read this for book club. I liked parts of it, but it was just too repetitive and ponderous. The weight of all of the words suffocates the love story (to the extent there is one) and the mystery. I just wanted it to be over. Blech.
Customer rating is 5 of 5  If you would enjoy intrigues between 16C Turkish miniaturists, then...   2009-09-01
By Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France)
this is a book for you.

Pamuk accomplishes a stunningly complex historical novel, the best that the genre can offer. With this story, you enter a world fundamentally different from the present day, in which the concerns and world view of the characters are slowly revealed. While there are some constants, such as the search for true love, miniaturists in 16C Turkey are part of a tradition almost totally alien from art today. That Pamuk can weave their very consciousness into a complex mystery novel is truly astonishing. There are many levels that fascinate.

First, of course, there is a murder mystery. As the narrative from various points of view unfolds, clues and many false paths are left for the reader to piece together. It is a dazzlingly elegant labyrinth that kept my mystified to the very last chapters.

Second, there is a man and woman bound by family and seeking fulfillment in love. In thrall to Islamic and Turkish tradition, they perform a long mating dance. If is beautiful, taut with emotion, and as suspenseful as the murder itself.

Third, the time period is at the close of the Ottoman Turks' golden age, when the dynamics behind the expansion of the empire are giving way to a far more conservative society, one that will seek to preserve rather than create, becoming famously decadent over the next 400 years of decline. This turning point is wonderfully and subtly evoked, obliquely and by inference. You also get a feel for the other empires and princes nearby.

Fourth, the reader is introduced to the Islamic tradition of figurative art. As idolatry was forbidden by the Koran, the portrayal of images (rather than exclusively geometric designs) was a risky business. This too is wonderfully evoked and explained. While extremely esoteric, it was not art for the masses, but rather at the behest of the Sultan himself, who would keep the works in a forbidden vault for himself and a few others or sent them as diplomatic gifts. Needless to say, it is opposed by fanatic zealots, who believe that images are a sin against Allah and their absence is the reason that Islamic armies had been beating Western infidels over the last 1000 years.

Fifth, with the invention of perspective in painting during the Renaissance, world art is entering a revolutionary phase: reality is coming to be observed and reproduced in a far more accurate way, which opened the doors to the development of verifiable scientific observation. Rather than allegorical renderings reflecting a neo-platonic ideal in the mind (or as many believed in God's mind), the goal was becoming the accurate portrayal of living subjects. Of course, this shift is controversial and is seen by the ancient masters as a betrayal of their teachings, which they violently protected. Venice, the empire's great rival, is held out as the exemplar of this approach.

Sixth, you get a view into an elite of the period, the miniaturists. How they were trained, what they thought, and how they managed their careers are at the heart of the plot. It is great fun and offers an intimate window into Ottoman society. Their reasoning and concerns - bizarre to the Western reader, resulting in self-mutilation (blinding) and other unfathomable behaviors - are vividly alive and wholly believable. Only a novel can do this about another time.

I was utterly spellbound by this story from page 1. Admittedly, it is rather recondite, but the rewards of a close read are truly worth the effort. This is the best novel by Pamuk I have so far read.

Recommended with the greatest enthusiasm.
Customer rating is 4 of 5  good but long! boring on occasions   2009-08-06
By S. A. Saghbini (fresno,CA)
The story events are of 1591 during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Murat III in Istanbul,Turkey..

The first chapter was of interesting subject in which the soul of a murdered artist is narrating the main mystery of the book; " I am nothing but a corpse now,a body at the bottom of a well. Though I drew my last breath long ago and my heart has stopped beating, no one,apart from that vile murderer, knows what happened to me."

The Sultan ordered Istanbul's masters of art to draw a book in which to show the power and prosperity of Islam to his neighbors; the" Franks", who were in the surge of the art Renaissance revolution; However,this is to be done secretly to avoid the anger that might be aroused among the islamic conservatives who consider art nothing more than "Heresy and Evil".
As a result of doubt, conflict of beliefs and greed; the aforementioned artist will be murdered by this mysterious " I will be called a murderer" who is one of the artists themselves.
At the end and by the secret of art and the distinctive style of drawing; the murderer will be caught but the bitter reality also is revealed:
-There is a huge gap between the eastern and the western cultures
- Religion controls everything and
-Love will keep almost every character going in the tough times but does love really exist?

I thought the story was good, Its stream of consciousness writing technique and multiple narrators by different people similar to Faulkner in "as I lay dying" , was magical on occasions;However, there were many short stories in each chapter similar to Arabian Nights but this felt,in my opinion, so repetitive and boring especially when you advanse further in the book.

Also the Sex and love part was pretty much dull and primitive with no life what so ever; as another reviewer describes of "high school quality", especially in the last chapter when oral Sex sounded the only thing that cured severly injured Black !
Customer rating is 4 of 5  Enjoyed it   2009-08-02
By C. Hurwitz (Asia)
I really enjoyed this book with 3 caveats;
1) too long
2) Repetitive
3) Confusing in parts


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