My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of My Name Is Red
Book Review: Finally finished...
Summary: 3 Stars
It took me over a year to read this book! I started it last spring and finally finished it the other day. When I first started it, I loved it - the idea behind it, the style, the structure and shifts in narrative perspective were all fascinating and wonderful. As the book went on, however, it started to drag, which caused me to set it aside for weeks or months at a time. Then I would slog through a portion, set it aside again, and continue the cycle. There are moments and aspects of incredible beauty in this book. The meditations on art and its function in society take on added dimension if you also think of them as meditations on the role of literature and the artist. I didn't even mind that the characters were flat - they were supposed to be, I think, much in the way that Islamic illustrating is described in the book. What I didn't like, however, is that the book starts to get repetitive. It goes off on side tangents, which are interesting at first, but start to wear on the reader after awhile. In one section of the book, one fable is related after another - after another, after another, after another... Pamuk could have easily cut at least 50 pages from this book, without affecting its integrity at all.
Overall, I'm glad I read it - but I don't know that I would do it again. You only have so much time in this life!
Book Review: Good book
Summary: 4 Stars
Good book. I strongly recommend it not only because of the story but also because of the "style" it was written in as well as the window that it opens into the culture of the Ottoman Empire.Book Review: His best work yet, beyond brilliant!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am an avid reader of Orhan Pamuk, however I must say that this one is his masterpiece. My name is Red is taking us to historical labyrinths of Istanbul. His trademark "detailed description of the characters and events" is at its best. What I like most is Pamuk usually tells his stories from different points of view. This books looks like a murder-suspense book at the first place, however page by page you start to see Islam and its philosopy from the eyes of 16th century miniaturists. What I learnt from his interviews is Pamuk could not finish writing this book for a long time and he always prefers handwriting (just like his friend, great Paul Auster). You can see his precise technique and talented storytelling page by page. Pamuk has obviously done a great research about the 16th century Istanbul and the result is awesome. I may critize the translation a little bit but I appreciate that to translate a book by O.Pamuk must be tough! My name is red is "a must" Because of this book Pamuk got the 2003 IMPAC award. You will see his talent starting from the first chapter. Amazing, sad, humorous, brilliant. Well, do yourself a favor and purchase this one and then spare the time to read it carefully.
Book Review: Historical Blindness Marw Pamuk's Novel
Summary: 1 Stars
The "rich and essential" (as LA Times would have it) novel by Orhan Pamuk represents yet another example of a Turkish novelist's oblivious treatment of his country's violent historical and cultural past. I would strongly urge both Mr. Pamuk and the readers of the novel to consult any history textbook or archives of cartography from the centuries covered in the novel before drawing up the arbitrary picture of the Ottoman Empire that carefully masks its crimes. I was shocked and outraged to discover that the entire Western Armenia, a demi-autonomous entity under Ottoman rule until 1915, does not even appear on the map, while Azerbaijan, a country extant only since 1918, miraculously features on a map of 15th century MIddle East. The chronology provided after the novel displays a similar selective igornace of past. A novel that sets out to explore the interesting interwieving cultural palmipsest of an entire country should really at least attempt to remove political blinders for a moment.Book Review: I am a reader!
Summary: 5 Stars
"My name is Red" is the third novel I've read so far from Orhan Pamuk, but after finishing the Black Book and reading the first page of this one, he became my favorite living author! Of course as an Iranian, I was privileged compared to other readers, as I already knew many of the stories mentioned in the book (like the story of Khusrov and Shirin, or Rostam and Sohrab, and many of other Ferdowsi's "The book of the kings" stories). Plus, I was also familiar with the Persian painting and Miniature and the work of painters like Bihzad (who halt the time!).
"My name is Red" is not a simple read, so please don't choose it if you're looking for reading a fun murder mystery! Still, its complexity is much less than many of Pamuk's other novels. This one is not all poetic philosophy...it has a clear plot, action, even a few dialogues! Plus, I found that by changing the point of view from chapter to chapter, as a reader I felt empathy and a true understanding toward each of the characters of the novel.
As expected, the beauty of Pamuk's prose and the poetry of this made-up world are breathtaking and I have to confess that I loved to explore in this labyrinth of story inside story. As if I was sharing the mysterious world of a king listening to Scheherazade's thousand and one unfinished tales.
Orhan pamuk mainly writes for lovers of true literature, so if you are one...then this book is definitely for you!