My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.50 You Save: $11.45 (72%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.07 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of My Name Is Red
Book Review: I read about 6 years ago
Summary: 5 Stars
I read the book in its original language and it was fun. I was in the 16th century Istanbul for about a week (well, of course the author's perception of 16th century Istanbul), while reading this book. I don't recall what the details were, but it was interesting in the sense that objects like colors etc. were telling the story in each chapter. I had never seen that in a novel before.Book Review: I sometimes saw red
Summary: 3 Stars
Unfortunately I am one of those people who can't discard a book before I have finished reading it - otherwise I would have abandoned this one half way through. The main subject is interesting enough: the clash between the Venetian and Islamic attitude to art in the 16th century - the former individual, the latter stylized, the former aiming at realism, the latter at representing the perfect form as it is supposed to be in the mind of God. In the course of the book one learns a lot about the techniques and history of Islamic miniature painting and of the "guilds" of miniaturists - but all this is hugely repetitive. Most of the chapters are recounted by one or another of the members of one such guild which is working on an illuminated book for the Sultan, but the characters are almost indistinguishable one from another. You are supposed to be on tenterhooks to discover which one of them murdered a colleague and then a master miniaturist and why - I really couldn't care less. There is a certain amount of atmosphere in the descriptions of the power of the Sultan and his ministers, the arbirary and cruel way in which it is exercised and the readiness to resort to torture. There are some other glimpses of the life of Istanbul, and there is a love story. But I cannot understand why this book is said to have been so acclaimed.
Book Review: I want to read more fo him!
Summary: 5 Stars
I want to read more of him. That's a sure sign that I've just fallen in love with (yet another) author. At first I wanted to read his "Snow", but - considering my antipathy for things cold in the present weather where Los Angeles competes with the Arctic - I've decided to track down his "New Life" instead. How could I possibly resist a book which begins: "I read a book one day and my whole life was changed"? That's my autobiography!
"My Name Is Red" has a pretty interesting start to it too. The title of the opening chapter is "I Am a Corpse" - now it can't get more gripping than that! The book is many things; including a murder mystery set on discovering at first the identity of the corpse and then the one who made it so by depriving it of life.
Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the various characters in the book - living and non-living. This shifting perspective is enthralling and constantly challenges your perspective. In fact, the reason I bought the book was that when skimming through it I came across the narrative of a tree, which had the following line: "And not because I fear that if I'd been thus depicted all the dogs in Istanbul would assume I was a real tree and piss on me: I don't want to be a tree, I want to be its meaning." I didn't know this then, but the tree is talking about art: about two different styles. One is that of the Venetians - realistic; the other is that which was prevalent in Istanbul - miniature.
Art is but one of the layers of this delicious work, albeit a crucial one. You have romance - Shekure is one of the most interesting characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading. She's not simplistic or simple. The book also has the poignancy of the end of an era, a way of life, without being melodramatic; I suppose that a good part of that is due to the narrative technique.
His narrative technique reminds me of why I love post-modern styles which casually brush aside traditional modes for something more fun and challenging. He is beguiling in the lightness of his touch. This is not a book to read if you're only interested in the what-happens-next sort of deal - although it does get rather thrilling at times: it is a murder mystery after all. This is a good book: not something you have to race to end to find out what happened. It is something you savour the experience of, the taste of words lingering on your palate. It's something that makes you think.
The book has a certain...resonance. Though set in sixteenth century Istanbul, it still captures one's imagination. I suppose that is what good authors do. They seem to have this capacity to take what is within people - which they can't quite articulate - and put it into words. I presume it struck a strong chord in me as you can sense the love that this person has for his city - his home; and there is the manner in which he deals with the meeting of two different cultures. I imagine my own longing for home and coming to terms with a new way of life (while still hopelessly in love with the old) was one of the reasons why I felt such a connection to, such a prejudice in favour of, the book. Nonetheless, it is a great read! Try Orhan Pamuk, you won't regret it!
Book Review: I'm A Horse
Summary: 5 Stars
My Name is Red is not really a murder mystery - it is in fact a beautifully written novel of a time of conflict between the Ottomans and what is perceived to be the corrupting influence of the West told through the eyes of miniaturists and dogs and horses and Satan. Orhan Pamuk writes with exquisite skill and humor as he narrates the story through ten or twelve different characters and manages to maintain a degree of suspense throughout. Highly recommended.Book Review: If you would enjoy intrigues between 16C Turkish miniaturists, then...
Summary: 5 Stars
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.