My Name Is Red
by Orhan Pamuk
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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 but long! boring on occasions
Summary: 4 Stars
The story events are of 1591 during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Murat III in Istanbul,Turkey..
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, one of artists will be murdered by this mysterious " I will be called a murderer" who is one of those 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 was magical on occasions;However, there were many short stories in each chapter that was so repetitive and boring especially when you advanse further in the book.
Book Review: "My Name Is Red" is a modern masterpiece !
Summary: 5 Stars
It is tempting to compare "My Name Is Red (MNIR)" with Umberto Eco's "The Name Of The Rose" but that would be to deny Orhan Pamuk's masterpiece its own beauty and originality. Pamuk's technique of using a rotating cast of narrators not only adds to the intrigue of the murder mystery but facilitates the juxtaposition of the conflicting opinions that emerged in Turkish society at a time when foreign influences were slowly but surely creeping into the arts and craft of its traditional civilisation. While the whodunnit element remains undoubtedly the driving force behind the narrative, readers are likely to derive their biggest payoff from their appreciation of the Islamic philosophy towards the arts, the painting of still and natural life, and of how and why it is an abomination against God for any artist to develop his own style or paint a lifelike portrait of any human being. In depicting the duplicity of its characters, the novel also pierces the facade of a closed and repressive order. MNIS is a monumental piece of work that has to be read to be believed. Written and translated into a prose that's accessible, vivid and rich with poetic imagery, I believe MNIR will one day sit alongside other modern masterpieces of the century. Highly, highly recommended.
Book Review: Colorful historical tale
Summary: 5 Stars
My Name is Red delves even further into the influence of the West during the 16th-century Ottoman Empire, discussing at length the influence of western portrait art as a symbol of the growth of individualism, and its conflict with Ottoman illumination style which supposedly negated individual style. I say supposedly, because even those artists and characters in the book that seek to keep out western artistic influences, can upon close examination find out which artists illuminated each manuscript, that even though the artistic conventions of the period frowned upon individualism, there was no way to completely snuff it out, even among those most devoutly adhering to traditional artistic practices. But at the same time, My Name is Red is an in depth history of Islamic illumination and manuscript art, from the days of the glory of Baghdad through Safavid Iran to Herat and Afghanistan to Mogul India and Ottoman Istanbul. What he shows is a complex and growing artistic tradition that was far from static, as perceived by many in the West, but indeed ever evolving, much as art was evolving in the Europe. Ottoman Turkey was far from being `backward' as many in the West believed then and now, but on its own path toward modernity.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.