My Name Is Red Can’t Pick It Up – Todd Daniel – Phoenix, AZ USA
This book was selected for our neighborhood book club. I’ve been reading it for what must be a hundred days (it seems like a hundred – it might be three weeks in actuality), and I am proud to say I am on page 50. You know how people say “I couldn’t put it down” when they are speaking about a great book? Well, “I couldn’t pick it up” is how I will describe this book to anyone wanting an honest review. It is sluggish, overwrought, convoluted, and inconsistent – and those are its good qualities. And I, a watercolor miniaturist, should be loving this book about manuscript illuminators. Of course, I should finish all 400+ pages before I really review this paperweight. I’ll do that in 2015 when I complete it.
Very Unique, Very Enjoyable, A Bit Too Much Detail – 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.
: At once a fiendishly devious mystery, a beguiling love story, and a brilliant symposium on the power of art, My Name Is Red is a transporting tale set amid the splendor and religious intrigue of sixteenth-century Istanbul, from one of the most prominent contemporary Turkish writers.
The Sultan has commissioned a cadre of the most acclaimed artists in the land to create a great book celebrating the glories of his realm. Their task: to illuminate the work in the European style. But because figurative art can be deemed an affront to Islam, this commission is a dangerous proposition indeed. The ruling elite therefore mustn’t know the full scope or nature of the project, and panic erupts when one of the chosen miniaturists disappears. The only clue to the mystery–or crime? –lies in the half-finished illuminations themselves. Part fantasy and part philosophical puzzle, My Name is Red is a kaleidoscopic journey to the intersection of art, religion, love, sex and power.
Translated from the Turkish by Erda M Göknar My Name Is Red
- Snow
- Istanbul: Memories and the City
- The Black Book
- The White Castle: A Novel
- The Museum of Innocence
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