Thursday, July 14, 2005
My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk
Orhan Pamuk's My Name is Red is a rich text enveloped with so many layers and an absolute delight to read.
A simple story and narrated very well. A book is commissioned by the Sultan in 16th century Istanbul. Rising fundamentalists are threatening action due to rumours that the new book features potraitures. Two miniaturists are murdered, burtally. The other miniaturists explore various angles to unmask the murderer. By the end of the tale there are so many details divulged that I could not care less who was the murderer.
The story is told through various characters, thereby giving different perspectives. Some of these story tellers are even inanimate objects and euphemised qualities, the point of some of them lost on me.
The love story of Black and Shekure almost runs parallely. Its very potent, relying a lot on imagery - their images of each other, Shekure of her missing husband, Black's substitution on faces for Shekure and various other intermediaries like her children and Esther, the clothier and even her missing husband's brother, who also loves her.
Things I loved most about the story- its narrative style. Each character taking on a first person narration and giving the story's context. It was brilliant. Of course the first chapter is intriguing and definitely a big factor that got me interested in reading the book.
Also depite being a translation, the nuances of the book are finely woven in. All that information on miniatures. Its like a whole world has opened up to me. I even loved the loved the love story.
One main grouse with it was that towards the end of the book... the story starts to meander down tiny lanes in Istanbul in houses of various minaturists to reveal who is behind "I will be called Murderer". That part can get a little tedious, causing the book to go astray.
He is definitely an author one would want to read all other books of. Here are some more reviews of the book.
A simple story and narrated very well. A book is commissioned by the Sultan in 16th century Istanbul. Rising fundamentalists are threatening action due to rumours that the new book features potraitures. Two miniaturists are murdered, burtally. The other miniaturists explore various angles to unmask the murderer. By the end of the tale there are so many details divulged that I could not care less who was the murderer.
The story is told through various characters, thereby giving different perspectives. Some of these story tellers are even inanimate objects and euphemised qualities, the point of some of them lost on me.
The love story of Black and Shekure almost runs parallely. Its very potent, relying a lot on imagery - their images of each other, Shekure of her missing husband, Black's substitution on faces for Shekure and various other intermediaries like her children and Esther, the clothier and even her missing husband's brother, who also loves her.
Things I loved most about the story- its narrative style. Each character taking on a first person narration and giving the story's context. It was brilliant. Of course the first chapter is intriguing and definitely a big factor that got me interested in reading the book.
Also depite being a translation, the nuances of the book are finely woven in. All that information on miniatures. Its like a whole world has opened up to me. I even loved the loved the love story.
One main grouse with it was that towards the end of the book... the story starts to meander down tiny lanes in Istanbul in houses of various minaturists to reveal who is behind "I will be called Murderer". That part can get a little tedious, causing the book to go astray.
He is definitely an author one would want to read all other books of. Here are some more reviews of the book.
# posted by Janaki @ 11:34 am 
