My Name is Red (The Colors Series Book 2)

But, are we creating an image of the ideal horse, the horse of God, or one we can actually touch, taste, and smell? View all 18 comments. Nov 01, Jason Koivu rated it liked it Shelves: My Name is Red is as gorgeous as these illuminations. The narrative flows with the weight of such a lush artistic style. It is a dazzling brilliance that creates a languid beauty View all 32 comments. Pamuk would later receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The novel, concerning miniaturists in the Ottoman Empire of , established Pamuk's international reputation and contributed to his Nobel Prize. View all 17 comments. This is a fantastic book by Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk which explores the relationship between art and religion ad between imagery and idolatry. Set in the 16th century, we are transported into an Istanbul of the Ottoman empire with a murder mystery told in the voices of the characters and sometimes these are drawings in the books or just concepts that inhabit the story.

Its primary characters feel very real and the buildup to the big reveal at the end makes the book a real page turner. I This is a fantastic book by Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk which explores the relationship between art and religion ad between imagery and idolatry. I think that the story told here is still more than relevant to our world of today given the problems stemming from reading religious texts word for word and building violent systems of repression or terror based on individual interpretations of those readings. Unfortunately, some things have not evolved enough in the last years View all 7 comments.

I am called Black, I longed for my dearest Shekure for twelve years; I, Shekure, not quite sure what was I doing in this story; I am called Butterfly, I was the one who drew the Death and Mia thought I was the murderer; I am called Stork, I was the one who drew the Tree and Butterfly always envy me as I was more talented without the help from our master; I am called Olive, I was the one who rendered the Satan and drew the exquisite horse; I am your beloved uncle, I was preparing a On-a-high version: I am called Black, I longed for my dearest Shekure for twelve years; I, Shekure, not quite sure what was I doing in this story; I am called Butterfly, I was the one who drew the Death and Mia thought I was the murderer; I am called Stork, I was the one who drew the Tree and Butterfly always envy me as I was more talented without the help from our master; I am called Olive, I was the one who rendered the Satan and drew the exquisite horse; I am your beloved uncle, I was preparing a book for our Refuge of the World, Our Glorious Sultan before being murdered by one of my apprentice; It is I, Master Osman, I wished to follow the path of Master Bihzad who blinded himself with a needle; I am Esther, my eyes were eternally at the windows and my ears were eternally to the ground; I am a corpse, I was Elegant Effendi before being murdered by a fellow painter; I am Mia, I read this book from page 1 to whilst crawling and bleeding to death.

So please would someone explain wth is this book about? Interesting story regarding Istanbul in the 16th century. One day I'll visit the amazing Blue Mosque that a good friend of mine, Eddie, always talk about. But seriously, though this book is amazing I can't get into it. Totally not my rocknrolla thing. View all comments. May 04, Jim Fonseca rated it really liked it. This book is as much about art as it is a historical novel. One of them is a murderer who kills one of his co-miniaturists and later his former master.

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She wants to find a new husband and a fath This book is as much about art as it is a historical novel. Enter a man called Black, an administrator of sorts who has returned to town after twelve years in distant lands. He still carries a torch for the beautiful widow from his days as a youth. Along the way we have blended into the text what are really mini-essays about horses; dogs in the Koran: At least half of this lengthy work is about art. I say lengthy because the page paperback I read was tiny type, so this is a or page book in normal font.

Miniaturist painting was imported into the Ottoman Empire from Persia.

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Most of the painting was done as pictures in books and to illustrate the borders of pages of books, accompanied by elaborate calligraphy. Ottoman miniaturist painting was highly stylized. Pictures were drawn from the viewpoint of Allah, from the top of a minaret, and did not use what the West thinks of as true perspective. Armies lined up symmetrically in battle scenes; horses always had the same foreleg raised; a finger placed in a mouth always represented surprise. In accordance with religious concerns about idolatry, faces were generic, not individualized. Who would dare place an identifiable individual at the center of a painting?

Man can copy; only Allah can create. So a lot of the book is about East meets West in the art world. All in all, an excellent book from the Nobel Prize-winning Pamuk. The story kept my interest and I enjoyed learning about Ottoman art, even when the sections where the miniaturists talked about the philosophy behind painting got repetitive at times.

View all 11 comments. View all 21 comments. View all 10 comments. Jul 15, Kelly rated it really liked it Recommended to Kelly by: My other parts insist I be a woman when I'm a man and a man when I'm a woman.

How difficult it is being human, even worse is living a human's life. I only want to amuse myself frontside and backside, to be Eastern and Western both. This is Pamuk's enduring, never ending obsession. He's written fiction and non-fiction, journal articles and newspaper bites, and given endless interviews on this theme. He's even been thrown in jail and put on trial for the identity he has chosen. He's won the Nobel Prize in Literature for his commitment to expressing his deeply divided mind and spirit, and that at least he and many others believe of his country- Turkey.

I apologize in advance if this ends up being something of a ramble through the literary bramble, but I can only say that that would mirror the experience of reading this book. My Name is Red will tell you that it is a murder mystery, set in 16th century Istanbul, under the rule of the Sultan. But it will also tell you that it is about many other things, each of which changes, ephermerally, by the moment. The atmosphere of the story digs a little bit into Garcia-Marquez's garden, but storytelling would never be mistaken for his.

Each chapter is told by a different voice- some of which are plausible members of a storytelling round, and some of which would really only belong in that category if you were on acid, but they all seem about equally credible, due to the fact that nobody is really credible, so one might as well be fiction or myth as fact. For instance, we hear from the voices of the drawing of a horse, the fake voice of a woman who is actually a man, a gold piece and the color red.

It is ethereal, elusive, and there isn't one incarnation of the mind that can be trusted here. Don't fall into the trap of assuming that what you read has anything to do with anything other than the particular pyschology of the moment- Pamuk is a master of depicting the every day track of a mind, and how unreliable each feeling of a moment is- how everything important is changed by the fact that one just happens to feel hungry at a particular moment, or desperately horny at another. It is an absolute masterwork of insight on the psychology of a particular people at a particular time, and all the various reasons why they are that way, and yet he is able to make them as relatable as possible through it all.

What struck me the most throughout the entire book was how terrified, it seemed, that Pamuk was of missing something. While other authors might be striving to become masters of literature, masters of form, I think Pamuk wished that he could be nothing so much as a master of tapestry-making. I think he would die happy if he could have given this book to the theoretical Weaver in the sky and gotten it back as a divine scrap of worked fabric.

There are lists upon lists upon lists of endless things that go on for pages, only to stop and start up once again. As a part of his contradictory feelings towards the West, in a culture whose stories and traditions often originated in the East It seems like he can't stop himself- there's some sort of driving fear if he doesn't list everything about history and culture and myth, and repeat all the stories again and again to make sure we remember what they are, it will be gone forever. His expression of ambivalence towards Western culture perfectly expresses the mindset of illuminators in 16th century Istanbul terrified that their entire lives are about to become irrelevant.

The other absorbing, fascinating, and horrifying thing was how well Pamuk illustrates the idea that absolutely nobody speaks with their own voice, both through his painters, constrained by centuries of adherance to a perfect style that some random master brought out of Baghdad that depicts the "perspective of Allah. The murderer throughout this book strives endlessly to hide himself by speaking in a voice that does not at all resemble how we see him in other places.

The majority of people who are speaking a themselves tell stories in order to express their feelings- in fact at the beginning all the suspected illuminators speak almost entirely in story form in order to answer any important question on any philosophical, religious, or even personal topic. Expressing one's feelings just isn't done.

One doesn't go up to the pretty boy one would like to fuck and tell him so, one tells him a parable about a gorgeous boy in order to show your admiration for him. Much as the pictures are seen as the "perspective of Allah," it seems that there is only one way to speak, too, in the "words of Allah," or those stories which are sanctioned by the authorities as legitimate- the authority of Allah on earth.

It was the ultimate tragedy of the book from the Western perspective, and the ultimate triumph of the book from the accepted ides of the time, all of these de-individualized people as much as can be done or denied or pushed from sight striving towards the goal of seeing as Allah does, ever in the correct way. But everyone recognizes the end of the "Eastern" way of life coming from the West, in the guise of the "Venetian" ways that everyone will want to slavishly follow in the future, ways which reactionary preachers and religious people are protesting against before they've even made serious headway, trying to keep their way of life "pure.

No autocratic society that entailed artisans, craftsman and soldiers to pick up and serve someone else once their lord was defeated if they weren't killed out right could develop in isolation without any influence from the outside. He shows globalization already happening, back in the 16th century, and how deep the effects penetrate then and now. I loved his Istanbul for his brilliant evocation of identity, living with a burdensome past and an uncertain future, for its poetry and its memory.

My Name is Red accomplishes much the same thing, with more magic- but just enough dirt to bring it right straight home where it belongs in View all 42 comments. View all 6 comments.

I am in two minds about this book. Obviously, it is an important work. It showcases the miniaturist tradition of the Islamic world, and uses the cloistered world of miniaturists to explore the difference in philosophies between the East and the West. It was all the more interesting to me because I have been fascinated by this difference ever since I began viewing paintings with serious interest. In the East, "perspective" does not exist: The miniaturist paints the world as God sees it: He continues painting in fact, he paints better!

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The Frankish painters, in contrast, paint the world as we see it, which is blasphemy according to some of the miniaturists. I was captivated by the sweep of the book as well as the way it was presented: Moreover, it is a murder mystery in which the victims as well as the murderer directly speak to the reader! It bears a certain resemblance to "The Name of the Rose" in this regard, although Eco's book is much more powerful according to me.

Coming to the minuses: I do not know if this is a problem with Pamuk's writing or the translation. The characters are flat: Maybe the author intended them to be like that, but it does lose reader interest. I was also rather put off by the amount of lust bubbling on each page. Homosexuality, incest, paedophilia, bestiality, fetishism Young boys are regularly presented as objects of lust. Men kiss each other passionately, even when one is about to kill the other! I have heard that Turkey was the centre of "deviant" sexual practices during Ottoman times, so maybe it is a true picture, but it did not vibe with me.

View all 15 comments. Oct 01, Fabian rated it really liked it. They are terrified at the idea of being forgotten—of not existing. My Name is Red has a radical structure. Byatt, in her Booker-prize winning novel "Possession," a novel that is more poetry book than a novel, creates several frames in which to place all the poetry which two poets keep exchanging as tokens of their love. Byatt obviously wants to make her poetry accessible, and gives it further clout by giving each poet his or her unique voice—by fully creating two different minds.

The reader wants to know what all these different vignettes will culminate in. The wants of a fictional character and those of an actual live reader are the one and the same—this is the main catalyst which moves the narrative to its awesome conclusion. By depicting various POVs, by making them authentic and articulate, Pamuk seems to rationalize like many of the great writers that every tiny aspect of the plot is essential—only with all of these different takes on the same thing the murder of Elegant and the love story of Black and Shekure can the reader get a faithful interpretation of such enormous complexity and chaos.

There is a consciousness which ties the characters together, and it is perhaps the force of life itself. The crazy girls perturb the status quo when they admit that they want to live live! The different entities whether they be annoying Shekure or the talking picture of a dog, or literally, the color red all possess life and they indulge the reader in their personal and unique elucidations on life in 16th-century Istanbul.

All that being said, there is a grave problem with the pacing of the book--it took me forever to complete this and lets face it, Gone With the Wind this is not. Also, there is a ceaseless amount of repetition of events, a constant reassurance that seems extraneous-- a recompilation of different occurrences voiced by the different though extremely intriguing characters. The themes, rich in the context of the production of art, are very appropriate and very revolutionary.

This is a postmodern work which of course still lingers on the romantic, and then plays around some with the detective novel genre. Arguably the best novel of Orhan Pamuk. Set in Istanbul during the height of Ottoman power, this novel is a tribute to the art of painting as well as a fascinating murder mystery which will keep you hooked till the end. The unusual narrative is felt with full force right from the start - as you read the first chapter, starting with the voice of a corpse at the bottom of the well wondering who was the wretched man that killed him. Then ensues a beautiful exploration of the 16th century Istanbul's Arguably the best novel of Orhan Pamuk.

Then ensues a beautiful exploration of the 16th century Istanbul's art scene, its many rivalries, and in between breaths a heartfelt love story that keeps the main protagonist on his heels, as he finds his way through the internecine politics at home and at court. This story is a fascinating example of the possibilities of modern global novel.

View all 24 comments. Dec 18, Henry Avila rated it liked it. During nine snowy, cold, winter days, in the fabulous city of Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, at its height, in the reign of Sultan Murat , there occurred a brutal murder, not the last one , the year At the bottom of an abandoned well, the mangled body of Elegant Effendi, nicknamed Red, a miniaturist, who had worked for the Sultan is found, but not before the corpse tells his sad story. How the victim was lured by a person that was thought a close friend, with promises of During nine snowy, cold, winter days, in the fabulous city of Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, at its height, in the reign of Sultan Murat , there occurred a brutal murder, not the last one , the year How the victim was lured by a person that was thought a close friend, with promises of riches, and savagely attacked.



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Strangely the spirit is contented and feels no anger now. Just looking forward to the new world, paradise in heaven. He was a talented painter, along with Stork, Olive, and Butterfly, under old Master Osman, who gave them all their aliases, taught the boys, everything they know, including beatings, when mistakes were made, all surprisingly love their master, of 25 years , in a workshop, funded by the revered sovereign. Colorful paintings of bright, glorious colors, of horses , trees, clouds, important people, slaughter on many battlefields, fables, enchanting gardens , under the exotic, illuminating moon, with lovers looking tenderly at each other.

Red was uneasy about a secret project, he worked on, because of the foreign, Venetian styled, illustrations, forbidden by Islam, many believe, later when completed, these small paintings, will be put in a book, to be viewed only by the ruler, and a few trusted associates Black Kara , a clerk, secretary, and occasional warrior, hired by pashas, fighting endless wars against the Persians, returns to his hometown of Istanbul, after twelve long years. A failed romance cause him much suffering, the reason for his volunteered exile. The beauty, Shekure, his uncle's Enishte, daughter, was constantly on his mind, the lonely days spent thinking about his cousin, wanderings through the vast hot deserts, and freezing temperatures in the dizzy , elevations of towering mountains, sleeping in pungent tents, in isolated locations.

The rejection of a marriage proposal by his own uncle, for his love and her wedding to another, a famous soldier, he can never forget. But her husband has been missing for four years, she with two small children living at her father's house, and the army has come back. A second chance for happiness, if only Black, can win her affections But he has very strong competition, from fierce Hasan, younger brother of Shekure's fearless husband.

Esther, a shrewd Jewish peddler, matchmaker , and messenger, for clandestine sweethearts, she knows everything about everyone, having walked over all the city's streets, begins bringing letters to Shekure and Black and Hasan, too. Rumors that the killer is a miniaturist, sweeps the city. Black had been one, in his youth, with the three remaining master painters, before quitting. And the angry Sultan , wants the murderer caught in three days, or torture will commence on the suspects, every miniaturist View all 20 comments. Dec 13, Samra Yusuf rated it it was ok Shelves: And such an artist, is a blatant sinner in the eyes of Islam, as Allah is the sole creator, and to create is his attribute only, and to impersonate this attribute an act of sacrilege!

And Orhan took plus pages to indispensably say this. Its sixteenth century Istanbul, pinnacle of ottoman rule, a book of illustrations is in the making, the contents of the book are being kept secret until it completes, as the Sultan demands. One of the four makers of book is found murdered at the pit of well with cause of murder and murderer unknown, following another murder of the in charge of the whole work Enishte Effendi by the hands of same murderer in same manner, and a good pages wrap the further happenings.

View all 35 comments. Sep 26, Lissa rated it liked it. I tried very hard to really like this book. But, I suppose it's impossible to succeed in everything. My Name Is Red is both historical fiction and a murder mystery.

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It takes place in according to the timeline at the end of the book. The over-arching motion of the plot centers around the death of a master miniturist in the Sultan's court. The death is revealed in the first chapter, though the reasons surrounding the his death are much slower in being revealed. What is known, almost at the o I tried very hard to really like this book. My Name Is Red Turkish: Pamuk would later receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The novel, concerning miniaturists in the Ottoman Empire of , established Pamuk's international reputation and contributed to his Nobel Prize. BBC Radio 4 broadcast an adaptation of the novel in It has been translated into more than 60 languages since publication. The main characters in the novel are miniaturists in the Ottoman Empire , one of whom is murdered in the first chapter.

From this point, Pamuk—in a postmodern style reminiscent of Jorge Luis Borges —plays with the reader and with literary conventions. The novel incorporates metafiction in such ways as making frequent reference to the reader and to the narrators' awareness that they are characters in a book. Each chapter of the novel has a different narrator , and usually there are thematic and chronological connections between chapters.

In addition, unexpected voices are used, such as the corpse of the murdered, a coin, Satan , two dervishes , and the color red. Each of these "unusual" narrators is contributed by specific characters, who detail the philosophical system of 16th century Istanbul. The novel blends mystery, romance, and philosophical puzzles, illustrating the reign of Ottoman Sultan Murat III during nine snowy winter days in Enishte Effendi, the maternal uncle of Kara Black , is reading the Book of the Soul by Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya , a Sunni commentator on the Qur'an , and continuous references to it are made throughout the book.

Part of the novel is narrated by Elegant Effendi, the murdered miniaturist. Al-Jawziyya argues, in the same fashion as Islamic doctrine, that the souls of the dead remain on earth and can hear the living. Pamuk suggests that, to some of the characters, viewing miniatures or "perfected art" is a way to achieve a kind of glimpse of eternity. Thus Shekure seeks to look upon the reader like women who view miniatures of a distant time and place do, thereby escaping time and place—" A number of books illustrated by famous miniaturists are referenced by the characters in My Name is Red: Several of the specific manuscripts described most prominently the "Shahnama given by Shah Tahmasp", more commonly known in the west as the Houghton shahnama are real and survive in whole or part.