My Name is Red — Book Rant

#3 of 30 book rants where I, a person with no legitimate literary qualifications, will pass my judgement on books I read.

Written by Orhan Pamuk.

The Plot:

Set in the late 16th century Istanbul, the story begins with dead body of a miniaturist, describing how he was murdered. What follows is a hunt for the murderer, taking the readers through rich art and culture of Persia, and the feelings of love, jealousy and ambition that pervades all our mortal souls.

What I thought:

Honestly, the book did not grip me and was not as ‘unputdownable’ as I had expected, and as was promised to me. Perhaps, what I expected from the book was very different. Usually award winning, highly praised books end with me shedding copious amount of tears. This piece however, brought no such outburst.

It did not resonate with me, and had this book been given to me without the label of ‘Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature’, I would have abandoned it after reading the first two hundred pages. Even after three hundred pages, I laboured on simply out of curiosity to find why this was Nobel worthy.

On retrospect, however, one has to appreciate the immense amount of homework the author has done to write this piece. It brought forth many aspects of art, culture and the religion of Islam that I wasn’t aware of. It is the kind of book literature students will spend hours over, scrutinising the meaning behind words, philosophy behind sentences, the role of women at a time and place when they did not mean much apart from being objects of desire.. etc, etc.

The novel gives a fresh look of the East, from the point of view of the East, free from the Western bias of how a murder mystery should be written. The plot does not obsessively concentrate on the murder and how it is solved. Instead it takes you through a journey of the heritage that is now almost lost.

Not the story, but the way it has been written, and immense range of subjects it covers in depth is what makes this Nobel Prize worthy literature.

Things you should know:

The novel was originally written in Turkish in 1998. It was translated into English by Erdag Goknar in 2001. In 2006, it won the Nobel Prize in Literature. It has been translated into 60 languages.

Who should read this:

• Art students/enthusiasts: Perhaps you guys have actually seen these paintings I read about. Perhaps not. But I anticipate sheer joy for those interested in art to go through these five hundred pages of detailed description of art untouched by Renaissance.
• Literature lovers: Well obviously, you got to tick this one off the list. I have a feeling that in the years to come this will make its way into English courses.. Or has it already happened? (Please enlighten me)

Who should not read this:

• If you are anticipating a Sherlock Holmes type murder mystery, then nope, not for you.
• If you are the type who runs short of patience, this is going to be torture. Try, I dare you.
• Homophobes, beware! Lots of casual references to gay sex.

A quote or two:

While reading I did note down a few quotes that moved me to avoid having to Google that stuff. Here are a few.

For if a lover’s face is emblazoned in your heart, the world is still your home.
-Orhan Pamuk

Did that make you go aww..? Here’s one more.

“Books, which we mistake for consolation, only add depth to our sorrow. ”
― Orhan Pamuk,

Read the book for more.

Thanks for reading!

Next up: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Read my previous book rant here: The God of Small Things