Opinion on "My Name is Red"

My Name Is Red

Have you watched Peep Show? This wonderful book is sort of a refined version, set in middle ages ^[1]; and yes, definitely far more engrossing. If you live outside the UK and are completely unaware of the show - the whole sitcom is shot from the perspective of the two main characters, Mark and Jeremy. There is no protagonist of this book, unless 'west asian miniature painting' is considered one. Orhan has employed a wonderful way to narrate the whole story, all 500 pages of it. Each of the 59 chapters is narrated from one person/animal/satan/colour's perspective. Yes, you read it right, satan himself speaks out.

Oh, by the way, do watch Peep Show; you'll see the same characters in the UK version of the Mac vs. PC ads as well.

A corpse speaks out in the first chapter, describes a murder with all the gory details; one of the most interesting way to start a novel. The author then narrates everything from the voices of different characters about the events that occur over a span of one or two weeks. There is Black (that name might be the result of translation from Turkish Kara, like Hindi's Kallu or Kannada's Kariya); miniaturists 'Butterfly', 'Olive', 'Stork'; Black's uncle Enishthe Effendi and his beautiful, confused, cunning daughter Shekure; Master Osman the master miniaturist (Head Illuminator to be precise); Esther the Jewish clothier, who also acts as the messenger between secret lovers; A dog, horse, tree, a coin, two beggars, satan, even death aid the author in narrating the murder of an artist and the subsequent events. The author also describes the influence that Frankish methods had on other forms of art.

I'm not going into a full blown review of the book, you can find plenty on the net. The author does sometimes go very deep into art and the way artists think, but the interesting characters and narration takes the edge off. I'd definitely recommend it you want something more than a light read.

For a proper review go to Wikipedia, or here (the cover is not the same as mine; mine's better)


[1] I recommend reading the Chronology sometime during the first couple of chapters

Dreams

Dreams are good for three things:
• You want something but you just can’t ask for it. So you’ll say that you’ve dreamed about it. In this manner, you can ask for what you want without actually asking for it.
• You want to harm someone. For example, you want to slander a woman. So, you’ll say that such-and-such woman is committing adultery or that such-and-such pasha is pilfering wine by the jug. I dreamed it, you’ll say. In this fashion, even if they don’t believe you, the mere mention of the sinful deed is almost never forgotten.
• You want something, but you don’t even know what it is. So, you’ll describe a confusing dream. Your friends or family will immediately interpret the dream and tell you what you need or what they can do for you. For example, they’ll say: You need a husband, a child, a house…

From - My Name Is Red by Orhan Phamuk