~ My name is Blood !!! ~. Review on My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk

Novel **My Name is Red

The Plot(from the book)

In Istanbul, in the late 1590s, the Sultan secretly commissions a great book: a celebration of his life and his empire, to be illuminated by the best artists of the day - in the European manner. But when one of the miniaturists is murdered, their master has to seek outside help. Did the dead painter fall victim to professional rivalry, romantic jealousy or religious terror?

*My Review

*My dad introduced me to drawing and its allied forms(can I say that?), painting & pencil sketches when I was 6 years old. I can’t say I was fascinated by this art ever since. Most often, I would be frustrated that my hand drew differently than what I imagined or what others expected it to be. but the end result would be deeply satisfying for myself. It would be a picture of interesting beauty, if not acceptable!:)

I hardly draw these days but thank God, my dad taught me into it. I think I can boast of making a fair pencil-sketch imitation of any picture.

Why am I rumbling about my tryst with art now? Because that’s what I feel is the essence of Nobel Prize winning Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk’s book ’My Name is Red’.

Was Orhan a professional artist? A miniaturist who has a split personality of a writer too?!

Why did I say that?

Although there are characters and a complex story of romance & murder in the background, the life and ways of a miniaturist(painter, illustrator, artist or any similar term we can think of) takes centrestage in ’My Name is Red’. Amazingly rich description about a miniaturist, his thoughts, his passion for illustrating and how he creates a picture, what brush strokes goes into a painting & their significance, the colors, the beauty & meaning of these colors, how the illustrator would perceive the picture, how Allah would veiw it, how you or I would study it.Did you get me? The author gets into unimaginable depths about this art form that I can’t blame myself to suspect Orhan Pamuk must have been a handsomely paid artist during his earlier days who chanced upon writing by sheer accident!

But be careful! It’s adult reading only. There are graphic details of violence and accounts of sex. But nothing to feel repulsive about. Infact, Orhan writes about them almost like a beautiful painting. He uses great imagination, like Dan Brown. However, I call Dan Brown a popcorn entertainer! Unlike Dan, Orhan & other authors like Salman Rushdie(I gave up on his ’Midnight’s Children’ after reading 20 pages) love to go too much into the details and less on the thrills.

Honestly, although I’m pleasantly impressed by the author’s invitation to us into a world of arts through the Muslim and European ages a few centuries ago, I didn’t intend to read this book just for accumulating some history. Alas, I was only expecting popcorn entertainment! I wanted a climax that would leave me with goosebumps, upright hair or something to that effect. But I didn’t feel any elation when the murderer is revealed towards the end. The thrill factor in ’My Name is Red’ is only fair.

Why did I mention Blood in my review title?

Because so much of what happens in the story glorifies the color Red and the flow of blood! The author exposes us to facets of Red that seems very enriching to our senses.

Here are few of the many praises My Name is Red received that echoes similar to what I partly feel(if not wholly) about the book -

’Magnificent.In this world of forgeries, where some might be in danger of losing their faith in literature, Pamuk is the real thing, and this book might well be one of the few recent works of fiction that will be remembered at the end of this century.’

Avkat Altinel, Observer

’A scintillating fusion of murder myster, postmodernist fable and historical romance. Comparisons will no doubt be drawn to Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, and there are broad similarities, although Pamuk’s vigorous style and subtle characterisation are wholly his own.My Name is Red, with its stories within stories, philosophical speculation and complex characters is a superb example of what the novel can do.Enchanting.’

S.B. Kelly, Scotland on Sunday.

Verdict~ Go for it, only if genuine love for reading or for the arts beckons you. But one thing’s certain.it’s unforgettable.