My Name is Red

This book has been a really tough one to read, but as one gets through the style of writing, it can be an interesting one to add to your collection.  This also will be written about in more detail as this is the Fall 2011 RA Book Club read.  We have 15 students in the book club, so I have asked each to write a short summary of their thoughts on the book.  The only problem is that we don’t have to finish until the end of January… so here are some of my thoughts on My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk.  Why was it so hard to read?  It was written from the voices of many characters within the book coupled with the fact that this was not a linear book.  When a book opens with a death it is clear that some mystery is involved.  Enter the Ottoman Empire in 1591 and the life of miniaturists with one being killed.  The reader learns of the devotion to the Quran, the male dominated culture, woman as property, the importance of the miniaturists in the culture, and the role of religion in the Eastern world.   There is humor, darkness, and poetic language throughout.  It is not a linear story and often has narrators such as coins or animals.  The detailed description of rape, sex, and murder are frightening and disgusting at points.  Pamuk’s work captured a time that in many ways seemed to be repeated in stories like The Kite Runner.  The ending brought the story together as the intrigue to the murder got me through this book.  I wouldn’t say it was a love fest reading this one, but got through it.  Hoping some of the RAs will have further commentary on this one… stay tuned!