My Name Is Red (Vintage International) (edit title)

• Rated 4 stars

“read it in Arabic! what a lovely book!”

• Rated 5 stars

“Really an amazing book, the writing is so superb. ”

• Rated 3 stars

“'My name is Red' is innovative in many ways; not only because it has many subjects - both animate and inanimate - conversing with reader in first person in seemingly effortless change of tones and perspectives but also because of the finesse with which Orhan Pamuk handles the oft-repeated theme of clash of civilizations on an eternal battleground of Turkey where Europe and Middle East jostle noisily with each other. Having said that, the book did appear rambling at times and was bit of a drag at places. The details with which the paintings and illustrations of old masters were described became bit repetitive for me and if not for an seemingly innocuous but astute observational sentence that would appear uncannily at times, I'd have been tempted to speed-read through middle section. All in all, a book worth a read if you can attune yourself to its somewhat languid pace. ”

• Rated 3 stars

“a gud book about the ancient art of miniature making at the time of ottoman empire..mixed witha somwat mediocre crime scenario.the scenes of husrev and shirin are explained with attention to detail.but beware its quite slow in pace,and somtime u wish the book was over......... but at the end a nice book to be sure of raisin ur interst in art of the ancient franks and ottomans.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Pluses
- beautifully written
- characters and the milieu evocatively created
- the varying points of view are handled very well
- a rich cast of characters and a strong sense of place
- the religious and artistic controversies were interesting

Negatives
- lack of sympathetic characters. Eventually, I wasn't so bothered about who the murderer was - it didn't seem to matter. Ultimately, as noted above, I felt that Shekure was effectively planted at the centre of the story. Black having been the main character up to that point.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Very good book with excellent detail of life, culture and religion in 15 century Turkey. The extensive detail made the book hard to follow during certain sections, especially when I had limited time to devote towards reading. I think this is a book which needs to be read a few times, in order to capture all the subtle messages the author is trying to convey. I will be sure to pick up another book by this author in the near future.”

• Rated 3 stars

“This was a struggle to read. I had to fight my way through it, but I continued because I was also fascinated with the insight it gave into the Islamic world of the Middle Ages. Although it is marketed as a murder mystery, the mystery is such a small part of the book that really is an in-depth look at the mindset of an entire culture.
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• Rated 5 stars

“Pamuk is one of my favorite novelists at the moment. He definitely deserved the Nobel Prize. I feel like, sometimes, when the Prize is handed to novelists, it's given more because of the writer's CONTENT (and the political/social/humanitarian message therein) than his/her writing ability. Well, Pamuk can boast both. This is a brilliant discourse on the meaning and value of art set in... I think... 15th century Istanbul. Yep. Good news for people like me: one can be stuck way in the past and still get a Nobel Prize!!!”

• Rated 4 stars

“I loved this. He is one of my favourite authors. He is always interesting re east / west divide, and this is also about observational drawing, which is a hot topic, obviously. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“A very interesting book, I've never read something like this. I'm talking especially about the set in which the action takes place. The exotic world of muslims has always been very far away from me, but I found it very interesting and though many critics have compared this with Eco's "The name of the rose" I don't see any resemblance in its core. Can't say it is one of my favourite books, but certainly one that must be read at least for its exotic mood.”