My Take - My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

I first read My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk some five years ago. I didn’t retain even the broad plotline much less the subtleties of the narrative yet I clearly remember the sheer pleasure and awe that I felt while reading it. Instigated by that awesome feeling I decided to reread the novel. All I can say is the awe that I felt on first reading it is now increased fivefold on my rereading it. The novel is like an immense, exquisite and intricate medieval miniature painting which is a treat for the eyes as well as the soul. I am simply amazed to see the attention paid to the minutest detail by the author.

I am at a loss for words to define the novel; it in fact transcends every attempt of categorisation. The novel converges diverse genres such as, ekphrastic, historical, detective in keeping with the postmodernist tendency to transcend divisions and merge genres. The novel evokes a vivid picture of Istanbul of the 1590s through diverse narrators and multiple points of view. The narrative is democratic in the sense that it gives space to the voices of people belonging to the extreme ends of the societal spectrum. It gives equal space to the high and mighty head illuminator, master miniaturists as well to the lowly peddler to tell their versions of the tale, without prioritising any single voice.

My experience of reading the novel was akin to that of solving a puzzle. Each of the narrative voice invites the reader to assume an active role in the events of the novel and help them unravel the murder mystery. The reader is transformed into an omniscient, God-like entity, seeing everything and having an access to the innermost recesses of the characters’ hearts and minds. Yet the wily characters succeed in deceiving the omniscient reader and thus the murder eludes detection till the very end. For me, one of the major strength of the novel is its active involvement of the reader by urging them out of their conventional passivity.

My Name is Red sets the benchmark very high for any novel, be it classic or contemporary, to be considered masterpiece. I am sceptical that I will ever read any novel that can live up to the expectation set by My Name is Red. It has been one of my favourite novels for a long time and I am glad that I decided to revisit it. This novel will surely spin your head, but the experience is worth it. I will end my review with one of my favourite lines from the novel:

“How difficult it is being human, even worse is living a human’s life.”

My rating – Exquisitely golden hued 5 sterling stars suspended timelessly in the dark, infinite sky.