My Name is Red

Decided to add one more post for this weekend. Since Tangy was snoozing blissfully on the bed, decided to sit with the laptop on the sofa lest he get disturbed. Of course as soon as I log into blogger......there he is meowing away & expecting me to make space for him next to me on the sofa.

So here we sit, me typing away my thoughts, him with his head on the laptop...pretending to be sleeping.

Finished reading "My Name is Red" by Orhan Pamuk yesterday after carrying it around with me for almost a month. That's usually too long for me to be reading one book, but this one was way too confusing & intriguing for me to either keep it aside or read it all in one go.

What attracted me to it of course was the element of mystery....it's a murder mystery set in Istanbul of 1600's. What kept me hooked to it for a month, lugging it around everyday.....getting to read on the train ride to & fro to office....was the writing style & the story...both of which are very different from any book I've read till date.

What I loved were the various perspectives presented to us by the author, everyone has a voice & tells his or her story......including the illustrations, the ink used to make the illustrations, and the various characters in the book. It's a totally different approach and is pulled off beautifully by Pamuk.

It does get confusing at times for the reader, I had difficulty remembering whose perspective was being read by me at times, but the story flows smoothly. The dilema he has presented of the miniaturists of the time trying to preserve the past yet grappling with newer western influences was very thought provoking. Its very similar in this theme with eco's the name of the rose...there too the monks are struggling to preserve the scriptures, so much so that the scriptures & other ancient books are considered more important than anything else in their lives.

Similarly here the miniaturists are struggling to stay true to their style & in doing so stay true to their beliefs which they feel are threatened by western influences. And in incorporating these western influences they are betraying their god.

Women's place in 16th century Istanbul is also presented in great detail & how they have to use their wit & intelligence to survive in a man's world. Overall a great book, I'm surely going to re-read it a few more times. Orhan Pamuk's writing style is very interesting, he doesn't make any efforts to make it easy for the reader, he makes you work hard at reading this book & at understanding the nuances. I'm gonna look for some more books of his to buy.

My next book is a much easier read - The Circle of Reason by Amitav Ghosh. I have his The Hungry Tide & have read the Glass Palace which are both interesting books.