by Orhan Pamuk
The Muslim world has such a rich story telling tradition. and we in the Western world know so little about it. Only lately that Turkish writers gain distribution and acknowledgment in Germany. Maybe the large Turkish community there helped in the process. Of course, Orhan Pamuk is an exception, translated into many languages and he won the Nobel Prize.
The story in “Red is my name” is that of a crime. It takes place in 1591 in Istanbul – the capital of the Ottoman Empire, which was at its peak at that time – militarily but also culturally. At the same time the modern Europe is starting to extend its roots. For example, the Europeans started to paint differently: in central perspective. On the other hand, the Muslim world had a long tradition of of miniature painting, which they developed to perfection. But they did not change anymore, for them it was perfect. This friction of tradition, the right belief, ambition and change is the background, on which several murders happen. It is linked to the guild of painters. You learn a lot of Muslim history, and it is a master-pice of story-telling. The chapters start all with” My name is ….. So the story is told by different narrators, which explain their point of view. But these are not different point of views, the story unfolds with those different narrators.. There are the several members of the painter’s guild, some painted characters speak, like a horse and a tree until the color Red has an opinion. It sounds strange, but the tree tells you a lot about the other characters, what they wanted to hide from you. One voice says also: My name is murderer. It is clear that the murderer has two voices in this book, but who is it? You are always tempted to page forward to find out.
There is also a love story woven in, I tell you, it is not cheesy – not at all. Very subtle and modern. Not what you would expect from a traditional culture with its formalities an eternal laws. On the surface it is painted like a cheesy love story. Things look different underneath the surface.
The story in “Red is my name” is that of a crime. It takes place in 1591 in Istanbul – the capital of the Ottoman Empire, which was at its peak at that time – militarily but also culturally. At the same time the modern Europe is starting to extend its roots. For example, the Europeans started to paint differently: in central perspective. On the other hand, the Muslim world had a long tradition of of miniature painting, which they developed to perfection. But they did not change anymore, for them it was perfect. This friction of tradition, the right belief, ambition and change is the background, on which several murders happen. It is linked to the guild of painters. You learn a lot of Muslim history, and it is a master-pice of story-telling. The chapters start all with” My name is ….. So the story is told by different narrators, which explain their point of view. But these are not different point of views, the story unfolds with those different narrators.. There are the several members of the painter’s guild, some painted characters speak, like a horse and a tree until the color Red has an opinion. It sounds strange, but the tree tells you a lot about the other characters, what they wanted to hide from you. One voice says also: My name is murderer. It is clear that the murderer has two voices in this book, but who is it? You are always tempted to page forward to find out.
There is also a love story woven in, I tell you, it is not cheesy – not at all. Very subtle and modern. Not what you would expect from a traditional culture with its formalities an eternal laws. On the surface it is painted like a cheesy love story. Things look different underneath the surface.
Facts:
English title: My Name is Red
Original title: Benim Adım Kırmızı
Published: 1998
