It's not often you find books that start with the speech of an already dead character. It's actually pretty damn rare to find dead bodies speaking at all, wouldn't you agree? Well, Pamuk apparently didn't get the memo. Because that is exactly how his wonderful work, "My Name is Red", starts. The bod...
A novel about Ottoman miniaturists in 1590s, their passion for art & faith (which they understand in a more or less Platonist way), their desire & despair in attaining immortality through art, their love for coffee, folktales, and "pretty boys and beautiful women", in a city torn between past and fu...
First to note: I didn't finish this book.That said, let me tell you why:This book is beautifully written, no question, and presents engaging and masterfully conceived themes and leitmotivs. However, in a book where one of the themes is blindness, I thought I was going to go blind reading the interlo...
I am in two minds about this book.Obviously, it is an important work. It showcases the miniaturist tradition of the Islamic world, and uses the cloistered world of miniaturists to explore the difference in philosophies between the East and the West. It was all the more interesting to me because I ...
The narrative is colored and flows with the weight of lush drapery. It is this dazzling brilliance that creates a languid nature which bogs the story down at times.
One of the thing that amazed me each time I visited old churches in Europe was the devotion shown by the artisans toiling years after years to create each statue and stained glass window. It gave me some perspective on what it means to build with love. In this book Pamuk has shown me another art don...
There's a fine line between I liked it and I really liked it, isn't it? Please agree with me, because I can't decide between 3 and 4 stars. Not important, anyway. I did like it, despite the length, despite all those details referring to names of shahs, miniaturists and all kind of Persian and Turkis...
When I purchased the book the reviews were nothing but stellar -- I couldn't wait to dig in. The author's attention to detail is exquisite; he often creates a beautiful picture of what is happening. Other times the amount of detail is simply too much. At around page 250 I found myself skimming the...
i really wanted to love this book because my friend brian enjoyed it so much but sadly, for me, it was a slog. i don't know if it was the preponderance of narrative voices, or my thoroughly Westernized sensibilities which made the whole discussion about the tradition of recreating the same pieces of...
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