Chasing The Muse
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My Name Is Red

by Orhan Pamuk

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My Name Is Red

by Orhan Pamuk

reviewed by C. Michael Becker

I recommend that those of you writing prose, particularly extended prose, take time to at least scan Orhan Pamuk's novel My Name Is Red because of its very unconventional construction. Whereas our critiques and discussions often revolve around finding and maintaining a consistent point of view, this novel utilizes first person narration by 19 different persons, animals and symbolic or inanimate objects. The tale -- part murder mystery, part love story -- is set in 15th century Istanbul and introduces us to the reclusive and repressive society of those responsible for illuminating an elaborate book commissioned by the Sultan.

The point of view for each chapter is consistent and is announced to the reader via the chapter title: "I Am Called Black" [twelve chapters] or "I Am Your Beloved Uncle" [five chapters] or "I Am Esther" [five chapters] or "I, Shekure" [eight chapters]. To preserve the mystery, the murderer is not named directly; instead [s]he speaks to the reader in six chapters titled "I Will Be Called A Murderer." Also represented are a dog, a tree, a gold coin, a horse, a corpse, Death, Satan and the color red. As unusual as this is, the story progresses smoothly with a very intimate aura because each character speaks for him or herself.

Considered simply for its story, My Name Is Red rewards its reader with copious historical detail pertinent to Turkey, Istanbul and that region in the 1453 to 1683 era. We learn necessarily but painlessly about the precepts of Eastern art and manuscript illumination: how it was considered an affront to Islam to be too representational [including the use of identifying details or perspective]. While the artists of the day, those illuminating the manuscript in the atelier that is the focus of the novel, are fascinated by the realistic and representational "Frankish" style which they see in Venice, that artistic form is considered sinful. In fact, having a "style" of one's own as an artist is frowned upon if not forbidden. Secreting one's signature or initials indistinctly within a minor detail of one's illustration can be cause for punishment.

The social customs of love and marriage are illustrated by the ill-fated childhood love for Shekure by the man known as "Black," an attraction that is central to the story after Shekure's husband may or may not have been killed in battle and "Black" returns to Istanbul to participate in the Sultan's artistic commission. Most readers will be amused at how Shekure manages to manipulate both her suitors and the socio-religious system in the matter of her remarriage for the benefit of herself and her two sons.

Whether you linger long enough to read it for the tale itself or just scan the volume to note its unusual structure, Orhan Pamuk's My Name Is Red is a work of fiction with which prose writers ought to be familiar. [Translated from the Turkish by Erdag M. Goknar. ISBN 0-375-40695-6; 417 pages, including historic chronology.]

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C. Michael Becker was born in Chicago, Illinois, and has been a resident of Naperville since 1982. He received the Master of Arts in English Literature from Northwestern University before devoting thirty years to a career in employee benefits. He retired to concentrate on freelance and creative writing and photography. His essays, short stories, poetry and photography have appeared in the Naperville Writers' Group Rivulets and Rockford Writers' Guild Review, the Online Journal of the Dana Literary Society as well as Chicago area newspapers. His collection of poetry and photography, The Dead Letter Office, was published in July 2006. He is currently writing a novel.