My Name Is Red in Around the World in 80 Books

Aug 02, 2007 Kay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: i-should-reread, fiction, turkey, favorites, world-lit, historical-fict

This is a mind-boggling book, incredibly rich and complex. Although I'd tried to read several other novels by Pamuk, I felt I wasn't "getting" them. This book, in contrast, really drew me in, though I suspect I didn't fully appreciate its subtleties. Pamuk seems to be making a point about closed societies and taboos here, and there's ostensibly a murder mystery at the center of the tale, which is told from multiple perspectives. This layered telling builds up a nuanced picture of the society, an ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Sep 15, 2013 Rachel rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, historical-fiction, fiction, art

The language in this novel is some of the richest I've ever read in my life. So rich in fact, that's where I think that last star went off to, because I'm not sure it didn't cover up a few places where the story got a little too melodramatic. But only one star.

I had tried Snow several years ago and only got through about 3 chapters maybe, because...too much snow? Too intensely focused on the main characters thoughts? Maybe I wasn't old enough to get it, to read it carefully, to appreciate it? R ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 10, 2012 Amy Nash Parker rated it it was ok

I really wanted to like this book and tried to stay with it despite the dry art history lessons and detailed Arabic 15th century myths. In books like these, I enjoy learning more about times and places I had never given much thought, but the endless art talk really ruined it for me. I enjoyed the chapters told by the dog, coin, corpse, and red but I could have passed on the drawn out murder mystery and weird love story.

Like · see review