Author: Alex Jones

I think there are a lot of aspects of My Name is Red that can be considered a supplement to the commentary on the tension between East and West aside from what is provided by the narrative itself. Naturally, I have had several thoughts about ways in which the structure of the book is related to Eastern and Western influences on illumination. Among these thoughts is the relationship between perspective in illuminations and perspective in the novel. I brought this up in class last week and wanted to elaborate a bit on what I think is an interesting subtlety in the novel.

We discussed the up-and-down style of Eastern illuminations versus the left-and-right style of Western illuminations. The Western style focuses on shadows, perspective, and depth. The Eastern style, on the other hand, typically lacks shadows, reflections in water, and depth. Interestingly, perspective in My Name is Red plays a key role in how the story is told to the reader. I’m not sure that Pamuk intentionally chose to make the perspective of the story a commentary on a major difference between Eastern and Western illuminations, but I think it is subtly present.

The novel is written from the perspective of a diverse range of characters, each with different opinions, a different set of knowledge, and a different range of experiences. This certainly adds to the complexity of the plot. If we compare the amalgam of these views from many characters to be a work of art itself, we see a striking similarity to Western illumination. The way the story simultaneously integrates the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of many characters provides added layers of depth. That being said, the plot obviously contains a variety of Eastern elements. Hence, I believe the plot itself plays on the tension between East and West, narrating an Eastern story in a way that seems very Western.

 

I have found the style of Pamuk’s My Name is Red to be fascinating, yet hard to follow. I have found myself a bit lost at times, but I think I am finally starting to pick up on the story. As we talked about briefly in class on Wednesday, the story is a murder mystery. However, I don’t think I truly realized that until after we spoke in class. I think because of the way the book is written there are a few directions one can see the story going, especially early on. Initially, I thought that the story was going to be a tale of two lovers reunited. Then, I thought it was going to be a tale of the revelations of a man returning to Istanbul after many years. After discussing the murder mystery aspect of the story in class, I am starting to understand the progression of the plot better. The very first chapter (fittingly titled “I Am a Corpse”) introduces the murder. Then, the important characters are introduced and their stories are told. This progression certainly seems more like a murder mystery now that I am reading with a more informed frame of mind. That being said, I do not think my initial perceptions of the story were unfounded, as the narrative certainly includes aspects of a love story and a tale of revelations. After firmly grasping the basic plot ideas of the novel, I have had time to reflect on the style some more.

The writing style in this book is a bold and courageous undertaking by Pamuk. Each chapter is short and is from a separate point of view. The way he seamlessly integrates the stories of each character (and occasionally a dog, or a tree) is masterful and adds to the story. The short chapters allow Pamuk to create many ‘cliffhangers’, making the reading fast-paced and exciting. In a story that focuses on illuminations, it is fitting that the writing style itself is a work of art. I struggled at first to follow the writing, but now that I know the characters better I can truly appreciate the decision to break things up in this way.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching The Secret of Kells. Initially, I did not really enjoy the animation style of the film. In fact, after watching the first few minutes I assumed the movie was very old based on the seemingly antiquated animations. I was surprised, therefore, to learn that the movie was released recently. Upon further reflection, I realized that the animation style of the film was no accident. The movie is about a famous illuminated manuscript after all, so it fits to incorporate some creative license. After making this realization I think I enjoyed the movie even more, especially because the light-hearted animations were refreshing in the context of some of the dark scenes. I definitely understood the story, but there were a few questions I was left with primarily concerning the identity of Aisling and the history of the Abbot as an illuminator and his prior relationship with Aidan. I found the parts of the movie that concerned the making of the illuminated manuscript to be very interesting. These parts of the film backed up some of what we read in the Clemens & Graham reading and what we talked about in class regarding the making of parchment, ink, and illuminations in general.

There were a couple of things about the illuminations themselves that I found very interesting. Firstly, throughout the film, when Brendan was creating an illumination the pictures came to life on the page. The insects moved, and depictions of Aisling and Brendan climbed through the images. I thought that this part of the movie exemplified the personal twist that an illuminator could add to any given illumination. Each illumination, while similar in style, has its own added flair that may be informed by the experiences of the author. I thought that the way the movie depicted Brendan’s illuminations suggested that his ideas were informed by many of his experiences in Kells, in the forest with Aisling, and in the scriptorium with Aidan. Secondly, I found the commentary on the detail of the illuminations to be interesting. When training Brendan, Aidan emphasizes the importance of the eye of Colm Cille in making manuscripts. I think this emphasis on detail speaks to the intricacy of the manuscripts in The Book of Kells. Aidan suggests that, without the eye, Brendan will never be ready to create the manuscripts needed to complete the book, underscoring the importance of attention to fine detail in each illumination. I really enjoyed this movie, as I thought it was a great story that gave great insights into the creation of illuminated manuscripts.