Books Within Books

One of the interesting details of My Name is Red is how the author incorporates other works into this book.  I researched a list of the literary references embedded within this text, which resulted in about 13 different well-known sources.  The love story of Husrev and Shirin that influences the romantic aspects of this novel is possibly the most blatant reference.  The unfinished Book of Festivities is also referred to very early in the novel.  However, there are a few less obvious textal refereces to be found.   For exmple, horses and equine imagery plays a role at certain instances in the story, which is tied back to the Book of Equines and The Illustrations of Horses.  Overall, the references and the fact that a modern, Western reader would need to research them adds to the interactive nature of this story.  I treated it almost like a treasure hunt when it came to piecing together outside stories with their in-text counterparts.  I felt that this level of engagement and interesting variety of references helped make the story even more intruiging because of the investment the reader has, along with a deeper understandig of the culture and illumination at that time.