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 agree that the writing style is extremely unusual. I mostly found it strange that the characters were making justifications to the readers, like Shekure’s line”I’m explaining this so you’ll understand my story and be better able to share my grief.” Making characters have direct messages of that sort to readers is common in Middle Eastern writing, I grew up listening to accounts of that sort in Arabic films, especially those based on novels and this style is also common in Turkish drama; the similarity is not surprising since the Turks partially come from Middle-Easterns and there are many cultural intersections owing to common religion and traditions. Some phrases might sound cliche to someone used to western writing, for instance “If Esther likes you, she’ll come to your good aid as well” (38), “And if I happen to tell a lie or two from time to time, it’s so you do not come to any false conclusions about me” (43) and “For lest you forget, I saw to all {…} One of them was madly in love with me” (45). The images in this book are also different from the western images, Turkish people naturally use a lot of imagery in their daily talks, they especially like to talk about their feelings in an embellished language. Some images that really stood out to me as Turkish are: “oh how I burned with a love such as they describe in those books we so cherish and adore” (35), “to which story was I meant to add meaning and grace” (49) and “my desire on icy nights to sputter out and vanish like the dying flames in the iron stoves of a caravansary” (33).
Additionally, like you mentioned, the way the story is told is certainly artistic. Each chapter adds details to the narrative scene that is slowly being shaped in the readers’ minds and each character has a separate voice that readers can distinguish from others, making the story a lot like a painting that is coming into vision slowly while giving the readers the advantage of viewing it from different directions. There is a similarity between My Name is Red and The Book of Kells, the thoughtfulness of the way form fits the content. This correspondence motivates viewers to draw comparisons between the past and the present attitudes toward book arts, making the story a lot more than a historical account, but it integrates history with a narrative of the contemporaries’ lives.