23 Murders, Love and Miniatures
The Murder CaseThis book contains three different but intertwined story lines: a murder case, love story and description of peculiarities of miniature art. The scene of the novel is ancient Istanbul. A miniature artist and a miniature workshop master called Enishte were murdered, and throughout the novel, the murderer is chased. The suspects are three miniature artists. The main motive for murder was to protect miniature profession from religious fanatics, who are suspecting miniature artists for making "forbidden" pictures under supervision of master Enishte.
Shekure, a Clever Gambler of LifeA fellow called Kara (Black, in English translation) has been for years in love to Enishte's - his uncle's - daughter Shekure. There are plenty of troubles before Kara finds his way to Shekure's bed. Shekure is the most central person in the novel - a clever and cunning gambler in the play of life, who manages her life in spite of the suppressed position of women in this culture. She negotiates good terms for her marriage with Kara - marriage is more business than a romance for her. Marriage is business in other sense, too: with money Kara opens the way to the marriage, even if it is not sure that Shekure's first husband is dead.
Arabian Miniature Art and ArtistsBecause most of the characters in the novel are miniature artists, the author has taken the liberty of presenting numerous stories about Arabian miniature art told by these artists. There is occurring a change of style as Frankish art with natural portraits and other novelties threats the position of mechanically oriented miniature art. Western artists have a personal style, but it would be an insult to argue that a miniaturist has one! However, the style of the murderer is an important clue, on the basis of which the murderer is tried to be trapped.
Murdered Persons Have a Voice!The novel is organised into short chapters, in each of which one specific person tells his or her part of the story. Even murdered persons have a voice, and in addition, the pictures on a café's wall too! Among other things, the reader learns, what is supposed to happen to a Muslim after the death.
Excellent Description of Everyday LifeIn my opinion, the novel is a little bit too lengthy: the reader (this one, at least) is bored with the numerous ancient stories told by the miniaturists: the author seems to be driven by the old stories in such a way that he has not been able to keep the novel in control. Pamuk is, however, excellent in describing everyday life and its happenings in old Istanbul. Sometimes he describes cruel details, for instance, the methods of torture typical of the oriental legal system. Pamuk is also rather straightforward in details concerning sexual matters - for instance, according to him homosexual relations between miniaturist masters and young apprentices were common.
Pamuk in Comparison with WaltariAll in all, the novel was very well worth of reading. I recommend it for those readers, who are interested in historical novels. Pamuk's rich and understanding description of human life reminds me of Mika Waltari, a Finnish novelist. In particular, in Waltari's "The Egyptian" there was similar feeling of vanity like in the last chapter of "My Name is Red". And, of course, Waltari's novel "The Dark Angel" ("Johannes Angelos" in Finnish) about the siege of Istanbul has a certain connection with "My Name is Red". Quite so, it would be interesting to compare how Finnish Waltari and Turkish Pamuk describe the same place and about the same period of time. - Finally, Pamuk's book gives certain background information for discussion about Turkey's membership in the European Union, because the cultural and religious thinking described in the novel may still dominate the life of today's Turkey.
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