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My Name is Red

By Orhan Pamuk

(100)

| Paperback | 9780571214198

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Book Description

'나는 지금 우물 바닥에 시체로 누워 있다. 마지막 숨을 쉰 지도 오래되었고 심장은 벌써 멈춰버렸다. 그러나 나를 죽인 그 비열한 살인자 말고는 내게 무슨 일이 일어났는지 아무도 모른다.'

터키 문학사에서 가장 많이 읽힐 작품으로 평가받는 소설, 『내 이름은 빨강』은 우물 바닥에 누워 있는 시체, '엘레강스'의 독백으로 시작한다. 그리고 그를 죽인 비열한 살인자가 누구인지 궁금해질 즈음, 독자는 다시 살인자의 독백과 마주하게 된다. 살인자는 '그 멍청이를 죽이기 직전까지만 해도 나는 내가 곧 사람을 죽이게될 거라고 누군가 말해주었더라도 믿지 않았을 것이'라며, '오로지 바보들만이 무죄다'라고 말한다.

이 책은 표면적으로 살인범의 정체를 알아나가는 추리 소설의 형식을 띠고 있다. 그러나 계속 읽어내려 가면, 시대적 변화 속에서 어떤 것이 진정한 예술인지 갈등하는 예술가들의 고뇌, 쇠퇴기로 접어든 이슬람 회화 전통에 대한 그들의 비애, 한 여인을 향한 세 남자의 사랑 등 너무나 많은 것들을 이야기하는 소설임을 알게 된다.

저자인 오르한 파묵은 현대 터키 문학을 대표하는 세계적인 작가이다. 귄터 그라스 등이 받았던, 프랑스의 '최우수 외국어 문학상'을 2002년 수상했고, 2003년에는 밀란 쿤데라, 존 업다이크 등에 이어 '인터내셔널 임팩 더블린 문학상'을 수상했다. 그의 소설은 '동양과 서양의 대립'이라는 고정관념에 사로잡히지 않고, 터키의 역사와 일상을 그렸다는 점에서 주목을 끈다. 그는 형식, 구성, 내용 면에서 다양한 형태의 실험을 시도하며, 터키의 문화를 충실하게 그려낸다. 이를테면, 축제 장면, 의상, 터키 설화, 세밀화 등이 그것이다.

그림 속의 개, 나무, 죽은 자, 색깔까지, 등장하는 모든 생물과 무생물이 저마다의 언어로 이야기하는, 색동감 넘치는 소설. 그러나 한편으로는 시대적 변화 속에서 쇠락해가는 자국의 회화전통을 지키고자 필사적으로 노력하는 예술가들의 번민이 느껴지는, 진한 슬픔이 배어있는 소설이기도 하다.
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Critics

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My Name Is Red is a novel in 20 different voices. Half are fabulous: the personified elements of the exquisite illuminations painted by several of the leading characters. These are decorative and digressive. The other voices belong to 10 characters w ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

Talking pictures

The "impossible narrator" is not exactly an established critical term, but how else can we refer to some of the narrative voices used in Orhan Pamuk's multi-narrator novel? Each chapter of My Name Is Red, which is set in late 16th-century Istanbul, h ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

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7 Reviews

2 people find this helpful

oh well, anybody intersted in Islamic Art?

The only book I don't like but still bother to put it here - just to warn you guys.

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fruit said on Apr 14, 2007 | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

The author's depiction of 16th century Istanbul and the lives and traditions of its artists is quite fascinating. I enjoyed the beautiful passages on the nature of art and the differences manifested in artistic techniques between East and West.
However, Pamuk stresses the same points over and over ... (continue)

The author's depiction of 16th century Istanbul and the lives and traditions of its artists is quite fascinating. I enjoyed the beautiful passages on the nature of art and the differences manifested in artistic techniques between East and West.
However, Pamuk stresses the same points over and over (and over!)again and at the end of the story I felt tired and annoyed. I simply could not bring myself to care about any of the characters, with their deception and lies, or about the fact that Pamuk won a Nobel Prize.

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momiji1020 said on Oct 1, 2011 | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

It's quite a time-consuming reading for me not only because it's quite a long story, it is more than just a murder mystery, it is a novel with Turkish history, the the aesthetics of Islamic art, and eastern and western art comparison. It is intriguing, but it is also tiring.

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S.E. said on Jan 25, 2008 | Add your feedback

Tiring and Intriguing

It reminded me of the Name of the Rose although in a Middle Estearn flavour. As Eco, Pamuk proved to be a brilliant writer and as his Italian conterpart commits the sin of showing off his immense erudition.
Nevertheless the book is still quite engaging, even though it one of the book you really wan ... (continue)

It reminded me of the Name of the Rose although in a Middle Estearn flavour. As Eco, Pamuk proved to be a brilliant writer and as his Italian conterpart commits the sin of showing off his immense erudition.
Nevertheless the book is still quite engaging, even though it one of the book you really wanna get to finish and move on.

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Luciano Martorana said on Mar 14, 2012 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

A multi-faceted detective story with the point-of-view switching between characters as the story winds to a resolution.
I enjoyed this almost as much as The Black Book. Pamuk's love for the city of Istanbul is all over both novels - this one set at a time when European influences were starting ... (continue)

A multi-faceted detective story with the point-of-view switching between characters as the story winds to a resolution.
I enjoyed this almost as much as The Black Book. Pamuk's love for the city of Istanbul is all over both novels - this one set at a time when European influences were starting to wash over the ottoman culture.
Highly recommended.

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huntch said on Aug 26, 2008 | Add your feedback

I enjoyed the rich setting of this book. The format was a little confusing at first but it didn't take too long to get the hang of it. The murder mystery was perhaps the least interesting part, the suspects being the least defined characters in the book. I enjoyed the discussions about art and cultu ... (continue)

I enjoyed the rich setting of this book. The format was a little confusing at first but it didn't take too long to get the hang of it. The murder mystery was perhaps the least interesting part, the suspects being the least defined characters in the book. I enjoyed the discussions about art and culture. I'm not going to rush out and read anything else by him, but it was still enjoyable.

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Robot-mel said on Jun 15, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback