My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

My Name is Red

Orhan Pamuk

Murder mystery, historical novel, evocation of the differences between the Muslim and the Christian worlds, and indeed between traditional and modernising Muslims - this superb book is all these and more. It is also very relevant post 9/11. In short not to be missed.

Extract
Hundreds of years hence men looking at our world through the illustrations we've made won't understand anything. Desiring to take a closer look, yet lacking the patience, they might feel the embarrassment, the joy, the deep pain and pleasure of observation I now feel as I examine the pictures in this freezing Treasury - but they'll never truly know.
Parallels
  • The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
  • Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett
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Violence
Explicit sexual content