My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

So there are a bunch of books I need to update with but we'll start with this one.

This book got a nobel prize and I realized that a lot of these books receive these prizes because they're artfully written - not only because the plot is engaging, but the underlying themes are so well woven into the fabric of the plot as well as the style of writing. Honestly, with this novel, it was harder for me to really get into it because a lot of the cultural and religious references were lost on me (like Shirin (I hope I got the name right..) and the whole love story thing - I feel like it would've been more powerful if I had understood it.). I feel like the book would've been a lot better if the illustrations were a part of the book - nowadays, I feel like a lot of books have taken on that trend of putting a drawing or two to help illustrate the writer's point and I think that in this book, it would've enhanced the reader's experience. At the same time though, I'm wondering whether or not it would've taken away from the quality of writing... The book itself was so well-written that I feel like to a certain extent, the illustrations would've made the writing less powerful.

I liked how it was a mystery but the actual plot progression didn't revolve solely around unraveling the mystery. There were multiple storylines almost going on and I think that's what made the book interesting. I also really liked how Pamuk used the multiple narrative voices. He was able to manipulate them so well stylistically that you really heard and felt the characters' personalities. He really gave them a third dimension by doing that - all the characters were given life because of his narrative style.

At one point, I remember in one of the chapters towards the end of the novel, the murderer goes "Can you tell who I am?" and it was precisely at the moment when I was trying to figure out who it was because Master Osman had just given descriptions of Butterfly, Stork and Olive. It was almost as if Pamuk predicted what the reader would be thinking and I really thought that was a brilliant little tug to keep the reader interested.

As for recommending this book - it is a little heavier for non-readers, but for people who like reading, regardless of what genre, I think I would recommend it because it is so multi-faceted that it would appeal to a wider range of readers than most other books.