I did not realize that this author wrote "Snow" which I found well written and unusual. I have ordered "My Name is Red" and am looking forward to the discussion.

Anybody already read the first chapters and wants to share his/her impressions? We are in no hurry - the books planned for March! Nevertheless, postings are welcome!

I have read five chapters. The sudden changes in the narative makes it difficult, this early in the novel, for me to get my bearings. I need to read a little more before I can comment any further, except to say, the first five chapters seem to be laying a foundation for the rest of the novel. It is a page turner, but I find that I need to be careful and pay attention, very close attention. I find myself flipping back and re reading previous passages. This is not a light read although on the surface it appears to be. Orhan Pamuk is a fantastic story teller, which I am sure led to his Nobel Prize in literature. He is a strange egg. I am still pondering the chapter narrated by a dog.

This was a good pick. I am glad that I am reading it. Thanks for the list of characters Aomame, I find myself using it often. I am sure this discussion will blast off once readers get a bit farther into the novel.

This style does take some getting used to, but I'm finding it interesting now that I'm further along. Suzanne, how do you find this book compared to others of Pamuk's that you've read?

I liked the transition from chapter 2 to chapter 3. In chapter 2 there is a scene with Black in a cemetery crying as the snow is falling and a black dog he didn't notice at first. Then at the end of the chapter a storyteller is pointing and telling a story about a picture of a dog. Next chapter begins from the perspective of a dog. I wonder if chapter 3 is a way in which we can get the meaning of a dog and retroactively fit it into the previous imagery? Speaking of imagery, I'm loving it in this book.

finally got a copy and am intrigued already, real page turner, well it would be if i could stay awake for a whole page, but alas i am so short on sleep i doze off before i finish a page, reading just knocks me out when i'm tired.

but if all goes well i will be able to get into it on the weekend. so far i just love the style of writing, and wouldn't have guessed it's a translation. only read half a page though

I have only read one other novel by Pamuk, that was, "Snow". This novel was narrated by a single character, but, the style of writing is similar. The descriptions of both "Snow" and "My Name is Red" are not accurate in my opinion. Both of these novels are much deeper than described. Pamuk is clearly a very spiritual man, and this spirituality was the driving force behind "Snow", I can also see it in this novel as well. I was disappointed after finishing "Snow", but I am truly enjoying "My Name is Red".

I am about two hundred pages in and have to say that the switching of character narratives is flowing well. I love the unreliable narrator, and in this book, there are many! I don't even believe the dog at this point, but more on that in another thread.

Thanks Suzanne, I'm going to try Snow or maybe one of his other books. I'm also about as far along in Red as you and am not having any trouble with the character switches. I think in the beginning it was awkward because the reader had to come to know who the narrator was. As far as the dog and the tree, I think we need to look deeper into why they have a voice and what they mean to the illustrations.

To some extent Pamuk's writing reminds me of Rushdie. Have you read any of his work? If so, your thoughts?

chapter 1 is a romance between a new corpse and decomposition, with the added satisfaction of blind
faith in an afterlife,(welcome but not necessary to a corpse) and the intrigue of mortality.

The transition from chapter 2 to 3 I agree does have a certain disconnected symmetry.

This so far has been a cool book, its a good example of global suburbanization of popular writing.

I am glad that so far nobody seems to be irritated by the change of perspective - this was one of the critics I read several times in other fora. To mitigate this possible outcome, I had posted the list of characters (Suzanne, glad that it was helpful).

To the ones who read the first chapters: What was the most intriguing scene for you so far? Is your sympathy with the victim? And what do you see in the colors that are mentioned (red, black, white)?

The change in perspective is my favorite part. The Frankish paintings are made using perspective while the miniaturists use no perspective and draw everything as being 2d. I think the Frankish way of rendering correlates with the first person perspective in this book and if we were to compare the miniaturists traditional drawings to a narrator's perspective it would be third person omniscient. It makes me wonder from what viewpoint stories were told in this region during this time. The most intriguing scenes to me have been the chapters told from the perspective of the dog and the tree.

I haven't figured out how to feel about the colors because I'm scared they might have different connotations depending on culture. For example it is hard for me to disassociate red with blood, stop lights, power, and anger. It might end up being the same but I feel like I should play it safe.

Ptimb, I like your thoughts about the perspective. It puts a light on another layer of the story. In my opinion that is the fascination of this book - the multiple layer structure. I think it is almost worth reading it once for every layer. Do you feel the same?

How about the other readers?

For me, the dog chapter is still making me thinking. I expect talking dogs only in children's books. They are cute little creatures that try to behave like a mixture of animal and men. I do not know how Pamuk did it, but I have not questioned the seriousness of the book although I was listening to a talking dog. Thoughts from anybody on this?