My Name Is Red

My Name Is Red is one of the best-known books by Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk. It relates the story of miniaturists during the period of the Ottoman Empire in 1591.

The Sultan commissions that a great book be penned, honouring his life and empire. It is to be illustrated by the best artists of the day, and be styled in the European fashion. This is to be done in utmost secrecy: not even the group of artists are allowed to know whom they are working for. However, one of the miniaturists soon gets murdered, and the cause as well as the perpetrator of the crime remains unknown.

My Name Is Red is penned in the typical postmodern style, with an eccentric pattern of narration. Pamuk employs a wide variety of objects and characters to narrate the story: the corpse of the murdered artist, a coin, Satan, two dervishes, and the color red. Each of these narrators serve to portray the philosophical system of 16th century Istanbul. The events take place over a span of 9 days during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Murat III.