After quite a few instances of recommendations, a friend finally handed me over this book. I vaguely recalled having heard the name of the author somewhere. Perhaps I had seen the cover of another of his book on someone's table. But I had no idea of what his writing was like. The complicated name somehow led me to associate him with Coelho. Hence I was not too enthusiastic on picking up this book.
Two chapters into the book I realised I had been terribly mistaken about this book. Pamuk's writing was not spiritual. It was thrilling. It was full of suspense and his way of writing was quite unique. The story keeps shifting vantage points but maintains its continuity. Pamuk has ingeniously mixed the ease of storytelling by plot with the vivacity of a first-person narration. That in itself was quite gripping but even the story goes a long way in interesting the reader.
The story revolves around the art of miniatures in the Ottoman Empire. The art is going through a phase of change and the change is not well accepted as the art in its entirety is held sacred. There has been a murder of one of the master miniaturists who was working on a "progressive" book. And the lives of all others associated with it is also considered at risk. Our "hero", Black enters Istanbul after a twelve year exile to find his childhood love widowed with kids. Her father and his teacher want Black to find the murderer who endangers the completion of the book that he has sanctioned in the name of the Sultan. And of course, the way to thus win his beloved is not a walk in the park.
Pamuk grips the reader with his constant change of vantage point. The story too is quite gripping but at times Pamuk goes into dragging details that the reader knows as irrelevant. The story is slow to progress which kills a certain part of it. But the ardent fanaticism of artists for their art has been well portrayed. One can feel the exulting passion in his words. Over all, it was a good read. I will not hesitate to pick a Pamuk if I ever come across one next.
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