The first thing this book made me want to do was go out and learn more about the Ottoman miniaturist painting traditions. There is a lot of interesting history being depicted here, particularly if you have any interest at all in art and traditions.

The story itself, part murder-mystery and part romance was great in conception but I found myself occasionally impatient with the romance part and eager to by-pass it to get back to the more compelling mystery part. Still, very well written overall.

I think it must be very difficult to draw the right balance in introducing the history part and providing enough context for the average reader and also building good plot and good characters. That's a lot of moving pieces to keep flowing in a work like this, and while I didn't full out love this, it's definitely well done. ( )

A book club pick ;)

Do I have any luck with Pamuk, really? I really liked his memoir of Istanbul, I don’t remember a thing about The White Castle, while The Black Book and Museum of Innocence were meh in various ways.

I do appreciate that I was inspired to look at Persian and Ottoman miniatures (beautiful), but this was probably the only thing that was inspiring about this book. The discussions about art and how it tells stories; the different philosophies of art; artistic freedom, political pressure, and religious fanaticism; the “dangerous” influence of European art were all interesting. I like thinking about portraits as a power of uniqueness, the power of unique individuals who are proud to be themselves.

“Their likenesses had imbued them with such magic, had so distinguished them, that for a moment among the paintings I felt flawed and impotent. Had I been depicted in this fashion, it seemed, I’d better understand why I existed in the world.”

The suffocation of an oppressive and violent society (with the threat of violence and sexual violence always present), where everyone is traumatized from birth and for this reason reacts weirdly, fiercely to everything – that was shown very well. It is a claustrophobic book.

But, oh, how very tedious it all was. Long-winded. Self-indulgent. Rambling. There are so many words out there, let’s use them all! Before every chapter, I took a deep breath and checked how many pages there were. Yes, I can do it! I can plow through this chapter as well! It will only take fifteen minutes (or so my kindle told me)! I must be strong, because I am an idiot who never DNFs books! Yay!

“Nevertheless, let me tell you three parables that comprise a recital on this topic.” Me: Do you have to???

I did like the chapters that described how the three miniaturists drew a horse. But, “Were you able to determine who I am from the way I sketched a horse?” No, and I don’t want to, because I couldn’t care less about the so-called murder mystery, I couldn’t care less which one of you is the murderer, I couldn’t care less about any of you…

I am very grumpy, and sad about the time I spent reading this. There are so many other books in the world, better books!

2.7 grumpy stars! ( )

Wonderfully written tale of miniaturists, calligraphers and gilders in the court of the Ottoman empire at the end of the 16th century. A tale of jealousy, intrigue, love and murder all wrapped in a philosophical treatise of a clash of cultures between east and west. Intensely written. Absorbing. ( )

This book is a murder mystery with a side of romance. What was most interesting to me about this book was the way art was created in 16th century Istanbul. Apparently they drew the same pictures over and over, in exactly the same way; to deviate or experiment was dangerous and potentially blasphemy. The structure of the book made it difficult to follow the thread of the story, although this definitely kept me guessing to the end of the story. ( )

A circular plot that requires paying attention. Manages to portray the era and the characters very well. ( )