What is the meaning of art? Is it meant as entertainment, is it meant to please the masses or answer a higher calling? These are some of the questions that will be brought to you as you read this book. Answers, as any good philosopher knows is not important, but the questions are there for you to interpret as you choose. The questions are inevitable if you spend a lifetime reading books of this nature. 
 Reading My Name is Red was for me quite labourious. The prose style is something I haven't encountered before and I had to force myself to keep reading for at least the first 20% of the book. Once I got used to the varied points of view and the inherent unreliability of narrators, I started seeing the writing from a higher perspective. I was now the observer to this carefully carved universe of illuminators and calligraphers in Ottoman times. Pamuk does a great job of simulating what I like to call the Rashomon narrative - allowing us to be judges to multiple perspectives of a flowing story. The result is Nobel worthy. 
 The simplest explanation of plot for My Name is Red is that it is a murder mystery. The most complicated explanation for it is that it is so much more than just a simple murder mystery. Like many such books, the plot really is not very relevant to any discussion. It's just a means of exploring a world that feels like it has been created just for us. A world that exists just for us to make sense of the time period it was written about. 
 My Name is Red is an astounding piece of work. My biggest takeaway from the book is a renewed sense of belief in art and its importance in our lives. What greater gift can come from Turkey?