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The Museum of Innocence

by Orhan Pamuk

The Museum of Innocence  Cover

ISBN13: 9780307386243
ISBN10: 0307386244
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

 

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

“It was the happiest moment of my life, though I didnt know it.” So begins the new novel, his first since winning the Nobel Prize, from the universally acclaimed author of Snow and My Name Is Red.It is 1975, a perfect spring in Istanbul. Kemal, scion of one of the citys wealthiest families, is about to become engaged to Sibel, daughter of another prominent family, when he encounters Füsun, a beautiful shopgirl and a distant relation. Once the long-lost cousins violate the code of virginity, a rift begins to open between Kemal and the world of the Westernized Istanbul bourgeosiea world, as he lovingly describes it, with opulent parties and clubs, society gossip, restaurant rituals, picnics, and mansions on the Bosphorus, infused with the melancholy of decayuntil finally he breaks off his engagement to Sibel. But his resolve comes too late.For eight years Kemal will find excuses to visit another Istanbul, that of the impoverished backstreets where Füsun, her heart now hardened, lives with her parents, and where Kemal discovers the consolations of middle-class life at a dinner table in front of the television. His obsessive love will also take him to the demimonde of Istanbul film circles (where he promises to make Füsun a star), a scene of seedy bars, run-down cheap hotels, and small men with big dreams doomed to bitter failure.In his feckless pursuit, Kemal becomes a compulsive collector of objects that chronicle his lovelorn progress and his afflicted hearts reactions: anger and impatience, remorse and humiliation, deluded hopes of recovery, and daydreams that transform Istanbul into a cityscape of signs and specters of his beloved, from whom now he can extract only meaningful glances and stolen kisses in cars, movie houses, and shadowy corners of parks. A last change to realize his dream will come to an awful end before Kemal discovers that all he finally can possess, certainly and eternally, is the museum he has created of his collection, this map of a societys manners and mores, and of one mans broken heart.

A stirring exploration of the nature of romantic attachment and of the mysterious allure of collecting, The Museum of Innocence also plumbs the depths of an Istanbul half Western and half traditionalits emergent modernity, its vast cultural history. This is Orhan Pamuks greatest achievement.

From the Hardcover edition.

Review:

"A deeply human and humane story. Masterfully translated, spellbindingly told, it is resounding confirmation that Orhan Pamuk is one of the great novelists of his generation. With this book, he literally puts love into our hands." Marie Arana, The Washington Post

Synopsis:

It is 1975, a perfect spring in Istanbul. Kemal and Sibel, children of two prominent families, are about to become engaged. But when Kemal encounters Füsun, a beautiful shopgirl and a distant relation, he becomes enthralled. And once they violate the code of virginity, a rift begins to open between Kemal and the world of the Westernized Istanbul bourgeoisie. In his pursuit of Füsun over the next eight years, Kemal becomes a compulsive collector of objects that chronicle his lovelorn progress—amassing a museum that is both a map of a society and of his heart. Orhan Pamuk’s first novel since winning the Nobel Prize is a stirring exploration of the nature of romance.

About the Author

Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006. His novel My Name Is Red won the 2003 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. His work has been translated into more than fifty languages. He lives in Istanbul.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 3 comments:

sasalma, January 4, 2012 (view all comments by sasalma)
A fascinating story and glimpse of Turkish culture.
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K Magill, February 27, 2011 (view all comments by K Magill)
Persistence pays off; for the first 500 pages, I was not convinced that this was Pamuk's finest work, but the last soaringly tragic chapters convinced me otherwise. Although the meandering melancholy of the narrator, a lovesick thirty-something from Turkey's upper crust, may at first come off as self-indulgent, Orhan Pamuk is too skilled to craft a simple sad tale of obsession gone awry. In The Museum of Innocence, Pamuk mines deep into every vein of obsession, love, lust, infidelity and fidelity that he can find--in the end, turning on their heads our common notions of virtue, success, and life well lived. Reading, I couldn't help but recall some lines by Sam Beam on the newest Iron & Wine album: "We bricked up the garden and oh, what it means,/ and we've all kissed a virgin as if she were clean."

Moreover, Pamuk's ability to bring myriad minute details together into a moving whole is staggering. Not only is this a story of romance between human beings, but of the romance which grows between people and inanimate things. I go through my days now reflecting on the everyday objects that shape me, each one a defining piece of who I am. Pamuk has subtly shifted the way I think about materialism. More Iron & Wine: "I saw strangers stealing kisses,/ leaving only their clothes, only their clothes."

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(2 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
vautrin, January 16, 2011 (view all comments by vautrin)
Infused with his particular brand of postmodernism, The Museum of Innocence is Pamuk's melancholic story of love and obsession. Kemal's obsession with his lower-class cousin Füsun takes over his life, to the point where his only refuge, aside from the nights spent visiting his cousin and his parents, is the eponymous museum created out of the collection of knick-knacks, ticket stubs and other miscellany connected with Füsun that he secreted over the course of the novel. Pamuk cleverly creates this museum via sides throughout the novel, as if the narrative were an epic tour of Kemal's collection. Through the creation of the museum, Pamuk is able to create a love story both beautiful and sad while reflecting a segment of a culture and society through its cumulative detritus. Pamuk has been working on establishing his own museum in Istanbul; hopefully his project comes to fruition.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780307386243
Author:
Pamuk, Orhan
Publisher:
Vintage Books USA
Author:
PAMUK, ORHAN
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Series:
Vintage International
Publication Date:
20101031
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
560
Dimensions:
8.01 x 5.18 x .96 in .875 lb

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Related Subjects

Featured Titles » Nobel Prize Winners
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Languages » Foreign Languages » Spanish » Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z

The Museum of Innocence Used Trade Paper
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Product details 560 pages Vintage - English 9780307386243 Reviews:
"Review" by , "A deeply human and humane story. Masterfully translated, spellbindingly told, it is resounding confirmation that Orhan Pamuk is one of the great novelists of his generation. With this book, he literally puts love into our hands."
"Synopsis" by , It is 1975, a perfect spring in Istanbul. Kemal and Sibel, children of two prominent families, are about to become engaged. But when Kemal encounters Füsun, a beautiful shopgirl and a distant relation, he becomes enthralled. And once they violate the code of virginity, a rift begins to open between Kemal and the world of the Westernized Istanbul bourgeoisie. In his pursuit of Füsun over the next eight years, Kemal becomes a compulsive collector of objects that chronicle his lovelorn progress—amassing a museum that is both a map of a society and of his heart. Orhan Pamuk’s first novel since winning the Nobel Prize is a stirring exploration of the nature of romance.
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