The Museum of Innocence - Orhan Pamuk

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The Museum of Innocence (Turkish: Masumiyet Müzesi) is a novel by Orhan Pamuk, Nobel-laureate Turkish novelist published on August 29, 2008. The book, set in Istanbul between 1975 and 1984, is an account of the love story between the wealthy businessman Kemal and a poorer distant relative of his, Füsun.

Pamuk said he used YouTube to research Turkish music and film while preparing the novel.

In the writing of this book, Pamuk was influenced by the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum in Milan, Italy, as he noted in the museum's guestbook on June 27, 2007: “It is the third time that I have visited this extraordinary museum. I love this house, the idea and the imagination that hide behind these walls. They influenced me a lot for the novel I am writing, The Museum of Innocence. I am happy to be here for the third time.”

An excerpt, entitled "Distant Relations", appeared in The New Yorker on September 7, 2009.

The English translation, by his long-time collaborator Maureen Freely, was released on October 20, 2009 by Alfred A. Knopf.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Museum_of_Innocence

The Museum of Innocence - set in Istanbul between 1975 and today - tells the story of Kemal, the son of one of Istanbul's richest families, and of his obsessive love for a poor and distant relation, the beautiful Fusun, who is a shop-girl in a small boutique. In his romantic pursuit of Füsun over the next eight years, Kemal compulsively amasses a collection of objects that chronicles his lovelorn progress-a museum that is both a map of a society and of his heart.

The novel depicts a panoramic view of life in Istanbul as it chronicles this long, obsessive love affair; and Pamuk beautifully captures the identity crisis experienced by Istanbul's upper classes that find themselves caught between traditional and westernised ways of being. Orhan Pamuk's first novel since winning the Nobel Prize is a stirring love story and exploration of the nature of romance.

Pamuk built The Museum of Innocence in the house in which his hero's fictional family lived, to display Kemal's strange collection of objects associated with Fusun and their relationship. The house opened to the public in 2012 in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul.

'Pamuk has created a work concerning romantic love worthy to stand in the company of Lolita, Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina.' --Financial Times

Biography
Orhan Pamuk, described as ‘one of the freshest, most original voices in contemporary fiction’ (Independent on Sunday), is the author of many books, including The White Castle, The Black Book and The New Life. In 2003 he won the International IMPAC Award for My Name is Red, and in 2004 Faber published the translation of his novel Snow, which The Times described as ‘a novel of profound relevance to the present moment’. His most recent book was Istanbul, described by Jan Morris as ‘irresistibly seductive’. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006. He lives in Istanbul.
Orhan Pamuk, described as ‘one of the freshest, most original voices in contemporary fiction’ (Independent on Sunday), is the author of many books, including The White Castle, The Black Book and The New Life. In 2003 he won the International IMPAC Award for My Name is Red, and in 2004 Faber published the translation of his novel Snow, which The Times described as ‘a novel of profound relevance to the present moment’. His most recent book was Istanbul, described by Jan Morris as ‘irresistibly seductive’. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006. He lives in Istanbul.

Review
'Simply an enthralling, immensely enjoyable piece of storytelling.' --James Lasdun, Guardian

'[This] haunting novel of memory, desire and loss sets a ferociously high standard for the literary fiction of the decade' --Jane Shilling, Sunday Telegraph

'I loved this book. It made me want to write a letter to the author. Dear Orhan Pamuk, this book is now on the shelf with my very favourite books of all time. Thank you for letting us into your mind and your world.' --Suzanne Vega, The Times Books of the Year

'Pamuk has created a work concerning romantic love worthy to stand in the company of Lolita, Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina.' --Financial Times --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Museum-Innocence-Orhan-Pamuk/dp/0571237029

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