The Museum of Innocence

In the beginning it seemed painstakingly long, especially after the engagement chapter. Orhan becomes repetitive at many places. Liked Sibel from the start, she behaved in a mature way. I started appreciating the novel more after Fusun and Feridun separated. Ending was painful, I didn't expect it to turn out this way. What I didn't like about Kemal's love for Fusun was that it was purely on physical grounds. Not at a single place has he indicated that he loved Fusun for the kind of person she was. Orhan has beautifully written this novel, the way he has expressed Instanbul and its life is magnificent. I really appreciated the way he has linked the presentation of this book with the chapter Happiness. Only in the last chapters does one realizes the significance of the 'displays' he has used from the start. It gave a feel that The Museum of Innocence really exists...and it does..!!! Though not in the context of the book (I found this out doing a google search). I wonder if I can use the one-time pass that he has given in one of the chapters for visiting the Museum. A one time read. But definitely it has made me look forward to read other works of Orhan.

Orhan Pamuk is a novelist from Turkey who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006. He was also nominated for the prestigious Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1992 and 2006. Pramuk was the first author in the Muslim world to denounce the fatwa against Salman Rushdie over “The Satanic Verses.” For this simple reason, I would like to read all his novels to know more about this gutsy individual.