The Museum of Innocence

Orhan Pamuk

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Oct 20, 2009 - Fiction - 560 pages

Now a Netflix series • From the Nobel Prize winner and "one of the great novelists" (The Washington Post) comes a stirring exploration of the nature of romance in late 1970s Istanbul.

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.

Contents

• The Happiest Moment of My Life: 3
• The Şanzelize Boutique: 4
• Distant Relations: 7
• Love at the Office: 10
• Fuaye: 12
• Füsuns Tears: 14
• The Merhamet Apartments: 20
• Turkeys First Fruit Soda: 26
• F: 27
• City Lights and Happiness: 31
• The Feast of the Sacrifice: 34
• Kissing on the Lips: 42
• Love Courage Modernity: 49
• Istanbuls Streets Bridges Hills and Squares: 54
• A Few Unpalatable Anthropological Truths: 61
• Jealousy: 65
• My Whole Life Depends on You Now: 68
• Belkıss Story: 74
• At the Funeral: 80
• Füsuns Two Conditions: 84
• Pearl Earrings: 87
• The Hand of Rahmi Efendi: 95
• Silence: 99
• The Engagement Party: 102
• The Agony of Waiting: 145
• An Anatomical Chart of Love Pains: 148
• Dont Lean Back That Way You Might Fall: 152
• The Consolation of Objects: 155
• By Now There Was Hardly a Moment When I Wasnt Thinking About Her: 158
• Füsun Doesnt Live Here Anymore: 161
• The Streets That Reminded Me of Her: 163
• The Shadows and Ghosts I Mistook for Füsun: 165
• Vulgar Distractions: 168
• Like a Dog in Outer Space: 172
• The First Seeds of My Collection: 176
• To Entertain a Small Hope That Might Allay My Heartache: 179
• The Empty House: 183
• The EndofSummer Party: 185
• Confession: 189
• The Consolations of Life in a Yalı: 193
• Swimming on My Back: 195
• The Melancholy of Autumn: 197
• Cold and Lonely November Days: 204
• Fatih Hotel: 208
• A Holiday on Uludağ: 214
• Is It Normal to Leave Your Fiancée in the Lurch?: 217
• My Fathers Death: 223
• The Most Important Thing in Life Is to Be Happy: 229
• Was Going to Ask Her to Marry Me: 234
• This Is the Last Time Ill Ever See Her: 244
• Happiness Means Being Close to the One You Love Thats All: 253
• A Film About Life and Agony Should Be Sincere: 260
• An Indignant and Broken Heart Is of No Use to Anyone: 271
• Time: 281
• Come Again Tomorrow and We Can Sit Together Again: 289
• Lemon Films Inc: 300
• On Being Unable to Stand Up and Leave: 308
• Tombala: 319
• Getting Past the Censors: 329
• Evenings on the Bosphorus at the Huzur Restaurant: 336
• To Look: 344
• To Help Pass the Time: 350
• The Gossip Column: 358
• The Fire on the Bosphorus: 366
• The Dogs: 373
• What Is This?: 379
• Cologne: 383
• 4213 Cigarette Stubs: 393
• Sometimes: 398
• Broken Lives: 404
• You Hardly Ever Come Here Anymore Kemal Bey: 410
• Life Too Is Just Like Love: 419
• Füsuns Driving License: 424
• Tarık Bey: 440
• The İnci Patisserie: 451
• The Cinemas of Beyoğlu: 459
• The Grand Semiramis Hotel: 468
• Summer Rain: 477
• Journey to Another World: 482
• After the Accident: 489
• The Museum of Innocence: 494
• Collectors: 503
• Happiness: 511
• Index of Characters: 533

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.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Museum of Innocence
• Author: Orhan Pamuk
• Translated by: Maureen Freely
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2009
• ISBN: 0307273261, 9780307273260
• Length: 560 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Cultural Heritage; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Romance / Historical / 20th Century