The Museum of Innocence

By: Orhan Pamuk, Maureen Freely (translator)

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 20 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

"It was the happiest moment of my life, though I didn't 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 city's 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 bourgeoisie - a 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 decay - until 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. His obsessive love will also take him to the demimonde of Istanbul film circles, a scene of seedy bars, run-down hotels, and small men with big dreams doomed to failure.

In his feckless pursuit, Kemal becomes a compulsive collector of objects that chronicle his lovelorn progress and his afflicted heart's reactions: anger and impatience, remorse and humiliation, and daydreams that transform Istanbul into a cityscape of signs and specters of his beloved, from whom he can now 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 society's manners and mores, and of one man's broken heart.

©2009 Orhan Pamuk (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"[An] enchanting new novel of first love painfully sustained over a lifetime....Freely’s translation captures the novelist’s playful performance as well as his serious collusion with Kemal. Her melding of tones follows Pamuk’s agility, to redirect our vision to the gravity of his tale" (Maureen Howard, New York Times Book Review)

"A Startling original. Every turn in the story seems fresh, disquieting, utterly unexpected...spellbindingly told....The genius of Pamuk’s novel is that although it can be read as a simpel romance, it is a richly complicated work with subtle and intricate layers." (Marie Arana, The Washington Post)

"a soaring, detailed...mausoleum of love....a masterful work." ( Publisher’s Weekly)

Pathetic character and storyline

This is my first review on audible, although I have listened to over 30 books. I feel the need to warn other readers about how boring and pathetic the main character is in this book. The whole story surrounds him whining and complaining about lost love from a pre-marital affair. He ruins his own marriage and refused to give up on his mistress even after she moves on and gets married. I could not finish the book because it just kept dragging on with no end in sight. I was excited to read another book by Orhan Pamuk and to "revisit" Istanbul after going there on my own honeymoon but this one was a real waste of my credits.

Boring

I really wanted to like this, but I did not find this tale of obsessive love interesting. I did not like the character of Kamal at all.

Like Having a Stranger Talk for Hours....

in a foreign language while you are trapped in an elevator. Every minute detail of a decades long obsessive love is explored over and over again. '...and here, dear reader, is the spoon my darling Füsun used to stir her tea on Sept 23 1976...'. It seemed to never end. On the plus side a listener can tune out for periods of time and not miss a thing. By the end I was skipping chapters without missing a beat.
However, John Lee is truly a great narrator.

Boring Soap Opera

What would have made The Museum of Innocence better?

A concrete storyline. Maybe a little more action -- it was all repetitive ramblings of the author.

What was most disappointing about Orhan Pamuk and Maureen Freely (translator) ’s story?

almost monotone -- difficult to tell apart the different characters.

What aspect of John Lee’s performance would you have changed?

I normally like John Lee -- but this one .l. maybe it was the tone of the novel.

Any additional comments?

The author should have headed Hemingway's writing style -- Write, then go back and edit out at least one-third.(and repeat the edit process).

Tried to like it but couldn't

Much as I tried, I couldn't get interested in this book. The negative reviews were right and I wish I'd paid them heed.

Not So Much

I didn't like this book as much as "My Name Is Red" or "Snow." I found it to be tedious and too deep into the minutia. I suppose telling a story about and obsessed man has to have it to a degree, so you get and idea of what an obsessed mind is like, but it was really difficult to hang in there for the end. I suppose that I did is indicative of my enjoyment of the story, but being a bit obsessive myself, I couldn't leave it unfinished.

WHY??

What was the meaning of this book? I have listened to over 500 books in the past 3 years and have NEVER listened to such drivel. The only reason I finished it was to write this review. I am going to give the author the benefit of the doubt and listen to another. I must be missing something if he is so revered , and won a Pulitzer Prize . Or am I mistaken?

Gave it 5 hours but couldn’t go on.

I tried, I really tried. 5 hours in and it’s all about the sex-capades of a high society Turkish playboy. And the British accent of the reader just annoyed me. Disappointed work from a Nobel Laureate.

Read reviews before purchasing!

I wished that I was paying more attention to other reviews before wasting 2 Credits for this...The author stretches each word in 10 paragraphs to describe an obsessive, characterless and psychotic man... pointless!

Long obsession dialogue

Story of a man who has an affair while engaged to another. When he finds he can't have both women, he ditches his engaged for the mistress he fell in love with, only to learn she has now been married. Lengthy details of how he "gets her back." His rambling profession of love, just details his love's habits. He never understands her as a person.