Book - The Museum of Innocence

Reviews, By sweetnothings, 5th November, 2009

The Museum of Innocence is Orhan Pamuk’s first book after he became the first Turkish person ever to win the Nobel Prize in 2006. Like all his other novels, The Museum of Innocence is set in Istanbul.

The story’s protagonist is Kemal, a wealthy businessman, graduate of an American university, living in a society that is caught between Western and Eastern values.

The Museum of Innocence begins in the spring of 1975, when Kemal is about to be engaged to Sibel, the French-educated daughter of another wealthy family. When he tries to surprise Sibel by buying her an expensive designer handbag, he encounters Fusun, a distant, less well-off, relative who is considerably younger than Sibel. Kemal used to spend time with Fusun when she was a child, but their families are no longer very close to each other. Kemal finds her very attractive, takes her virginity, and engages in a sexual relationship with her. He finds himself falling obsessively in love with her. He wants her to become his mistress, but Fusun, who wants to become an actress, leaves him for a writer of art films.

Kemal feels he can’t live without her, but he has no idea where she has gone. Sibel tries to forgive and understand him, but after trying for a while, calls off the engagement when she realises he doesn’t love her anymore. Kemal continues his search for Fusun, and when he finds her, haunts her and her husband’s apartment. Kemal ends up becoming an object of pity, scorn and ridicule to friends.

The title of the book refers to the museum he creates using the various items owned or touched by Fusun. He considers these objects tokens of their love, and each item – be it a cigarette butt or a salt and pepper shaker – tells a story.

Pamuk is known for his commentary on the political climate of Turkey in his novels, but in The Museum of Innocence he refrains from doing so. Instead, he tells the social history of Istanbul by painting a picture of the life of some of its inhabitants.

Kemal’s circle of family and friends are the progeny of modern Turkey’s founder Kemal Ataturk’s forced de-Islamization. They are all chic, wealthy and look up  to the West for fashion and entertainment. Yet, they are not completely westernized; Pamuk shows there is something superficial in the way the upper classes follow the West. Women, for instance, are encouraged to follow western fashion trends, but they are required to hold on to their virginity until marriage. It is, however, common for men to have mistresses.

Compared to Pamuk’s other novels (like ‘Snow’ and ‘My name is Red’), The Museum of Innocence is a relatively-simple novel about obsessive love. The accuracy of Pamuk’s observations makes the novel a joy to read. He seems to be able to peel the layers off life and describe the most inexpressible emotions with utmost clarity.

At 531 pages, The Museum of Innocence is Pamuk’s longest novel yet, and it’s not really the kind of novel you would want to read on a long flight. It is meant to be read at leisure and savoured slowly. The novel confirms Pamuk’s position as one of the most original writers writing today.

The Museum of Innocence is in stores now through Allen & Unwin.