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The Idea of The Museum of Innocence
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Orhan Pamuk decides to write a novel and open a museum related to the book in 1990s. He walkes to the school with his daughter every day. He always thinks about his novels on the way back home. One day he sees a house, and decides to buy it. The house was bought in 1999.
When he sees something that would look good in the museum, he decides to buy it. And he manages to involve this stuff to storyline succesfully. He adds so many things to the novel during the period he writes it.
He publishes the novel in 2008, opens the museum in April 2012.
The Book
Kemal is the younger son of a rich family. The story starts in 1975 when being wealthy was a blessing. Because back then, the country was suffering from poverty. Only the richiest families had a car. There was no political stability. There was an endless fight between leftwing people and rightwing people. I'm telling these details, because you need to picture how people living during that time in order to understand the love and life they experienced.
I believe, Orhan Pamuk is a great author at interspersing sociological aspects throughout the story.
Kemal starts having an affair with his distant relative Fusün. The more time he spends with her, the more he falls in love with her. And as time goes, this affair becomes an obsessive love which radically changes the life of both of them. There is no single time that he does not think about her. Kemal starts collecting things that remind him of her. And this is how he lays the foundation of the museum.
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There are depressive and melancholic parts in the book. In some parts, I could not empathize with Kemal, in some parts, "don't do that!" I screamed. But as the author said, this is a love story of a gentleman from the upper class who lives in the second half of 20th century.
Maybe this is the reason why I think differently with Kemal. Because we belong to different times and social classes. But for the record, when I finised the book, "it was a good book!" I said loudly, and went to The Museum of Innocience immediately.
The Museum
My suggest is to go directly to the museum after finishing the book. The items take an important place in the museum. Otherwise, you will forget most of the items you read in story. There is a free ticket in your book. You can enter free if you show this ticket, just like I did."So please put a map at the end of the novel, so that anyone who cares to can make their way by foot through Istanbul’s streets. Those who know the story of Füsun and me will certainly remember her as they walk those streets and see those prospects, just as I do, each and every day. And let those who have read the book enjoy free admission to the museum when they visit for the first time. This is best accomplished by placing a ticket in every copy. The Museum of Innocence will have a special stamp, and when visitors present their copy of the book, the guard at the door will stamp this ticket before ushering them in.”
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| Free admission to The Museum of Innocence. |
The first thing you see when you entered the museum is the 4213 cigarette butts. Kemal had secretly collected Fusün's cigarette butts for 8 years, and dated each one, made additional notes. As a result of this action, he can understand Fusün's mood by looking their shapes.
"Some days she would put out her cigarette against the surface of an ashtray with a series of short, insistent taps. And sometimes, when no one was looking, she would press it down hard, and very slowly, as if crushing the head of a snake, so that I would think that the collected resentment of her whole life was being expressed with this cigarette stub."
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| 4,213 Cigarette Stubs in The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk |
When you go upstairs, you can see items related to each chapter. There are a lot of small details. And if you give a break, it's possible to forget about them -unless you have a great memory. This is the reason why I suggest going to the museum immediately after reading.
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I started reading the book with a close friend of mine. And we went to the museum together. So, we helped each other to remember the story. It would be a great activity for you, too.
As a matter of fact, Orhan Pamuk, first published the book, then opened the museum in real life. The idea of opening a museum based on a novel was occured to him a long time before he published the book. Thusly, I respect him more than I used to.
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| Aristo. (The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk) |
There were all foreign people in the museum except us. And this made me realize that we are lucky to have a Nobel winner author. We should learn to respect people before their deaths.
Adress: Çukurcuma Caddesi, Dalgıç Çıkmazı, 2, 34425, Beyoğlu, İstanbul, Türkiye
The Museum of Innocence Quotes by Orhan Pamuk
➊ "It was the happiest moment of my life, though I didn't know it. Had I known, had I cherished this gift, would everything have turned out differently? Yes, if I had recognized this instant of perfect happiness, I would have held it fast and never let it slip away.
➋ "People only tell lies when there is something they are terribly frightened of losing."
➌ "What I wanted to say was, It is enough for me to sit beside you."
➍ "In fact, no one recognizes the happiest moment of their lives as they are living it. It may well be that, in a moment of joy, one might sincerely believe that they are living that golden instant “now,” even having lived such a moment before, but whatever they say, in one part of their hearts they still believe in the certainty of a happier moment to come. Because how could anyone, and particularly anyone who is still young, carry on with the belief that everything could only get worse: If a person is happy enough to think he has reached the happiest moment of his life, he will be hopeful enough to believe his future will be just as beautiful, more so."
➎ "Any intelligent person knows that life is a beautiful thing and that the purpose of life is to be happy,” said my father as he watched the three beauties. ‘But it seems only idiots are ever happy. How can we explain this?"
➏ “What is love?”
“I don’t know.”
“Love is the name given to the bond Kemal feels with Füsun whenever they travel along highways or sidewalks; visit houses, gardens, or rooms; or whenever he watches her sitting in tea gardens and
restaurants, and at dinner tables.”
“Hmm... that’s a lovely answer,” Füsun would say. “But isn’t love what you feel when you can’t see me?”
“Under those circumstances, it becomes a terrible obsession, an illness.”
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| “Let everyone know, I lived a very happy life.” Kemal Basmacı (The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk) |
Emel