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owlish 's review for:
The Museum of Innocence
by Orhan Pamuk
2.5/5
I was gifted this book before my trip to Istanbul, but did not have the chance to read it before my trip. I visited the Museum of Innocence and was impressed by the amount of objects and I have to say, the objects conveyed certain emotions. I enjoyed a quote about Time, stating that we must treasure our time for its deepest moments. For Kemal, that was spending 8 years at his beloved Füsun's dinner table.
I finally got to read the book and I enjoyed the passages about Istanbul, the culture, the influence of the West, and the tidbits of history. Reading about the city and certain neighborhoods made me relive my trip to Istanbul, it made me remember all the small but precious moments. As Pamuk wrote about certain streets in Beyoglu I also imagined myself walking there again.
On one side, the story kept piquing my interest and on the other side I skipped or skimmed entire passages. Some chapters are very long-winded and not interesting. The writing is too detailed. For the parts that were interesting, I did enjoy the writing. I read a Dutch translation of the book and I think it was translated well.
I think someone who hasn't visited Istanbul would not get a lot of enjoyment out of this book. It's too longwinded, it did not satisfy me, and I find that Kemal was a sad man, to say the least.
I was gifted this book before my trip to Istanbul, but did not have the chance to read it before my trip. I visited the Museum of Innocence and was impressed by the amount of objects and I have to say, the objects conveyed certain emotions. I enjoyed a quote about Time, stating that we must treasure our time for its deepest moments. For Kemal, that was spending 8 years at his beloved Füsun's dinner table.
I finally got to read the book and I enjoyed the passages about Istanbul, the culture, the influence of the West, and the tidbits of history. Reading about the city and certain neighborhoods made me relive my trip to Istanbul, it made me remember all the small but precious moments. As Pamuk wrote about certain streets in Beyoglu I also imagined myself walking there again.
On one side, the story kept piquing my interest and on the other side I skipped or skimmed entire passages. Some chapters are very long-winded and not interesting. The writing is too detailed. For the parts that were interesting, I did enjoy the writing. I read a Dutch translation of the book and I think it was translated well.
I think someone who hasn't visited Istanbul would not get a lot of enjoyment out of this book. It's too longwinded, it did not satisfy me, and I find that Kemal was a sad man, to say the least.