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Review
'simply an enthralling, immensely enjoyable piece of storytelling.' --James Lasdun, Guardian
'[this] haunting novel of memory, desire and loss sets a ferociously high standard for the literary fiction of the decade' --Jane Shilling, Sunday Telegraph
'Pamuk has created a work concerning romantic love worthy to stand in the company of Lolita, Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina.' --Financial Times
'[this] haunting novel of memory, desire and loss sets a ferociously high standard for the literary fiction of the decade' --Jane Shilling, Sunday Telegraph
'Pamuk has created a work concerning romantic love worthy to stand in the company of Lolita, Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina.' --Financial Times
Review
A "New York Times "Notable Book
One of the Best Books of the Year
"Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Kansas City Star"
“Spellbinding. . . . A resounding confirmation that Orhan Pamuk is one of the great novelists of his generation. With this book, he literally puts love in our hands.”
—"The Washington Post"
“Mesmerizing, brilliantly realized. . . . Deeply and compellingly explores the interplay between erotic obsession and sentimentality . . . . There is a master at work in this book. . . . Istanbul—its sounds, its smells, its history—permeates everything.”
—"Los Angeles Times"
“Intimate and nuanced…. A classic, spacious love story.”
—Pico Iyer, " The New York Review of Books"
“Stunningly original. . . . Engrossing and sensual. . . . Granular and panoramic, satirical and yet grounded in reality. . . . Great writers have made the failed love stories
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is my 3rd Pamuk book and it leaves me overwhelmed. It is astonishing in revealing the tiny details that make up our lives, overwhelming in it's description of that emotion that many of us will recognise. I have never been to Istanbul but I think I have now, I think I understand why someone would be crazy enough to be obsessed by a love for his entire life, to collect every object related to that love, to wonder if it's possible for any of us to lead happy lives, or whether we would even recognise it when happiness had arrived, or that we had let it slip us by? That is the question 30 year old Kemal o asks himself as the novel starts. I started reading this on xmas day and couldn't stop until i finished it today.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'd been prompted to read this by glowing testimonies on Newsnight review. No ill-will intended to the author, but I will never have that time again. The long hours spent trawling through the tedious consciousness of an obsessive compulsive.
This could have been a quite interesting short story that once read i'd have thought: 'quite interesting, glad it was short though'. But no, the story rambles on for 700+ pages of 9 point, each one turned I thought maybe the next will reveal the true calibre of this Nobel-prize winning author. Occasionally a poetic turn of phrase - even a paragraph - had me excited that at last the literary treasure was to be revealed. My hopes would be dashed as the next paragraph returned to the turgid shopping list of OCD self-pity of the main character that drove me, Mr Liberal Tolerance, to exclaim loudly "For god's sake pull yourself together man!"
Even towards the end, as the pace picked up slightly (the last 10% could have been the aforementioned short story), a bit of Paul Auster style much-too-cleverness on the part of Mr Pamuk just added to the irritation. Yes, there are some themes here that could have been interesting to explore: the nature of male sexuality and fantasy, OCD, Turkey in transition/tension between east and west, materialism and relationships among the haute bourgeois. These themes arose, but were suffocated under the weight of endless lists.
Two questions remain for me: who got the bung from the publisher - the Newsnight panel or the Nobel committee? And more worryingly, what kind of neo-OCD am I that I felt the need to read the whole thing to its stultifying and predictable end?
This could have been a quite interesting short story that once read i'd have thought: 'quite interesting, glad it was short though'. But no, the story rambles on for 700+ pages of 9 point, each one turned I thought maybe the next will reveal the true calibre of this Nobel-prize winning author. Occasionally a poetic turn of phrase - even a paragraph - had me excited that at last the literary treasure was to be revealed. My hopes would be dashed as the next paragraph returned to the turgid shopping list of OCD self-pity of the main character that drove me, Mr Liberal Tolerance, to exclaim loudly "For god's sake pull yourself together man!"
Even towards the end, as the pace picked up slightly (the last 10% could have been the aforementioned short story), a bit of Paul Auster style much-too-cleverness on the part of Mr Pamuk just added to the irritation. Yes, there are some themes here that could have been interesting to explore: the nature of male sexuality and fantasy, OCD, Turkey in transition/tension between east and west, materialism and relationships among the haute bourgeois. These themes arose, but were suffocated under the weight of endless lists.
Two questions remain for me: who got the bung from the publisher - the Newsnight panel or the Nobel committee? And more worryingly, what kind of neo-OCD am I that I felt the need to read the whole thing to its stultifying and predictable end?
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Referring to previous reviews raining the point of Kamal's obsession/love being unbelievable and the motives of Fusun's final act being unexplored: For me this wonderfully detailed and sensitive novel is largely about the theme of forgiveness and punishment, and our ability to overcome - or not - the wounds inflicted upon us by others.
Yes it's a long and occasionally difficult read, but it is the unspoken motivations behind the main players' actions that kept me spellbound.
And yes, Istanbul is revealed with an intimacy and passion that brings the city to life.
A great read, in a brilliant translation.
Yes it's a long and occasionally difficult read, but it is the unspoken motivations behind the main players' actions that kept me spellbound.
And yes, Istanbul is revealed with an intimacy and passion that brings the city to life.
A great read, in a brilliant translation.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
disappointed
First few chapters was ok to read but after it became a slow read.
I didn't even finish the book to know what happened because the story felt like it wasn't going anywhere.
I didn't even finish the book to know what happened because the story felt like it wasn't going anywhere.
Published 1 month ago by Naina H Meghani
Obsessive
Tale of obsessive love and loss set in Turkey over the last 40 years. Daily lives of those within certain social strata are described in detail - great detail - with only passing... Read more
Published 2 months ago by JoTownhead
Brilliant read
This book was a present so haven't read it but it's meant to be brilliant. The service was very speedy.
Published 4 months ago by sanmo
Utterly enticing
This is the first book I've read by the Turkish Nobel Prize-winner Orhan Pamuk. Even though the self-centred, upper-class characters are fairly unattractive, the tale of deeply... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Reader
Bored.
I can't remember the last time I failed to finish a book, but I had to with this one. I found the characters so annoying, it was impossible for me to continue reading.
Published 10 months ago by Bookworm
Turgid
I read this book for a book club and thought summary looked good, having been to Istanbul. However, I gave up half way through and skipped to end to find out what happened-he was... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Harmony
Over Indulgent
This book was far too long and totally self-indulgent. The most interesting parts where the brief social history of Istanbul and its views of sexuality and moralism from the early... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Blavenc
Obsession
The Museum Of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk presents what might appear to be a daunting challenge. It runs to more than 500 pages and a flick through the text reveals scant use of... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Philip Spires
this really made me cry
I got really emotional when reading this book. It is a love story and so you can expect it to be quite emotional with the highs and lows of love, me seeing more lows than highs. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Sabera Kara
Ambitious book about a spurious love affair
This fat novel by the Nobel Prize winner for literature in 2006 is not a feast for this reader. He finds its hero Kemal a manipulative and sentimental hypocrite deeply in love with... Read more
Published 13 months ago by P. A. Doornbos
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