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The Museum of Innocence
- By: Orhan Pamuk, Maureen Freely (translator)
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 20 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 328
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 246
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Story4 out of 5 stars 246
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 bourgeosie - a world, as he lovingly describes it, with opulent parties and clubs, society gossip, picnics, and mansions on the Bosphorus, infused with the melancholy of decay.
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5 out of 5 stars
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one of the very best I've ever heard
- By Rebecca Lindroos on 03-06-10
- The Museum of Innocence
- By: Orhan Pamuk, Maureen Freely (translator)
- Narrated by: John Lee
The Museum of Innocence; a love story.
Reviewed: 08-29-19
Orhan Pamuk managed to take me away in his wonderful story about Kemal and Füsun. Initially I found them both irritating; she seemed like a lovestruck teenager while he came across as nothing more than a male chauvinist.
In spite of the story being very long Orhan Pamuk managed to keep me interested. Where Füsun seemed to have gotten on with her life, Kemal became more and more obsessed with her. It got to the point where I - as a reader - almost lost respect for his character.
The turning point came when the book was about 75 % through. The way the story developed from that moment onward, I found extremely gratifying. This is a love story with enormous depth.
I was left behind with the question if Kemal had lead a happy life. In the book, his friends were pitying him. They were unable to see what the reader could see: a man who had made the love of his life into a life project by creating The Museum of Innocence. By then, my initial irritation had turned into awe.
A remark about the narrator: in spite of John Lee doing a very good job I couldn't give him 5 stars. Though it was clear to me had made an effort to pronounce all the Turkish names and words correctly this was not a succes. To give one example: throughout the book I heard him pronounce the name of the female main character in 4 different ways..
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