The Museum of Innocence Orhan Pamuk Discussion Questions 1. Kemal says he has become "with the passage of time—the anthropologist of my experience." Talk about what he means by this remark—what he collects, preserves and his reasons for doing so. What objects do all of us hold onto from our past and why? What do we want them to provide us? 2. What kind of character is Kemal? What kind of narrator is he? (Is there a difference?) How would you describe him? 3. Why is Kemal so drawn to Fusun? Why doesn't he break off his engagement with Sibel? How does his obses- sion with Fusun shape (or misshape) his life, perhaps stop him from grasping "the ordinary beauty of things"? 4. What kind of young woman is Fusun? And what about Sibel? What does Sibel mean when she comments, "It's because she was a poor, ambitious girl that you were able to start something so easily?" 5. What do you make of the fact that Pamuk puts himself into his story? When he shows up at Kemal and Sibel's engagement party, Kemal tells us, "Those interested in Orhan Bey’s own description of how he felt while dancing with Fusun should look at the last chapter, entitled ‘Happiness.'" What's the game about? 6. How does Kemal describe his social circle? 7. What is the political context that surrounds this story? Why does Kemal seem blind to the dire circumstances around him—the bombs, riots, crackdowns and jailings? Is it apathy, love-sickness, or innocence that distracts him? 8. What does Kemal mean when he says, "This is not simply a story of lovers, but of the entire realm, that is, of Istanbul”? 9. Do you find the ending satisfying...or does it smack of manipulation? Do you wish for more...or does the story end as it should? 10. What is the significance of the book's title? What does it refer to? Why "innocence"? The Museum of Innocence Orhan Pamuk About the Author Ferit Orhan Pamuk is a Turkish novelist. He is also the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Co- lumbia University, where he teaches comparative literature and writing. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, his work has sold over seven million books in more than fifty lan- guages, making him the country's best-selling writer. Pamuk is the recipient of numerous literary awards, includ- ing the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature—the first Nobel Prize to be awarded to a Turkish citizen. Pamuk is the author of novels including The White Castle, The Black Book, The New Life, My Name Is Red, Snow and The Museum of Innocence. He is the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he teaches writing and comparative literature. This book is available for download as an eBook and an eAudiobook. For more information, please visit lpl.overdrive.com or call 519-661-4600. Source: http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/13-fiction/641-museum-of-innocence-pamuk?start=1 .