THE MUSEUM OF INNOCENCE, by Orhan Pamuk

The Museum of Innocence is the most recent novel by Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish writer who was awarded the Nobel  Prize in 2006. I'm a big fan of Pamuk and have enjoyed many of the books he has written, such as The Black Book, The New Life, Red, and especially Snow. The Museum of Innocence is an intense, incredibly sad book that traces the obsessive first love of the young protagonist Kemal for a beautiful shopgirl named Fusun. Without giving away the plot, I can say that Kemal ends up creating a kind of shrine by collecting items he associates with his love. As is often true of Pamuk's novels, the city of Istanbul stands as not only the setting but as a main character in the work. It's a long, slow, intense, sad, and beautifully tragic novel. By the time you finish reading it, you will feel emotionally drained but better for the experience.

Click here for a review of the book from NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/books/review/Howard-t.html

UPDATE: I read in the newspaper on 30 April 2012 that Pamuk has set up a literal Museum of Innocence. Like  the one in his novel, this museum is a collection of everyday items associated with the novel, and more generally with life in Istanbul from the 1950s to today. Click here to view the story of the museum from the New York times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/books/orhan-pamuk-opens-museum-based-on-his-novel-in-istanbul.html