Construction plans for Zeytinburnu Istanbul skyscrapers canceled not because of environmental reasons but some authorities criticised…

Construction plans for Istanbul skyscrapers canceled www.worldbulletin.net Construction plans for Istanbul skyscrapers canceled. The building permit and construction plans of the skyscrapers in Zeytinburnu Kazlicesme, which Prime Minister Erdogan criticized for their negative impact on Istanbul’s historic landscape, have been an istanbul news roundup: Top Istanbul Street Foods As rapidly as Istanbul marches toward its … Read more

An interview with David Harvey in Tarlabaşı. Istanbul news roundup…

Against vested interest urbanism ? An interview with David Harvey from Tarlabaşı Istanbul by Jonathan In an interview with acclaimed theorist and activist David Harvey, he talked to us about the impact of urban renewal and gentrification, the increasing class segregation of cities, and the question of how to fight back.   How to make … Read more

Social fabric roundup: Turkey ranks 47th in mothers report, Turkish middle class ‘loves malls’, and more..

Turkey ranks 47th in mothers report from Hurriyet Daily News Turkey ranks 47th on a list of the ?best countries in which to be a mother,? in… nuclear power stations, turkey style (!) RedHack hacks Turkish family ministry website on Mother’s Day from Hurriyet Daily News The socialist RedHack group today took down the Turkish … Read more

A video: Last Saturday Night at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium… And an Istanbul news roundup

Bu video Adobe Flash Player’ın son sürümünü gerektirmektedir.   @semaankarali Hundreds of Istanbul’s Fenerbahce football club fans clash with police New York Daily News AP Galatasaray players celebrate after their soccer derby match against Fenerbahce inIstanbul, Turkey, Saturday, May 12, 2012. Fenerbahce fans broke plastic chairs, throwing them and flares at police. Police used their … Read more

the Guardian photo gallery of Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence…and in Istanbul roundup…

Orhan Pamuk opens novel museum An eponymous museum created by Orhan Pamuk in the wake of the writer?s recent ?Museum of Innocence? opened its doors. Turkish Nobel Laureate Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence Parallels Book Voice of America … Turkish Nobel Laureate Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence Parallels Book Dorian Jones | Istanbul, Turkey Cataloging Turkey’s history … Read more

Orhan Pamuk’s “the museum of innocence” to be opened…Istanbul news roundup…

Masumiyet Müzesi, a museum founded by Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, features hundreds of objects and ephemera related to the characters and events Pamuk recounts in his novel. (PHOTO AA, UĞUR ASLANHAN) the museum of innocence official site     Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence coming to life on April 28 Sunday’s Zaman Masumiyet Müzesi, a museum … Read more

Museum of Innocence is out in English…

Museum of Innocence
Museum of Innocence

last updated: 30 Oct 2010

I have read the novel, The Museum of Innocence,  in Turkish last year. In strictly literary terms, this is his weakest novel. However, a very different sort of project intended here. An actual museum has been built in Istanbul and will be opened soon. This book  is a novel-catalogue that actual museum and a great documentary of a particular section of Istanbul’s everyday life. Another intervention to the lives of republican Turkish elites. In the mean time, I have a plan to assign the first 100 pages to my first year students which has a very rich account of approaches to relations, sex and gender roles which are still valid in contemporary Turkish lives.

I was not in love with the literary level of narratives particularly but towards the end I fell in love and in the last pages  I remember feeling sad and crying… Thank you Orhan Pamuk. You do enrich our lives.

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