64. The Fire on the Bosphorus

"While working on the museum, it was helpful to think about the sensation of timelessness, and also to imagine the behaviour of objects in the absence of gravity, as if they were breaking free from their ordinary, natural purposes, and soaring away." (The Innocence of Objects by Orhan Pamuk)

"In the early hours of the morning of November 15, 1979, my mother and I were awoken by the sound of a huge explosion; we jumped from our beds and ran into the hallway to embrace each other in terror. For a moment the entire apartment rocked from side to side, as if caught in a severe earthquake. I crossed the Galata Bridge with the crowd watching the fire in the distance. I could see street vendors who had rushed in from all quarters to hawk helva, stuffed mussels, fried liver, and lahmacun; as well as tea vendors darting among the crowd with their trays." (The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk)