I really hate to admit that when I am out and about commenting on blogs and the book under discussion sounds appealing and I leave a comment saying I will have to read the book it generally doesn’t go much further than me putting the book on a list and forgetting about it completely until I come across the book again on someone else’s blog and say how good it sounds and I will have to read it and round and round it goes.
I had heard of The House of Paper by Carlos María Dominguez before, I can’t say where because it was so long ago. So when Emily at Books the Universe and Everything blogged about it recently there was a faint ripple in my memory. In this instance, however, instead of adding it to a list, I actually requested it from the library! What prompted me to do so? Well, it seemed like a bookish book and it is a novella and I hoped it would help me get out of my fiction slump.
The book arrived last week on Thursday and it was all I could do to keep from gobbling it down in one big gulp! It asks to be gobbled. It asks to be read slowly and savored. I managed something in between.
This lovely novella is a story for bookworms. It begins with the death of Bluma Lennon, professor, who, in 1998, bought a secondhand copy of Emily Dickinson’s poems in Soho and began reading them as she was walking down the street. She was on the second poem when she was hit and killed by a car. How obvious it is then that
Books change people’s destinies. Some have read The Tiger of Malaysia and become professors of literature in remote universities. Demian converted tens of thousands of young men to Eastern philosophy, Hemingway made sportsmen of them, Alexandre Dumas complicated the lives of thousands of women, quite a few of whom were saved from suicide by cookbooks. Bluma was their victim.
And only a funeral filled with literature professors could produce an argument over a phrase one of Bluma’s colleagues said in her eulogy:
so there are a million car bumpers loose on the streets of the city which can show you just what a good noun is capable of.
The narrator of our story, a professor stepping in to take over Bluma’s classes, is also using her office. One day not long after her death, our narrator receives a package addressed to Bluma. It appears to be a book and since professors are often sent books by publishers, he didn’t think much about opening it. It is indeed a book but it is not from a publisher.
The book is a broken-spined old copy of The Shadow-Line by Joseph Conrad. It is covered with grey grit and dust our narrator determines is cement. On the flyleaf is an inscription in Bluma’s handwriting to a man named Carlos. There is reference to a conference in Monterrey and the date June 8, 1996.
Intrigued, our narrator sets out to discover who Carlos is so he can return the book and let him know of Bluma’s death. The mystery takes him to Uruguay where he eventually learns the strange story of Carlos Brauer. I will not tell you the mystery, only that this story that began with such charm and humor turns dark as it examines the downside of a life obsessed with books.
The story is a mirror and a warning to bookworms everywhere. To add to the pleasure of this book, interspersed throughout the story are strange and delightful illustrations by Peter Sís. I highly recommend you do what I did and get yourself copy of this book right away. Don’t put it on a list, just get it and read it. It is only 103 pages long and you will be very happy that you took my advice.
Okay, I did not put it on a list, but ordered a used copy.
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Jeanne, yay! I hope you enjoy it!
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Ooo, that sounds really awesome. *adds to list* *promises not to forget about it* Hahaha. Yeah, it sometimes does take a critical mass of recommendations to get a book from the list to the shopping cart, but whatchagonnado? There are so many books. Making it onto the list is a big step in the first place really.
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Sounds an interesting book. Novellas are funny things in that when they work you feel that this length is the best for fiction. When they don’t work they are less satisfying than short stories where the reading stakes are usually less high.
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Ian, you are right about novellas. When done well they are so incredibly satisfying and feel much longer than they really are. There is definitely an art to it!
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Nikki, heh, if only we could actually read all the books we put on lists! There does seem to be some kind of mystical calculation that involves mood, current reading pile and recommendations. You are right about a book even making it onto a list being a big deal.
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I’m so glad to hear that you ended up enjoying this too! It’s such a treat, isn’t it?
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It is a real treat! Thank you for recalling it to my mind at just the right moment 🙂
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This sounds like a fantastic book! I hadn’t heard of it, but now I’m thinking of adding it to my list…you’re making me wonder though. Perhaps I should buy it straight away so I don’t forget? Argghhh!! The book bloggers eternal dilemma!
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farmlanebooks, it is a fantastic book. I know, the dilemma! Of course if you buy it you have to be sure to read it and not put it on the shelf and forget about it. I have a bad habit of doing that trick too! 🙂
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Do you know, I ordered my copy around the same time you added it to your list, I’m pretty sure. I’ll bet we read the same blog review! I’ve had it for ages and had forgotten why I bought it in the first place. So I’m delighted to read your review and feel my old enthusiasm for it awakened again! Isn’t the blog world full of lovely serendipity? 🙂
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litlove, LOL, yup, you are very likely right about your purchase and my list for this book. Now if we could only remember whose blog it was! I am glad to remind you about it. Now, go to your shelf and take the book down and read it. It won’t take you long to read 😀
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Reblogged this on Anita.com.
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I thought you were going to say this is a warning to bookworms–don’t walk and read at the same time! Hey, can you believe my library has a copy on hand. Is that a sign? I guess a walk to the third floor will be in order….. 😉
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Ha! Well that would be true too 🙂 I think it is a sign that your library has it!
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Oh, I ride on that ‘must read – adding it to a list’ carousel too, Stefanie. In fact I’ve been round it so often with some books that the very mention of them now makes me dizzy. I have tried to follow your good example and order a copy of this from my library immediately but they don’t have one. Now can I break my current vow and buy my own?
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Alex, hehe, maybe we should invest in motion sickness medicine for readers! 😉 Too bad your library doesn’t have the book! Do you have interlibrary loan? If you get a chance to read it I hope you like it!
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Two things. I hate it when I finally do, rare though it is, read a book that s blogger recommended and then can’t remember who it was to go thank them. A few years ago I started a little list but I gave that up. I knew I’d only get to a very small number of the books and it was just another thing to do.
Secondly, I love the sound of this book. It sounds like s perfect gift for a couple of people I know, as well as something I’d like myself. I’m going to hunt for s new copy for them and perhaps an e-book for me, though will the illustrations be as nice?
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Oh whisperinggums, I have the same problem! I was only saved this time because right after I saw Emily’s post I requested the book from the library and it came in two days. Otherwise I am pretty much hopeless.
I think you might like the book. The illustrations are strange and done in a kind of sepia color. They should translate ok to a screen. I hope you like it and your friends too!
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I searched, and only used copies so that may have to be it … Now just have to remember!
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Oh!! No! Another one added and while I understand your predicament, I always end up reading what you recommend and my TBR (sigh!)…oh! well!
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cirtnecce, heh, my first thought was to apologize but I am not going to 🙂 I hope you enjoy the book if you get a chance to read it!
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Thanks for the recommendation, I loved it! I did read it in one sitting, though, couldn’t resist. I’m planning to purchase the first copy I see, the one I read came from the library, so I can underline all the best bits to my heart’s desire. (Yeah, I’m a book defacer.) https://anakalianwhims.wordpress.com/2015/06/12/books-to-read-in-one-sitting-this-summer/
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