the paperhouse review

New Beginnings and Evolutions

2011-02-21T07:24:00.000-08:00

My last recommendation on the blog would have to have to be a big one and it is non other than Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. I read this book last year September and this short novel is just without exaggeration one of the best books I have had the pleasure to read. Ishiguro cements his place as one of the foremost British literature laureate's with his emotionally charged distopian tour de force. His disciplined style of writing results in a sparing use of words where each one is charged with meaning but that doesn't mean the reader gets the same treatment as no feeling or emotion of ours is spared by writer. In what at first seems like a story about three childhood friends set around the background of a conventional British boarding school only ever subtly reveals itself as their relationships develops and the story progresses and we learn the extraordinary and unusual fates into which these three characters were born and destined to fulfil. The beauty of this novel lies in the humanity with which Ishiguro handles what can only be described as an inhumane situation. The morning I finished the book I felt ravaged by the story and incapable of going to work and face my reality and, pardon the pun, found it hard to let go of the characters and their inevitability. It has been a while since an author's talents for syntax had such an effect on me. The movie adaptation is due for release today and I am pleased that Ishiguro was involved so closely in the making. This is a very unusual reaction for me but I can hardly wait to see how this character driven story plays out on screen.

In May 2009 we started with the idea of The Paperhouse Review with the prospect of perhaps giving us a platform to express our literary views. We wanted to give the online insight we thought were lacking from our local publishing and literary industry. The information that was out there was more often, than not, aimed at a publishing audience rather than those of us who live with a passion for the literary and written word. Naively we took on the task with this blog ,never even considering the personal journeys that we both were commencing on that might prohibit us from completely committing and executing it to the full and creative capacity we both know exist within us. I am not the same person that started this blog in 2009 but my aspirations are still intact as the dream has not diminished but like me has evolved. I do not wish The Paperhouse Review to be a static literary personal blog that is stumbled on sporadically but rather to become an interactive website for South Africa aspiring writers, like ourselves, where new talent and voices can submit piece work, be it only one or many, to be viewed and discovered and ultimately published. There are to many brilliant works out there that are not being read or seen because the author is unknown or has ultimately not written enough to be considered to be published in a volume. So from here on work will rather commence on the structuring and completion of an interactive website rather than on blog posts. If anyone wants to become actively involved in this project please contact us by sending a personal message to us.

I look forward to this challenge as I am forever committed to be involved in the literary industry, be it as a published author or poet, a publisher or bookshop owner and for now the capacity which I will occupy remains unknown to me as well as where this journey is ultimately leading to. Two years ago I was fixated with the destination and distraught by the fact that I haven't reached any of these aspiring goals of mine. This mind set had caused me to ultimately miss out on the journey that was and is still shaping me. Now I know better as life has swung in another direction and we are yet again preparing to move, this time back to Johannesburg, showing that nothing in life is a permanent fixture. I am syched about the move and the prospects it hold. The forthcoming months promises so much; turning 30, the birth of our first child, Paris with my mom, baby and Andrew the new websites and as always my studies in literature, not to mention all the great personal discoveries and as always the literary ones. Thus it would be hard to commit myself with all these endeavours to the time that is needed for this blog to shape it into what it deserves, hence the more pro-active work will start now for the website.

So for the 2150 souls who read our blog we thank you and ask you to join us on our new direction by keeping a look out for the new website which once up and running will be posted here as well as on my facebook info page.

Sacrilegious Beauty

2011-01-27T21:35:00.000-08:00

by Isaac Salazar
(images: Fine ting og sjokelade)

Great Expectations Met and a Bowler Hat

2011-01-19T05:17:00.000-08:00

At 24 I started planning my first backpacking trip overseas. To where? Paris of course because I knew without any external influence or swaying that I WOULD love it. And at 23 I had just bought my first Ian McEwan novel, Atonement and at in interview for a job that did in fact change my life, when asked who my favourite author was I undoubtedly stated, without having read a word he has written, Ian McEwan of course. I knew from the first cover and from the first synopsis and excerpt that his writing and this specific novel of his resonated deeply with me. There are places, things and human experiences that come burdened with hype that its only possibility and nature will be to let you down. And then there are those instinctive intuitions and forces to which we are drawn that even long before the journey commences we are already reassured of one outcome; satisfaction. Enter The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being had always been at the back of my mind when browsing through the usually densely filled shelves of second hand bookshops but alas it was an elusive rarity. So when on a rainy and miserably cold day in November 2009 a wooden cart with parasol and all was selling books for R20 each in front of our dreary hotel in Shanghai, I couldn't believe my luck when it lay there between the Dan Brown and Eat Pray Love copies. And at last time and space has conspired and aligned and it has been picked from my dusty shelf of MUST reads. Instinctively it took me on an incredible journey the last month. Sadly I finished it moments ago and as with most books I read it will be lingering around my house, my thoughts and my everyday sense of being for the next few days rendering me unable to start with a new exploration. I remember on a particular day while reading it I was so fixated and drawn in that it felt that the whole day I was drifting in and out of conscientiousness and deeper into the realm of Thomas and Tereza. I love it when books do that to you.

The theme and pathos has left many a reader fumbled and as I read review after review of it each one tries to pinpoint the exactness of the novel which definitely constitutes a second revision of it in the future. Artist and illustrators have tried over years to interpret its essence which has lead to some amazing and greatest covers. Except for the vintage classics I wonder which of modern classics have been re-designed the most, this must be in for the running. The symbolic and significant bowler hat is prominent in most of the designs and understandably so, but I am drawn by the cover with the almost Picasso like drawing of Karinin. I am just thankful that movie tie in jackets was not as popular in the 80's, when the film came out, as they are now. Which one is your favourite and captures the essence of the book best?

One Neat Little Package

2011-01-18T11:32:00.000-08:00

When my affinity for words, music, and a session in a bookshop comes together you get the following:

As with literary discoveries, new musical ones excite me almost as much and my favourite discovery of 2010 has to be Mumford and Sons. The words of this song, that is aptly named White Blank Page, evokes a considerable amount of emotion within me and by 'swelling rage' I am as revved up with pleading exactly where was my fault. Its literature wrapped up in a neat little four and half minute bundle for a quick fix with lasting affects. Enjoy

A light post to take note of

2011-01-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

I loathe the fact that I already have my year planned out down to the weekends of each month but I have made piece with the control freak that is me. And it also feels good to have a plan and set of goals, not so much resolutions, even though life has proven that its only certainty is uncertainty but that part excites me equally. What these plans for 2011 and The Paperhouse Review constitute though is something for another post. And planning and taking notes require blank pages as we never know when that most profound idea or inspiration that could change the course of our directions hits and needs to be penned down.

A favourite buy of mine has to be notebooks. I sometimes feel though that the writing that is to be penned down in them should be worthy of their prettiness, hence the fact that there are some beautiful EMPTY notebooks on my shelf and desk. But still I go on buying them. The Wunderlust Notebook (below) is a great one for travellers and mine has some stories to tell, even if it is primarily an account of how we went over budget most of the days. Its pages have very quirky travel related watermarks which makes it the most character filled notebook and one of my favourites of all time. I received a red Moleskin as a parting gift before our stay in Asia which is just as great a travel companion and have been filled with musings, places to drink the best coffee (a hard find when Starbucks gets too expensive and commercial) and a forced account of our weekend in Yangshuo due to the fact that I lost our camera and the rest of my handbag on the sleeper bus.

My most recent addition came as a freebie when I was not only lucky enough to at last buy my dream car, but received a goodie bag which included a set of very trendy notebooks ...unfortunately my first speed ticket in 4 years soon followed as well.

The 2011 Moleskin came out with my favourite cartoon characters of all time, a MUST HAVE for my notebook collection.

Caution; Rambling reflections of a literary heart

2010-12-29T00:49:00.000-08:00

It is in our inherent human nature to take stock at this time of year and reflect on what we have lost and gained. Not the accumulation or discarding of things material but what has ultimately altered the landscape of our hearts. With as equally as many manifestations as love, loss has proven itself to be one of the main arteries of the beating and pulsating heart of literature and poetry. I could not afford the luxury of reflection a year ago as I was in the midst of experience which was tainted with the denial of loss. Today on this not so sunny December day I can do a double take of how through its many different guises loss has undeniably altered the person that sits here today. As throughout my life I have found solace though through music, mainly Florence, Mumford and sons and old Sarah Mclachlan songs and literature, most recently Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguru and the heartache that accompanied me has led me to the discovery, not only the reading of poetry, but the poet within where loss has been both fuel and driver of the metaphorical vehicle.

Its been a year and a half since I have seen my best friend and I wonder can I still use that term to refer to her if the friendship doesn’t exist any more. Perhaps it is a term that supersedes time and events, like the word brother or Lizette . Or perhaps it is a term that can only lay claim by mutual agreement in which an absent party nullifies it. Whatever the case may be it has proven to be the biggest continual loss of my life thus far. Through its manifestation of friendship how easy it was to love, how easy it was to destroy a thing of beauty and extreme depth which had the fragility of paperweight porcelain. How easy it was to be unforgivably faltered and misunderstood.How hard it is to grasp that an accumulated and compounded,misinterpreted few days outweighed 4 years. How hard it is to explain the ache and pain of the shards of the sharp edged paper-thin porcelain stuck within my flesh that pricks a little harder and deeper at the thought and sight of what has been lost. The emptiness of her absence is vast and has left even the most general attempts at friendship and bonding, hollow. The fuel, however, that taps from it is rich and rewarding and through words comes healing, and through new life comes a chance to be and do better. The crushing blow comes not from the realization that I am not perfect but that my imperfections are intolerable and unforgivable when weighed against the essence of who I am. Even though a certain light within in me has been diminished forever as soon as this concept began to hit home. I miss her and if she would let me reinterpret the broken shards to sand them to rounder edges I would but ultimately I know that this present, this void, will remain my reality.

On the 23rd of Decemeber someone who was very dear to me would have celebrated his 30th birthday but as fate would have it he will forever be 25. And how he has shaped my life for the few years he was present in it. He very harshly awoken a very naive self to the fact that life was not only black and white but an endless colour chart of grey. Although I should probably give half the credit to literature and Bernard Schlink for this as well. He forced me to think about things rather than just accept them and uncovered and instilled a sense of adventure in me that lay dormant for far too long. I am better for having met him even though I know I will never have the chance to yet fully understand his complicated heart.

In May 2010 my almost biggest lost became my biggest gain. My mom had a double heart attack and had to have and angiogram to open up one of her arteries. What was considered to be a simple procedure caused her heart to stop on the operating table. The doctors and nurses struggled for 20 minutes to resuscitate her, in other words her brain was left for 20 minutes without oxygen. After reviving her they had to induce a coma and bring her in a state of hyperthermia to save her brain and heart. They gave her a 1% of survival and if she did manage to survive, they prepared us for major brain damage and that she would never be herself again. It was hard to come to terms with these statistics but the unfailing support from my friends carried me through a time where I was incapable of anything accept begging prayer and hope. I could not lose my rock in life it just wasn’t an option, having that phone call come through to say she didn’t make it...not an option. As it is with grace that is undeservingly bestowed on us, and after what felt like an eternity my mother awoke from her coma unscathed. Her 1% survival rate didn’t even cause her a 1% loss of her brain capacity. I have never witnessed the kind of strength with which she manage to carry herself through her recovery. And I have never felt the intense agonizing pleading and bargaining within myself as I did in that week of hell. Her presence in our lives reminds us daily at what her doctors scientifically described as ‘impossible’ and a ‘miracle’. There are people who do believe in miracles and people who don’t and then you get us, people who get to witness one. Being able to still share in the bond between mother and daughter, stronger than ever, has been the biggest gain this year.

The last two years has taught me that I am person of strength, that I can be wrong and learn from it to be better, and I have learned to be patient with myself, with others and with life which I now discover has probably prepared and led me to be more ready to for this moment where life and another gain is rapidly growing inside me with every breath. I am still aching from past events and with some I carry a perpetual pain which on days leaves me grasping for my crippled altered heart and pleading with it to stop yearning for what no longer is, but I can also state with confidence, crippled heart and all that I have managed to be happy and content with what I have.

Even though it is loss that fuels the pen to create the metaphors to understand human emotions, it is from the strength that we witness in others and ultimately gather within ourselves as a result from these experiences, that inspire us to have the confidence to pen them down and carry on through the loss, use it an channel it, even if it is through a forever altered version of ourselves.

Holiday reading spots

2010-12-15T07:32:00.000-08:00

It's at last holiday time and I am armed with my favourite holiday indulgence Phillipa Gregory, my half finished Haruki Murukami's Norwegian Wood, Milan Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being and and my Everest, Marlene van Niekerk's Agaat and this is where I will be enjoying them: Old Mac Daddy Luxury Trailer Park.

I can't wait, just a few more things to pack then we are off tomorrow morning on an early flight. I can't wait to see our quirky For Better or Boerewors suite and unwind swimming, hiking and of course reading.

(images; Old Mac Daddy)

The rest of my reading will be happening between Christmas and New Years here:

A work in progress, my own little makeshift bohemian reading spot at home for the hot summer days. I am sure here I will make a considerable dent in Agaat, as well as making some progress on our new and improved upcoming website.

I remember fondly our holiday reading spot from exactly a year ago, Koh Lanta Thailand which housed us and our companions, The Girl who Played with Fire and Shantaram for hours and days on end.

Happy reading this holiday and here is hoping that you find your perfect spot.
From the lazy bloggers of The Paperhouse Review

Gone nesting

2010-11-16T07:07:00.000-08:00

December holidays are approaching and I have my guilty pleasure's reading list ready. A reading nook usually adds to the pleasure and I wouldn't mind passing the time in one of these:

Read-Nest by Dorte Mandrup Architecture

via Apartment Therapy

Nest Rests designed by Daniel Pouzet and Fred Frety

via Black Eiffel

Writer Harry Mulisch dies

2010-11-08T09:56:00.000-08:00

Harry Mulisch has died at the age of 83 on the 30th of October 2010. It was only last year that I was introduced to this celebrated Dutch author when I read The Assault (De Aanslag). It is a beautiful and complex story set in WWII, a period Mulisch often revisited in his novels. De Aanslag, very much like Bernard Schlink's The Reader, highlights the ethical grey areas of war. It is a perfectly scripted crime puzzle of a young Dutch boy who witnesses the demise of his whole family by the hand of the Germans. The family is mistakenly believed to be responsible for the shooting of a much hated Dutch fascists/German informer. The boy survives and grows up to become an anaesthetist later in life but it is rather he who in turn becomes numbed by this traumatic event from his childhood and throughout his life becomes indifferent towards the mystery of why it was his family that had to pay the unfair price, but the answers come to find him and seek him out through life events and the solution to the puzzle is most riveting and unexpected. I loved every second of this book and the end haunted me for months. I walked with the answer and I felt incomplete with its resolve, not from a literary perspective but from an inherent human one who seeks justifiable black and-white finger pointing answers. It is a novel so rich in perspective and as with the Dutch language, beautifully descriptive and I wish I had been introduced to Mulisch sooner. De Aanslag was made into a movie which won best foreign film award at both the Golden Globes and Oscars. Mulisch was also thought by many to be a possible candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature. His book The Discovery of Heaven (De ontdekking van de Hemel) was named Best Dutch Book Ever in 2007.

The Future of books is taking some notes from the past

2010-11-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

This is a very interesting look at the future of books or rather books within the realms of social networking which I spotted on Cherryflava. It considers three different approaches of which the last one reminds me of the adventure books I used to take out from the library where at one point in the story it would give you the option to choose how the main character should proceed by turning to different pages which all lead to different outcomes. The past is always inspiring the future.

The Future of the Book. from IDEO on Vimeo.

Literature as inspiration: Yeats

2010-10-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

(image; Lissadel)

I am taking a break from Homer for a day, for it is one of those days where it just seems silly to be almost 30 and to be studying again from scratch but be it 20,30 or even 50 Homer never seizes to inspire, as art and literature throughout the ages has taught us. What I am learning this time round is there is no age limit where that which we love and value will ever stop to inspire us. And this semester I was thrilled when I discovered that one of my assignments was to be based on a poem that over the last two years have become dear to me. It all started with a band...who on a day became inspired by literature.

We all have that cd, or a few of them that have a permanent home in our cars or have become a cemented figure next to your cd players. When you haven't played them in a few months or when radio starts to become only white noise we reach for them and it is like hearing it for the first time. My finger for years went to track 5 on that disk: Bad Dream by Keane

Why do I have to fly
over every town up and down the line?
I'll die in the clouds above
and you that I defend, I do not love.

I wake up, it's a bad dream,
No one on my side,
I was fighting
But I just feel too tired
to be fighting,
guess I'm not the fighting kind.

Where will I meet my fate?
Baby I'm a man, I was born to hate.
And when will I meet my end?
In a better time you could be my friend.

[chorus]
I wake up, it's a bad dream,
No one on my side,
I was fighting
But I just feel too tired
to be fighting,
guess I'm not the fighting kind.
Wouldn't mind it
if you were by my side
But you're long gone,
yeah you're long gone now.

Where do we go?
I don't even know,
My strange old face,
And I'm thinking about those days,
And I'm thinking about those days.

I have always been infatuated with the chorus and there were days when it became a mantra that I kept repeating to myself. On a flight from Dubai late May 2008, I started searching the menu of the onboard entertainment. Music and comedy has always been the best remedy for my all consuming fear of flying. I found Keane's Live at the O2 concert. Almost instant calmness ensued. Front man Tom Chaplin revealed that Bad Dream was inspired by W.B Yeats' An Irish Airman Foresees his Death. The chorus carries even more weight for me now and the poem has become a beloved one of mine. Even the intro to the song sounds like the droning of propeller driven World War 1 airplanes and the air raids of the time and so sound links itself to the words of this great WW1 poem. Co-writer of the song Rice-Oxley said that “We wanted to get a balance between a kinda dream sequence. It starts very quietly, and I love the idea of being in a plane, like a Spitfire or something, being so high up in the sky that you can't hear the guns below you and so on. And it's almost got a serene silence which is what this Yeats poem seemed to really express. The song starts very quietly, but it gets huge and angry as it goes on... The big distorted washy piano sound in the middle is a pretty vast sound and it's I guess an attempt to express all that anger bursting out"

Neil Hannon reads Yeats at Keane's Live at the O2

An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.

Literature can inspire so much greatness from within us and it can be channeled into so many forms and translations. This is by no means a new phenomena but one that has taken place since the birth of literature, since Homer. And today even a popular song can lead us to great literary discoveries, it can lead us to Yeats. We should never be afraid to go down that curios rabbit hole...

The A.W.O.L Trifecta

2010-10-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

It has been a brutal past two months on both body and mind which has led me away from TPH. I have recently learned the joyous news that I am pregnant but had to deal with some pregnancy woes but everyday is one that is getting easier. The supposedly honeymoon phase of the second trimester is now only a few weeks away, apparently the creative juices is at its most vibrant during this period, thus looking forward to what might sprout from this. I am also in the midst of a very hectic exam schedule. And thirdly where will writers be without a little bit of never ending emotional suffering from the past that sends us into solitary literary confinement away from our blogs and seeking comfort mostly from pillows, wide blue skies and luckily for me into the arms of the most profound book that I have read this year. So a lot has happened, a Man Booker prize winner, which has left me underwhelmed and a new Nobel laureate has been announced. I have 3 more exams dates left until we speak again and catch up on all things literary which should be early November.

Man Booker shortlist announced

2010-09-08T03:11:00.001-07:00

The shortlist for the Man Booker Prize has been announced and here they are:

Peter Carey Parrot and Olivier in America (Faber and Faber)
Emma Donoghue Room (Picador - Pan Macmillan)
Damon Galgut In a Strange Room (Atlantic Books - Grove Atlantic)
Howard Jacobson The Finkler Question (Bloomsbury)
Andrea Levy The Long Song (Headline Review - Headline Publishing Group)
Tom McCarthy C (Jonathan Cape - Random House)

This is the one I am dying to read, C by Tom McCarthy which also has one of the best covers of the year. It opens in England at the turn of the twentieth century, and is the story of a boy named Serge Carrefax, whose father spends his time experimenting with wireless communication while running a school for deaf children. Serge grows up amid the noise and silence with his brilliant but troubled older sister, Sophie: an intense sibling relationship that stays with him as he heads off into an equally troubled larger world.

After a fling with a nurse at a Bohemian spa, Serge serves in World War I as a radio operator for reconnaissance planes. When his plane is shot down, Serge is taken to a German prison camp, from which he escapes. Back in London, he’s recruited for a mission to Cairo on behalf of the shadowy Empire Wireless Chain. All of which eventually carries Serge to a fitful—and perhaps fateful—climax at the bottom of an Egyptian tomb . . .

I have to get my hands on it.
The winner will be announced on the 12th of October.

See pictures and information on the nominees on The Guardian's website as well their review of C

(image; The Man Booker Prize)

Arbor Month: Save a tree, buy only good or secondhand books this month

2010-09-06T23:42:00.000-07:00

Arbor month started on the 1st of September 2010 and I have planted no less than 5 trees in my yard. My husband and I are trying to offset our huge carbon emission from last year and has committed to only traveling locally this year (though I must confess this is partly due to the double recession of our own finances). But apart from the obvious climate related reasons I think every self confessed bibliophile needs to plant at least one tree this month. You only need to walk into the likes of Exclusive Books or CNA to realise who many of our precious resources and trees are being sacrificed to publish ,quite frankly, rubbish.

So I urge you to do one of the following: plant a tree as a thank you to the paper and its source that has brought you many hours of reading pleasure and shop locally or secondhand. Buying books from a local independent bookseller not only supports your own community instead of the big corporates but makes a lot more carbon sense. And the best and worth while has probably been separated from the masses to enhance your browsing experience. See a previous post explaining this offset here

Pick n Pay and Woolworths will be selling young potted indigenous trees in their flower aisles, perfect for balconies or consider these green starter packs from Eco Living Gifts

More on the bookshop above in my next post.

5 minutes with Ian McEwan

2010-09-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a short but very interesting 5 minute interview by BBC reporter Matt Stadlen with my favourite British author, Ian McEwan. They talk briefly about Amsterdam's Booker Prize value, his approach to writing and his love for music. Click here to view the interview on BBC.

Oh Sweden how do I love thee, let me count the ways...

2010-09-03T06:23:00.000-07:00

1...Stieg Larsson

In my previous post I recommended that some light reading should be acquired for this the first month of spring so that we can reconnect with nature and spend some time enjoying the warm and beautiful African sun. And if you still haven't heard of (where have you been?) or made an attempt to start reading Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy then there is no better time then now. I started my last installment a month ago and because I know that after The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest there will be no more Lisbeth Salander, I am taking my time to finish it and restricting myself to only a few pages a day. I am not usually one that buys into hype or consider books for their ratings on bestsellers lists, so when a friend of mine insisted in lending me a copy I transferred it to my my husband's nightstand for him to test it out for us. Well the rest in history and the trilogy has become a welcomed guilty pleasure and indulgement which has kept us thoroughly entertained.

Not since ABBA has the Swedes been able to grab the world's attention with such intensity. On holiday in Koh Lanta, Thailand we found the beach strewn with people, cocktail in hand and in their hammock's (myself included), each and everyone with a copy of one of the three Stieg Larsson's in every possible language and cover you could imagine. We realised later that Koh Lanta was home to rather sizeable amount of Swedes and that it even had a Swedish school. It might quite be possible that they were giving copies of the book out on the plane on their way there.The copy you see in the picture above is one that I purchase from a women with a bicycle driven stall, umbrella and all, outside our hotel in Shanghai...for R20. I think it fell of one of those mass production trucks somewhere in China...I hope.

2...Ikea

Sweden and their Scandinavian counterparts are renowned for their impeccable style and Larrson does this birth right proud by producing a very stylish if not some what promiscuous series of crime novels. In the second novel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, the heroin of the trilogy kits out her apartment with furniture from Ikea. I found this quirky post on Apartment Therapy on what her apartment in Stockholm would have looked like.

3...H&M
Just because I love it so and miss it so :)

Spring kicks off in Joburg

2010-09-02T02:56:00.000-07:00

September not only signifies the start of spring but it is also the month filled with great events happening all around Joburg.

This weekend the Mail & Guardian JHB Literary Festival will be taking place at my favourite spot in Joburg, 44 Stanley Ave from 3-5 September. Click on the link to view the programme. Boekehuis wil be selling books at the event which aims to 'revivify Jo'burg's cultural landscape'. While you are there don't forget to sample what is undeniably the best cup of coffee in Joburg which you can find at Bean There Coffee Roastery .

Arts Alive is starting on the 2nd of September and promises a month full of memorable events. This weekend''s programme makes it hard to choose between the Soweto Wine Festival and the Jazz in the park concert at Zoo lake. Later this month sees an exhibition of William Kentridge at Arts on Main and two poetry sessions in Newtown. See the full programme here

The Kentridge Exhibition coincides with the ARCHITECTURE.ZA.2010 event which takes place from the 21-27th of September.

I propose you take on some light reading this September (of which we will provide you with some suggestions) because it is going to be a busy month.

At last...Spring

2010-08-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

A little madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown
Who ponders this tremendous scene
This whole Experiment of Green
As if it were his own!
-Emily Dickenson

After a dry and drab winter which has left Gauteng and surroudings in a dreary and dusty state, Spring is finally here. The yellow and oatmeal frost stricken landscape is at last being penetrated by a touch of greenery. I took these photos of my neighbour's beautiful peach tree in bloom only days ago . Driving past it everyday I wonder if Spring was created with the sole purpose to delight and please?

There is so much to blog about and so many posts and as ever so little time. But for a moment lets put the books down and enjoy this beautiful Spring day.

Feeling European

2010-08-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

The lack of post, as suspected, as been caused by the post holiday blues and the onslaught of assignments with impossible deadlines. I think TPH should do like the Europeans do and close down shop for the whole of August and only return in September when spring will have officially made its long awaited arrival and some new posts and ideas will have blossomed along with some free time to share the with you. Until then I leave you with this very curios post I found on Swiss Miss where Kurt Vonnegut explains storytelling through Cartesian graphs on a blackboard. Until Spring, happy reading.

Read his article here

image: Swiss Miss

Book Vending Machines

2010-08-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

I love this innovative reclaimed use of these old cigarette vending machines from German publisher Hamburger Automatenverlag
Read the full article on this at Coolhunting

A is for...a place to sit

2010-08-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

(images; swissmiss, Utrechtverplettert, Design*Sponge)

Cape Town Book Fair

2010-07-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

TPH is counting down the days to Cape Town Book Fair as I get ready to meet up with Cam in the Mother City and after that a holiday in the fairest Cape. In the mean time while we get down to book business I have selected some eye candy book post to keep you busy until our return to the web waves. And for those of you who can't join us this weekend at the book fair, we will report back as soon as the post holiday blues ware off.

See the programme for the weekend here

We are taking the train down to Cape Town and this means ample hours of reading and my companion ...Girl who kicked the hornets nest.

Man Booker longlist and Sunday Times Literary Awards announced

2010-07-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

As per the Man Booker website:

The longlist includes:

Peter Carey Parrot and Olivier in America (Faber and Faber)

Emma Donoghue Room (Pan MacMillan - Picador)

Helen Dunmore The Betrayal (Penguin - Fig Tree)

Damon Galgut In a Strange Room (Grove Atlantic - Atlantic Books)

Howard Jacobson The Finkler Question (Bloomsbury)

Andrea Levy The Long Song
(Headline Publishing Group - Headline Review)

Tom McCarthy C (Random House - Jonathan Cape)

David Mitchell The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (Hodder & Stoughton - Sceptre)

Lisa Moore February (Random House - Chatto & Windus)

Paul Murray Skippy Dies (Penguin - Hamish Hamilton)

Rose Tremain Trespass (Random House - Chatto & Windus)

Christos Tsiolkas The Slap (Grove Atlantic - Tuskar Rock)

Alan Warner The Stars in the Bright Sky
(Random House - Jonathan Cape)

(image: The Guardian)
Click here to view the Booker longlist in pictures

Back on home soil the winners of the Sunday Times Fiction Award and the Alan Paton Literary Prize were announced. Congratulations to:

High Low In-Between by Imraan Coovadia (Fiction Award) &
The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law by Albie Sachs (Alan Paton Award)

The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199571796
RRP: R220

High Low In-Between
Publisher: Umuzi
ISBN: 9781415200704
RRP: R200

Bookshelf Porn

2010-07-27T03:51:00.000-07:00

If you are anything like me, a self confessed bookshelf pornographer and watcher, you will spend hours on Bookshelf Porn. Its purpose is to stimulate, inspire and feed the frenzy of your addiction...enjoy and try not to drool too much on your computer.

(image: swissmiss)

An act of betrayal

2010-07-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

Byatt’s latest novel is an ambitious work that relives the end of the Victorian era in search of an explanation for World War I. What it finds, as well as delivers, is betrayal.

The Children’s Book by AS Byatt
Publisher: Chatto & Windus / ISBN: 9780701183905 / Price: R300.00

The Children’s Book, as indicated by the title, is about children and childhood. It begins when two boys, Tom Wellwood and Julian Cain, find a third boy, Philip Warren, squatting in the South Kensington Museum. This sets the scene for an intricate exploration of British society, and in particular the family unit, in the years leading up to World War I.

As one might expect, with this epic vision behind it, Byatt’s latest novel is nothing if not ambitious. It begins in 1895 as Philip is introduced to the Wellwood family and then apprenticed to volatile master craftsman Benedict Fludd. It follows these characters, their families and their acquaintances until 1915, when the war has decimated the British male population.

There is a common theme of children betrayed by the adults who love them and are supposed to protect them. These betrayals are sometimes inadvertent and unforeseen, sometimes the product of the passions and, most often, the result of pure selfishness. This theme is set against the cascade of events which led up to World War I, which, it is implied, was the selfish betrayal of one generation by another, too.

Its vision is its downfall. The Booker Prize-shortlisted The Children’s Book is perhaps too ambitious. It boasts what Publisher’s Weekly describes as an “unaccountably large cast”, and a web of plots and sub-plots interwoven with historical fact. This web and the characters caught in it could have filled out four or five different novels, in which the author might have paid more attention to the themes, the characters and the intricacies of plot.

Yet, The Children’s Book remains undeniably intriguing. Each of Byatt’s novels possesses the same compelling mix of intellect, empathy and insight, tracing themes such as the distinction between art and reality from one work to the other. In her latest work, the author’s preoccupations are thankfully not drowned by the scope of the task, only diluted. There can be no question why the novel was shortlisted for the Commonwealth’s most prestigious literary award, just as there can be no question why it lost.

If you enjoyed this book, you should read: other books by A.S. Byatt, including Bable Tower and The Biographer’s Tale, but not Possession; as well as other Man Booker Prize-shortlisted novels, particularly Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (the winner) and Summertime by J.M. Coetzee.

The Ark: Where Architecture and Books meet

2010-07-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

Rintala Eggertsson Architects, Oslo and Bodø, Norway - Ark from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.

Did you also manage to spot Cloud Atlas?

Read The Guardian's report:
The bookcase you'll want to live in

African Booker

2010-07-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

Olufemi Terry was announced as the winner of this year's Caine prize for African Fiction , aka the African Booker, for his short story titled Stickfighting Days. Terry was born in Sierra Leone and currently resides in Cape Town.

Click here to read his remarkable short story Stickfighting Days

(image: Caineprize.com)

Adaptation

2010-07-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 9780099512790

RRP: R126.95

What is it about Ian McEwan’s novels that lure and invite film makers to translate them into films? I could write an essay’s worth of reasons but won’t bore you with my personal groupie like tendencies towards his oeuvre. Whatever the case may be it has been reported that McEwan’s On Chesil Beach is going to be his third book that will be adapted for the big screen. The Daily Mail writes that non other than the amazing Carey Mulligan (who appears to have great taste in authors, next up on her list Never let me go) has been cast for the female lead and that Sam Mendes will be sitting in the director's seat for this highly anticipated version of the brilliant novella. I could hardly contain my excitement when I first read this. Sam Mendes did an astounding job at bringing to life Richard Yates hauntingly troubled tale about a young couple’s desperate actions against conformity in 1950’s America in Revolutionary Road. His direction brought out some of Kate Winslet’s and Leonardo Dicaprio’s finest performances in a story that was driven by tension filled dialogue and the on screen effectiveness of a lack thereof.

On Chesil Beach in its turn tells of a couple in England who’s relationship and wedding night, in 1962, carries the weight of their inability to communicate their sexual fears, insecurities and expectations. It is a story rife with underlying tension of which Sam Mendes and Ian McEwan are undoubtedly the masters of portraying. McEwan has adapted On Chesil Beach himself. And seeing that the novella is a mere 166 pages long, hopefully they will be able to add every possible detail of the unfolding events into the film version, a critical point which die hard fans are always keen to judge on.

Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 9780099481249
RRP: R145

Both Enduring Love (2004) and Atonement (2007) have been turned into successful movies although the former did not receive as much wide spread and critical attention as the latter. Even though the film version of Enduring Love made some criticised changes to original novel it remained a vivid, scary and beautiful portrayal that managed to capture the spirit of the original and was undoubtedly filled with all the trademarks of a McEwan creation and was incredibly well acted. The powerful use of colour in Enduring Love was very effective and as within his books left vital moments, important to the story development, forever imprinted in my mind.

Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 9780099429791
RRP: R145

For me personally, in both film and novel one of the most beautifully written scenes in English literature has to be the ‘fountain’ scene in Atonement. Watching it play out on film left me without a doubt that McEwan was indeed deeply involved in its adaptation. It was the scene which McEwan has revealed was written before he had written one word of the rest of the novel and from this scene sprung the inspiration for rest of Atonement as we know it. Filming Atonement was always going to be an epic attempt and the complex thought process and musings of Briony Tallis, one of McEwan's most interesting and thought provoking characters, was itself going to be the film's hardest obstacle to translate due to the genre’s inherent limitations where the story is primarily narrated by the camera. Nonetheless the film in its own right turned out an acclaimed and worthy success.

Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 978009946968

RRP: R126

It leaves me wondering if Saturday will be soon to follow, I can almost imagine within my minds eye how powerful the ‘forced poetry reading’ scene could be on screen...

(image: Carey Mulligan via zimbio.com)

Apologies for the lack of post(s) this week

2010-07-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

Due to maintenance on some fibre optic cables linked between Africa and India, our service provider had some problems providing frequent, if any access to the internet this week. This and the last week of football madness has hampered any attempts at writing and posting. New post and features should be up next week! Happy weekend from TPH

March of the Penguin

2010-07-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

Happy belated 75th Birthday Penguin Books.

The influence of Penguin Books as a recognizable iconic brand on popular culture is as irrefutable as their approach to publishing and their impact on the paperback design as we know it today. The initial two and half cents editions with their three horizontal bands, colour coded to match to a particular series, have become sought after jewels for book collectors and lately a springboard for art and decor inspiration. Not only does Penguin Books publish great classics and new exciting, contemporary and award winning authors but they seem always as in 1936 one step ahead in their design aesthetic approach for book covers. Here is a small ode to the publishing giant and a demonstration of how the mighty Penguin has infiltrated art, design, culture and our everyday existence.

ART

Harland Miller, artist and writer, has approached the iconic Penguin classic in a rather humouristic, hard hitting satirical way which refuses to be ignored and is allegedly adorning the walls of one Sir Elton John. Browsing through them I can not help but snort with unapologetic laughter at some while simultaneously admiring them. Read more on Harland Miller at Whitecube, Millers London Gallery and his interview with The Guardian

COVER DESIGN
Penguin has taken cover design into a new direction with a collaborating initiative aimed at saving lives. They have partnered with RED™ in their ongoing effort to raise funds to eliminate AIDS in Africa. The campaign which reads 'These books saves lives' has commissioned designers to rejacket 8 of the Penguins' most well known classics to form part of the Penguin Red Editions series.

Some of my favourite of these designs are:

GREAT EXPECTATIONS
ISBN:9780141194363
Charles Dickens R140.00
‘The most nakedly haunting book Dickens ever wrote’ Guardian

THE SECRET AGENT
ISBN:9780141194394
Joseph Conrad R110.00
‘Elevated the spy story into literature in a way that would inspire Greene
and le Carré’ Observer

For more information on the Penguin Red Editions click here

MEMORABILIA

Postcards from Penguin is a collection of 100 postcards featuring some of Penguin's most iconic book covers spanning over seventy years. Mine has just arrived and it is hard to choose which ones will adorn my wall or be sent off to equally bookish friends.

Postcards from Penguin
ISBN: 978014104468
R 230

There are also coffee mugs and even deck chairs inspired by Penguin covers for the die hard fans, just reach for the Google search button.

(images: Remodelista, In between days, Apartment Therapy)

Flattering curves

2010-06-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

"As a contemporary designer I try to meet the needs of the whole human being by designing furniture that is simultaneously meaningful for the spirit, beautiful for the soul, and nurturing for the body.” - Haldane Martin

As the world’s attention is still very much locked on South Africa so we continue our focus on South African book related themes. One of my favorite SA designers, Haldane Martin who is based in Cape Town, created the most beautiful and visually pleasing shelving system I have had the pleasure to lay my eyes on, New Slant Shelves. It has been the object of desire of many of my interior/perfect home library/aspiring bookshop fantasies.

At first glance its curves seems like an optical illusion but a closer look reveals each individual modular slanted shelf can be moved, adjusted and organized on the whim and creativity of its owner through its clever magnetic system. It is a piece of design that is as alive with movement and flow as the text and contents of the books and items that would love to be housed and showcased within it, all in unison speaking against what was once perceived as static forms. And its boldest statement: that it is proudly and sustainably made in South Africa.

(images: Haldane Martin, Apartment Therapy, Elle Deco SA)

Updated Jozi Skyline shelf

2010-06-17T04:48:00.000-07:00

New Moon Africa's Jozi Icons floating shelf has made a timely appearance with its updated Johannesburg skyline which now includes Soccer City and the Soweto. It is made out of brushed stainless steel and bamboo and designed by Angus Wing.

Keeping it local: Jozi bookends

2010-06-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

For the duration of the Soccer World Cup we are turning our attention to all things local and book related. These beautiful brushed stainless steel Jozi bookends by Fanie van Zyl are a wonderful ode to the city that is alive with gees, ayoba-ness and of course books.

On order at Batch R395

Orange Prize for Fiction

2010-06-10T22:37:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Orange prize for fiction for 2010 has been awarded to acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver for her latest book titled The Lacuna.

Publisher: Faber And Faber
ISBN: 9780571252640
Publication date: November 2009
RRP: R219.95

The Orange prize for fiction is awarded each year to a female writer from any nationality for the best novel written in English. The prize money is £30 000

This looks like another stellar epic from Kingsolver which must be added to my 'must read' list. I love the exotic cover. If anyone has read it please send me you thoughts or a review on it.

Sandton, Soccer Fever and the Sunday Times Literary Awards

2010-06-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

Image via Beeld

World Cup fever has taken our minds,bodies, streets and country hostage (rightfully so) and will continue to do so for the next month. After the scenes from yesterday’s procession in Sandton and gatherings around the country, my heart beats yellow and green with a new sense of patriotism. It made me think that when on the precipice of crisis we retreat in a state of passiveness but when presented with the opportunity to unite and fire up spirits rather than arms we charge with new found purpose and for some brief moments declare ours a state of greatness. I hope that every visitor and even the mzanzi’s will indulge in all things home grown and brewed that our wonderful country has to offer. And perhaps some of them will pop into a bookshop and take home a new literary discovery.

The shortlist for the Sunday Times Literary awards is not a bad place to start looking for that treasure. They were announced this last weekend and feature some our finest writers who will compete for our most prestigious English literary prize. They are as follow:

Shortlist for Alan Paton (non-fiction) Award

Ways of Staying by Kevin Bloom (Picador Africa)
 A Fork in the Road by André Brink (Harvill Secker)
 Begging to be Black by Antjie Krog (Random House Struik) 
The Honour to Serve by James Ngculu (David Phillip) 
The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law by Albie Sachs (Oxford University Press).

Shortlist for the Fiction Prize

Summertime by JM Coetzee (Harvill Secker)
 High Low In-between by Imraan Coovadia (Umuzi)
 Saracen at the Gates by Zinaid Meeran (Jacana) 
The Book of the Dead by Kgebetli Moele (Kwela Books)
 Small Moving Parts by Sally-Ann Murray (Kwela Books).

The winners will be announced on the 24th of July

Local Hidden Treasure Trove: Bibliophile Clarens

2010-05-31T07:38:00.000-07:00

Every time I visit Clarens and the Golden Gate area in the eastern Free State I fall in love with it all over again. Visiting it at different times of the year is like a private viewing of nature’s perfect seasonal colour palette, as if discovering the different personality traits and facets of someone you love but will never fully know. It has unmistakably become one of my favourite spots to visit in South Africa and lucky for me I have uncovered that its beauty does not only run skin deep .

Only a 2,5 hours drive from Johannesburg this coined little artist town nestled in the Maluti mountains is not only for gallery browsers and outdoor activity lovers but it comes equipped with its own little bookshop aptly named Bibliophile, for those days when the muscles need to recuperate and your thoughts seek their own adventure and deviation. The shop is situated just of the main street on a little dirt road and is packed with charm, character and above all a great selection of reads.

Friday Forecast

2010-05-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

The SA weather service is predicting some cold weather coming our way this weekend and as murphy would have it I am going hiking in the Free State during this cold onslaught. This is probably going to be the first of many as winter is officially due within a couple of days. If I am to survive this weekend I am particularly excited about snuggling up with some of my favourite men and their long awaited novels during the next couple of months. So winter do your worst as I come armed with some serious (and not so serious) recommendations not only to wither the cold but to make you a winter to remember not only as the time when the Soccer World Cup came to South Africa

Solar by Ian McEwan

Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd
ISBN: 9780224090506
RRP: R220

Solar by Ian McEwan.
Solar has just won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction. Not bad for a first time venture into comedy but then again this is Ian McEwan we are talking about, the same Man Booker winner who has decided to try his hand at writing an opera based in his novel Atonement. I was skeptical when this master of contemporary fiction announced that his latest novel would be a comedic effort centered around climate change but halfway through it I have discovered that the author who has an uncanny knack for stripping a human being to only his darkest impulses is equally talented when it comes to comedic timing. His Nobel prize winning protagonist has managed to make me laugh out loud at his antics at the same time as he has brought about the impulse to throttle him. A book about the warming earth should indeed be acquired for the forthcoming cooler days.

Another Man Booker prize winner as well as a former shortlisted finalist got me equally excited about their latest releases

Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel

Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
ISBN: 9781847677662
RRP R190

'Fate takes many forms. When Henry receives a letter from an elderly taxidermist, it poses a puzzle that he cannot resist. As he is pulled further into the world of this strange and calculating man, Henry becomes increasingly involved with the lives of a donkey and a howler monkey - named Beatrice and Virgil - and the epic journey they undertake together. With all the spirit and originality that made Life of Pi so treasured, this brilliant new novel takes the reader on a haunting odyssey. On the way Martel asks profound questions about life and art, truth and deception, responsibility and complicity.'

via Penguin. Click on the Penguin link for the chance to win a signed copy of the long awaited new novel from Yann Martel who brought us the unforgettable Life of Pi

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell

Publisher: Sceptre
ISBN: 9780340921579
RRP 190

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by enigmatic David Mitchell adds to what is already an amazing collection of titles that never seize to excite his readers and it would seem critics alike. He is the darling of British postmodern fiction and his latest novel tells the story of a turning point in history on a tiny island attached to mainland Japan, David Mitchell’s tale of power, passion and integrity transports us to a world that is at once exotic and familiar: an extraordinary place and an era when news from abroad took months to arrive, yet when people behaved as they always do - loving, lusting and yearning, cheating, fighting and killing.

'Bringing to vivid life a tectonic shift between East and West, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is dramatic, funny, heartbreaking, enlightening and thought-provoking. Reading it is an unforgettable experience'. Amazon.co.uk

Happy reading this winter and keep me informed of your winter literary finds, pleasures , wish list as well as your reviews on the above mentioned titles. And as a final tip I would reccommend that a bottle of good homegrown South African red would be a perfect companion to these international men and their writing, as indulging in their brilliance is sure to fire up the coldest of winter days.

Feeling Bookish

2010-05-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

The last couple of months a lot of people have been asking me how I feel about e-book readers and their effect on the book industry and it has been a hard question to answer. As with any product (please excuse me for reducing the book to such a commercial driven term) or industry trying to survive in an ever changing and unpredictable economic climate it is vital to keep up to date and stay in trend with technology which seems to be the main driving force in industries. Refusing to do so could be detrimental. That said the bibliophile in me can not fathom how the sensory pleasure of book and bookshop could ever be digitized.

While some have been preaching the demise of both the tangible book and the independent bookshop, their influences are undeniable on our culture as well as on the way we dwell. Enough so to have brought about these amazing book inspired designs that have been showcased most recently this month at the BKLYN Design show and the ICFF in New York. These designs do not only speak volumes about the book as an aesthetically pleasing object but are ode like creations aimed at the book as symbolic representation of where we have been, what we have accomplished and the impact of their contents that have irrevocably shaped our lives.

It goes without saying that the e-book has some dauntingly large shoes to fill and after looking at these designs it makes me say with a hint of pleasure...kindle who?

Shelving system Hold on Tight by Colleen & Eric via Design Sponge

BookLight by Myungseo Kang via Elle Deco SA

Faktura bookshelf via Apartment Therapy

The Duo bookshelf by Ana Linares via Apartment Therapy and Supermarket

Calling all Jozi Bibliophiles

2010-02-23T02:28:00.000-08:00

The Friends of Johannesburg Public Libraries are holding a book sale on 28 February from 9:00 - 17:00 at Marks Park Sports Club, Judith Rd, Emmarentia.
There are over 10 000 new and second-hand books, collectables and Africana on sale at very low prices (starting at R10 each).
There is secure parking and refreshments will be available.
Enquiries: 083 454 6312 / 082 777 0752.
All proceeds go towards supporting the activities of the public libraries in Johannesburg.

Why not pack a picnic basket and enjoy the surroundings at Emmarentia dam while you get yourself acquainted with the newest additions to your library. Hope to see you all there!

Holiday Wishes

2009-12-14T16:57:00.000-08:00

We at the paperhousehouse review would like to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas. And for all of you that still need to do some last minute shopping, please visit your local bookshop for the perfect gift that suites every budget. After Christmas we can start counting down the days towards 2010 and the feverish book sales that are coming in January.

The paperhouse review is taking some time off to work on some great new ideas for the blog for 2010 so do come and visit us again next year when our great new features will be up and running. Happy reading until then.

Please watch the incentive below on why you should support your local bookshop this holiday season, courtesy of IndieBound

Some novel ideas from our favourite friends

2009-11-01T03:25:00.000-08:00

It has been quiet on the blog front as the silly season with its hectic schedules has managed to consume our lives. But we at The Paperhouse Review have managed to keep sourcing some great innovative book-themed designs, courtesy of our favourite blogs and magazines. Luckily for us, they seem to appreciate book culture as much as we do, as they continue to wow us with each new, ingenious way to display our treasured reads.

Here are some of the best ideas we've seen the last few months.

Apartment Therapy

Lili Lite

Bookshelf-annotation by Lau Design

Bookrest by Lars Nilsson

October 2009 ELLE Decoration UK Edition

Slim Shelving

London Landmark Bookends by Susan Bradley Design

Mantel scoops the Booker

2009-10-06T23:50:00.000-07:00

After months of waiting and debating, the winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize has been announced. From a strong shortlist of six contenders, bookies’ favourite Hilary Mantel has won the award for her novel about Thomas Cromwell titled Wolf Hall. Congratulations!

Publisher: Fourth Estate Ltd / ISBN: 9780007230181 / Price: R296.00

Much has been written about the Tudors and the reign of King Henry VIII, both in the realm of fiction and non-fiction, and in recent years public interest in the subject has grown overwhelmingly. Mantel, who is no stranger to literary awards, knew that, because of this, writing her account of the era would be "difficult". "I had to interest the historians, I had to amuse the jaded palate of the critical establishment and most of all I had to capture the imagination of the general reader," she said in her acceptance speech last night.

She appears to have succeeded. Chairman of the judging panel, James Naughtie, lauded the book for its "sheer bigness", which he attributed to the "boldness of its narrative" and "its scene setting". He went on to describe it as an "extraordinary piece of story-telling", an echo of the justification for last year’s winner, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, which gives some idea of what the judges look for in a winner. Among the unsuccessful contenders for this year’s award were JM Coetzee for his novel Summertime and AS Byatt for The Children’s Book.

Possibly the chicest bookshop in Europe

2009-09-07T08:46:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to spend some time in the charming city of Ghent, in Flemish Belgium, this past August. I was won over within days of my arrival by this little jewel in Europe without even having a piece of its world-famous chocolate and, after indulging in that remarkable use of cacao at last, I knew a future return to Ghent was inevitable. Unbeknownst to me, however, Ghent was harboring another ace in its pocket: a bookshop called PAARD OF TROJE (the Trojan horse).

This sanctuary of books might just be the chicest bookshop in all of Europe. Yes, I am well aware of the fact that I haven't seen all that Europe has to offer in terms of bookshops, but I couldn't help but be seduced by this incredible use of space – where function and form have a royal time battling it out, and the end result is a perfect equilibrium of excellent styling and design. Add to this a brilliant selection of titles adorning the beautifully crafted shelves and a vital dose of booklovers' atmosphere.

I was very impressed that the shop owners manage to keep their children's section light and airy, stocked with exquisitely illustrated Dutch titles, without compromising on the style and aesthetics of the shop or the selection – a pitfall into which many bookshops stumble head first. My favourite feature has to be the custom-designed ladders which have an almost forgotten art nouveau look about them and are latched onto a rail system, making navigating to the top shelves easy and exciting. This simple design utilises every corner of space, without intruding on readers' abilities to move around, and adds to unique experience that is PAARD VAN TROJE.

Sunday Times Literary Awards winners

2009-08-16T01:10:00.000-07:00

We at The Paperhouse Review would like to congratulate the winners of this year’s Sunday Times Literary Awards: the Alan Paton Award and the Sunday Times Fiction Prize.

Peter Harris received the Alan Paton Award for In a Different Time. The book is the true, harrowing and gripping story of the Delmas Four, as told by their attorney. The award is given each year to the author of a South African work of non-fiction, and has been running for 20 years this year.

Publisher: Umuzi / ISBN: 9781415200490 / Price: R185.00

Anne Landsman is the winner of this year’s Sunday Times Fiction Prize for The Rowing Lesson. The novel begins when pregnant Betsy Klein is summoned from New York to her father’s bedside. As she watches him, she imagines his life as a young Jewish man on the plattelande and weaves a story that traverses both their lives.

Publisher: Kwela / ISBN: 9780795702624 / Price: R175.00

The light side of books

2009-08-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

If you are lucky enough to have cosy corner dedicated to your favourite pastime (and, you being a visitor of this site, we assume this pastime is reading) one important fixture will invariably be your reading light. We endorse the following quirky ideas:

This little fellow is from the Anglo Swiss Partnership of black+blum and will set you back £31.25 (R410).

For the more practical of readers, we spotted this on Apartment Therapy's sister site Unplggd.com. It is called the Book-Sensitive Reading Lamp and doubles as a page-holder. It was designed by French designers Jun Yasumoto, Alban Le Henry, Olivier Pigasse and Vincent Vandenbrouck. (No price available.)

The Paperhouse Review’s Top 10 Self-Help Books

2009-07-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

As we review our favourite self-help books, we are not taking a survey of those glitzy volumes that crowd the so-called psychology sections of bookshops, with their trite philosophies and shallow epigrams, their pseudo-science and convoluted logic. Our self-help books are a selection of volumes, both fiction and non-fiction, that have taught us how to live. They are, in no particular order and without exhausting the list:

Jean-Honoré Frangonard, The Reader (Lesende Frau), oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

1. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. This is the coming-of-age story that defined all others. Holden Caulfield taught us in equal doses how to live and how not to live.
2. The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. Written by the sociologist as a guide to myth, it tells us plenty about the human condition.
3. the poems of Emily Dickinson. Simple and pretty, these verse whittle life away to its fundamentals.
4. Passage to India by E.M. Forster – and all the works of the Moderns for that matter. Plagued by a vague sense of existential unease, the Moderns resisted throwing out the baby with the bath water as we Post-moderns have done. The result is subtly chilling, and inspiring.
5. the works of Friedrich Nietzsche. Using logic, the philosopher pulled apart the foundations of our world so that we could build it up from scratch again.
6. The Diary of Anne Frank. Anne Frank, in her quiet way, teaches us courage and gratitude. All the tears shed on her behalf, by people of different races, religions and nationalities, testify to the need for tolerance and understanding. We are more alike than we are different, when it comes down to it, and it took this book, translated into almost every language imaginable, to show us that.
7. The Paper House by Carlos Maria Dominguez. Although we’ve already explained why we chose to name this blog after the petite illustrated work, the quote below should seal the deal. Any true bibliophile will see themselves reflected between its pages.
8. the agreements and disagreements of Freud and Jung. Take an excerpt from The Four Archetypes, tack it to a page from Interpreting Dreams, stir it in with A Case of Hysteria and a dose of Modern Man in Search of a Soul, and you may not come out any wiser but you will certainly be more aware of the intricacies and contradictions of the human mind.
9. your high school history textbook. To appropriate a well-worn idea, you cannot know who you are without knowing where you come from.
10. and, of course, the oeuvre of Shakespeare. As many before us have pointed out, the Bard reveals a wealth about human nature and our emotions, whether through a comedy, tragedy or historical play. We could not possibly pick one as our favourite.

"I have often asked myself why I keep books that could only ever be of any use in a distant future, titles remote from my usual concerns, those that I have read once and will not open again for many years, if ever! But how could I throw away The Call of the Wind, for example, without destroying one of the building blocks of my childhood, or Zorba the Greek, which brought my adolescence to a tear-stained end... We prefer to lose a ring, a watch, our umbrella, rather than a book whose pages we will never read again, but which retains, just in the sound of its title, a remote and perhaps long-lost emotion." (The Paper House, p.12–3)

To store or to display?

2009-07-24T03:19:00.000-07:00

Judging a book by its cover has become an ambiguous term in our day and age, where the cover design of a book as a means of branding its author (through the use of certain fonts, for instance) has become an integral part of publishing and book buying. We do not necessarily think of books as aesthetic objects, but the lines are becoming more and more blurred as books also become functional, not only because of their contents, but because of how we use them within our dwellings. It seems that they bring as much pleasure to the eyes as they do to our ever-inquiring minds. So whether you decide to store or display your treasured reads, here is some helpful inspiration via some of our favourite websites and books (of course).

This beautiful arrangement will make it difficult to get to that elusive book at the bottom, but makes for a great feature wall in this San Fransico home as seen on ApartmentTherapy.

For more ideas on how to make your living spaces come alive and how to inject a bit of your soul into a room, I strongly recommend Alan Power's Living with Books which has over the years become a neverending source of inspiration.
Publisher: Mitchell Beazley represented by Penguin Books
ISBN: 9781845331818
Publication date: April 2006
Retail Price: R230

For storage solutions with a aesthetic twist, we found this detailed bookshelf by San Francisco Architects Aiden Darling on Remodelista.

A new book that caught our eye with practical storage solutions for books and other every day items that may clutter your living space is Storage: Get organized by Terence Conran.
Publisher: Conran Octopus represented by Penguin Books
ISBN: 9781840914344
Publication date: March 2008
Retail price: R320

A blooming shame

2009-07-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

It seems that the blurb of each new book published locally, whether fiction or non-fiction, claims to represent the state of South Africa today in stark, unprecedented honesty. And more often than not it is a country depicted either as shackled to its past or with the key to its manacles in its bloodied fingers. Black Petals by Bryan Rostron is another such novel, one which understands the past as a tangle of secrets that only recede further as one approaches, and the present as just as illusory.

Black Petals by Bryan Rostron
Publisher: Jacana / ISBN: 9781770096486 / Price: R165.00

The premise of Black Petals is an ambitious one. An archivist and former activist is working on a top-secret project when he discovers his own apartheid security files among the piles to be catalogued. Intrigued enough to abandon protocol and his own sense of self-preservation by stealing and examining first one file and then a second, Macaulay Vogel is shaken by the unfamiliar self (denoted as CCR10/32 and branded a traitor) who emerges from between the lime green folders.

Vogel’s journey through the haunted woods of identity is complicated by the agendas of an assortment of damaged, angry, shady and sincere comrades who all seem to demand the same thing from him: information. From Susan Sarkissian, his best friend’s wife, to union leader Marc Hendricks, to confidants Zecharia and Mary Xaba. And then of course there is the mysterious figure of Marda, made tangible only through the bouquets of flowers that Vogel buys in her memory.

All this soul searching is set to the score of marches and bombs, overset with the ringing the motto of "files have a life of their own". "They won’t stay buried," says Vogel ominously. "It’s like the bones, you see. One day, they’ll just work their own way to the surface." And just like Rostron’s persistent and often jarring metaphors about petals, to which everything is compared, including the weather.

Black Petals, although a sincere attempt at creating a detective novel that traverses the legacy of the past, is best summarised in this series of failed metaphors.

Our intrepid author becomes lost on his journey, never quite nearing his plotted destination. The novel is dogged by a feeling of familiarity, as it traces plots and themes extracted from other novels and short stories, yet never extends them, and confines its characters to the roles cast for them by the South African media. And in the end, existential questions so subtly raised in the promising first chapter are never answered, leaving the reader with the sense, not that we are being asked to recognise that there can be no definitive answers, but only that perhaps the author himself doesn’t know what they are.

Compared with the crop of good South African crime fiction (most of which, for some reason, is set against the slopes of Table Mountain) being released by the likes of Mike Nicol, Deon Meyer and Margie Orford, which manages to satisfy the requirements of a good thriller while still raising pertinent questions about South Africa past and present, Black Petals merely wanders listlessly through old, abandoned territory. It is, in short, a blooming shame.

If you enjoyed this book, you should read: Bryan Rostron’s first novel, My Shadow, which was commended for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Africa), and his non-fiction work, Till Babylon Falls.

The Hong Kong Bookshop Part II

2009-07-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

After finding PAGEONE, I felt unsatisfied and was still searching for something less commercial. On my way to the Hong Kong Central Library, I stumbled upon a shop called, as Murphy would have it, the Commercial Press. The entrance was too timid and, if I hadn’t seen a poster of a book, I wouldn’t even have noticed that it was indeed a bookshop.

Walking up the staircase, I found what seemed to be a version of Van Schaik, an academic bookshop back home. I ruffled through the English section and came upon a wonderful series of the most beautiful covers including Italo Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler and Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, which had definitely been selected by a well-read person. They were on special: take two, get the third one free.

I was thinking that the extra suitcase I wanted to buy to accommodate my shopping is in the end going to be filled only with books, and no clothes. But, when I looked around for a chair to sit in and go through my selection, I couldn’t find one. As I was pressed for time, I made up my mind to return to purchase my threesome. A week later, I am sad to report, they are not there anymore. I doubt that they were all sold and suspect they have been hidden or returned.

Next I found the Bookbuddy, an overstocked children’s bookshop that is everything a bookshop should not be. Only the spines of books face you from wall-to-wall shelves, overwhelming you with choice and leaving you uninspired. The shop evokes no passion for books and the pleasure of reading them - it might as well have been a section of Toys’R’us, judging by the selection of Disney titles and toys.
I almost ran, in spite of my blistered feet, towards the exit of the mall, in desperate need of fresh air and a fresh perspective on books.

In the TST region of Kowloon I found Swindon Books. As I walked towards it, I could see a group of people filling the sidewalk in front of the shop and thought for a second that I had found some students or book groupies congregated in front of their favorite book spot. Unfortunately my fantasy was short-lived as they were only the construction workers from the site across the bookshop taking a break.

Swindon also has a very academic interior, but contains many more general English books then academic titles. The shop is well stocked, with a great bargain section and the best travel section I have seen yet. Although it lacks atmosphere, which could be remedied with background music, I found one elusive chair where I sat and, as I stared at a V.S. Naipul to my right, felt comfortably at home in the bustling city.

I have come to realise that, as a book lover visiting Hong Kong, you will indeed be satisfied by what is on offer. However, as a bookshop lover, I am left wanting. But during the next few months that remain of my stay here, I will be on the lookout for the best places to read, while scouting for secondhand bookshops and everything else book-related that Hong Kong has on offer.

New in the pile

2009-07-07T03:46:00.000-07:00

There are days when being a reader seems like an overwhelming affliction – there is simply too much to read and too little time in which to do it. It’s almost enough to make me want to abandon the exercise entirely sometimes, leaving it for some other dutiful reader to tackle. Almost. Here are some of the newest releases which have made it onto the tops of our ‘To Read’ lists.

Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon grasped the imaginations of the authors of this blog firmly between its talons with its combination of detective mystery and literary ramble. Ruiz’s latest novel, The Angel’s Game, was released on the first of July. It sports a blue cover that, while it is consistent with the previous cover, may not grab the attentions of readers not familiar with the previous work.

Zafon says of the two novels, "if Shadow of the Wind is the nice, good girl in the family, The Angel’s Game would be the wicked gothic stepsister." Set again in Barcelona and described by some as a prequel to its predecessor, The Angel’s Game follows successful writer David Martin as he is made the offer of a lifetime: to write a book unlike any other in exchange for a handsome fortune.

But before I dip my literary toes into The Angel’s Game, I look forward to reading A.S. Byatt’s newest, The Children’s Book, which beat Ruiz to the honorary top of the pile by being released first. It has been described by those in the know as her best work since Possession (which in turn is arguably one of the best novels ever written) and ‘the most moving book I have read in thirty years’. This one is also about a writer, named Olive Wellwood, and is too a mystery of sorts.

And there is South African Alexandra Fuller’s The Legend of Colton H. Bryant, about which much has been written in the local press. Like her previous books (which have also been much praised and beg for their own readings), The Legend of Colton H. Bryant is as much an exploration of the boundaries of the genre of biography as it is the tale of a captivating young man who symbolises a nation’s greed. Fuller’s previous works are Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight and Scribbling the Cat.

PS: Although this one deserves an inclusion in this literary line-up, it is only due out later this year and so there is not much information available about it. Titled Her Fearful Symmetry, author Audrey Niffenegger of The Time Traveler’s Wife fame says her second novel is about two identical twins who test the boundaries of their bond. "Things get out of control, as you might imagine," she concludes.

Bookshelves and Bookends

2009-07-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a D.I.Y. project for your book collection at home, have a blank wall to spare and consider yourself handy with a piece of wood, why not take some inspiration from the Tier shelving unit by Hivemindesign, a design company from Brooklyn, New York.

For an eye catching and unusual way to keep your books upright, why not use some industrial equipment as a bookend. Or you can buy this one from Cool Material for $34 (R270).

The Hong Kong Bookshop Part I

2009-07-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

Walking the streets of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, I felt I was on a mission to find out what sort of book culture Hong Kong possesses. The bibliophile in me had visions of finding quaint little bookshops stocked with hand-selected titles, manned by well-read, knowledgeable staff and perhaps even laced with the smell of coffee brewing.

What I found was a city alive with vibrance and excitement about ... shopping. The malls are temples towards which those walking the overpopulated sidewalks are driven to worship. A chain of bookshops, called PAGEONE, is however only found in the bigger malls which house the likes of Gucci and Vivian Westwood. Of its three stores in Hong Kong, if I had to pick one, my favourite would be the one in Causeway Bay’s Time Square Mall. It has a clean, modernist look with fashionable white shelves and, if it’s volume you are after, you may have found heaven.

Readers are spoilt for choice with books that can only be acquired from specialty shops back home and I was particularly impressed by the shop’s well-stocked art, architecture and design sections. (PAGEONE also encompasses a publishing company of some great design books).

However, the shop is very commercial and the bestsellers at the moment are movie tie-in jackets, like The Reader, My Sister’s Keeper and Angels & Demons, and Bobbi Brown’s Makeup Manual. And, although it delivers aesthetically, it lacks atmosphere. What is needed are some chairs where readers can browse through books, take in the setting and relax.

At least there is a cup of coffee brewing in the overpriced coffee shop next door.

“Beauty is truth”

2009-05-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

The absurdly, and therefore aptly, named The Elegance of the Hedgehog is a meandering quest for beauty as only the French could do it. Driven by the poetic ruminations of a concierge in disguise and a twelve-year-old intellectual, the novel ranks as the very thing it explores – Art.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Publisher: Europa Editions / ISBN: 9781933372600 / Price: R230.00

"Beauty is truth, and truth beauty," an English poet named Keats once concluded his raptures about a Grecian urn. Yet, as even the Romantic poet knew, beauty is sometimes superficial and truth is sometimes ugly. The French, with their carefully styled Epicurean reputations, are far better placed to appreciate the subtleties of beauty, whether found in high art or in the inanities of everyday life.

The proof is in the latest prize-winning novel by Muriel Barbery. The Elegance of the Hedgehog, translated from the French L’élégance du hérisson, contends that the beauty of Art is, together with love and friendship, the only thing worth living for – and truth simply doesn’t come into it.

Renée is the widowed concierge of a fine hôtel particulier who plays her role with especial care, down to the bunions on her feet and her disregard for the building’s snooty inhabitants. Paloma is a twelve-year-old girl living on the fifth floor of the hôtel, whose first revelation to us is that she intends to commit suicide on her thirteenth birthday in a demonstration of the pervasiveness of her family’s materialism.

The novel is related through the alternating insights of these two characters, both of whom possess an uncommonly lucid intelligence, yet disguise it beneath their expected personas of brusque concierge and rebellious daughter. However, when Kakuro Ozu moves into the building the game is up. While Renée is revealed as the noblewoman she is, Paloma finds a place where she can fulfill her final wish to be herself.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog is a deceptively elegant masterpiece, one that meanders along between haphazard observations and musings but surprises with its dogged pursuit of the nature of beauty. It is, in essence and without exaggeration, that very thing it sets out to find.

If you enjoyed this book, you should read: the English translation of Muriel Babery’s first novel, Gourmet Raptures (to be published in 2009); The Mark of the Angel by Nancy Hudson; and Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier.

Meet and greet

2009-05-27T11:31:00.000-07:00

The world of books is populated by an assortment of characters (both on the printed page and off) that is impossible to categorise. But categorise it we at The Paperhouse Review will, in a manner befitting the peculiar culture that books inspire.

The Paperhouse Review is named after an exquisite little novel by Carlos Maria Dominguez, illustrated with all the reverence it deserves by Peter Sis. In The Paper House, books assume life. They become the ordering principle in the lives of bibliophiles; libraries are treated like dinner parties attended by old friends (and arch rivals) and there is a book to accompany every significant event. Although the petite novel tells about the dangers of allowing books such influence, it in no way deters, but only fuels, the reader’s lust for the bound form.

We at The Paperhouse Review want to share the peculiar culture of being a book lover with other book lovers. To cut to the heart of the matter, we want to fire in you the same awe we felt when we first opened up Domingues’ novel and reflected on a life ordered by books. There will be reviews and recommendations, features and essays, all on books and the culture they inspire. There will be links to our favourite sites and lists of our favourite books, as well as interviews with you and people like you. Join us as we throw caution to the wind and immerse ourselves in a world of books, à la The Paperhouse Review.