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The House of Paper (Hardcover)

~ Carlos Maria Dominguez (Author), Peter Sis (Illustrator), Nick Caistor (Translator) "One day in the spring of 1998, Bluma Lennon bought a secondhand copy of Emily Dickinson's poems in a bookshop in Soho, and as she..." (more)
Key Phrases: Buenos Aires, The Shadow-Line, Carlos Brauer (more...)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Uruguayan novelist and critic Domínguez's book-obsessed homage to Argentinian great Borges is a sweet miss. A devastatingly beautiful Conrad scholar, Bluma Lennon is killed by a car while crossing a street near Cambridge University while holding a copy of Emily Dickinson's poems. Several weeks later, the narrator, one of Bluma's several lovers, receives a copy of Joseph Conrad's The Shadow-Line in the mail. There's no letter, but the postmark is Uruguay; the book is inscribed by Bluma to "Carlos"—and it is encrusted with portland cement. The unnamed narrator sets out for Montevideo to discover its secret. The rest of the plot, in which Borges-as-author figures, is predictably book-centered, with plenty of travel and metaphysical musing. It is amiable and sincere in its desire to add its voice to the master's by revisiting some of his settings (including Buenos Aires) and subjects (Quixote, collecting, love, time and death). But it falls short of Borges's own takes and is thus hard to read as more than a love letter. With 11 two-color illustrations by Peter Sís, the book is fun and sad in the right spots, but one never gets a fiendish enough sense of Domínguez's own obsessions or his desire to plot them. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Some bibliophiles become so ensnared in their passion that books would seem to become the very rooms and rooftops of their lives. This seems literally to be the case for the elusive Carlos Brauer, a South American who mailed a cement-caked book to Cantabrigian professor Bluma Lennon, only to have it arrive after shed died in a pedestrian accident while reading from a volume of Emily Dickinson. The actual book in which this part-parable, part-odyssey unfolds is itself a model of what the characters agree a fine book should be: well-spaced and clearly printed lines, well-made paper, clever but infrequent illustrations, and a narrative that begs to be treated as a living, flesh-and-blood interlocutor. Its very brevity allows bright and biblioholic teen readers the opportunity to see a literary joke through–which is not to say a slight or insubstantial bit of literary twaddle–from setup to close. Dominguez references a variety of authors with whom college-prep students will be familiar and shows off a sprightly interpretation of South American magical realism. This would make an excellent suggestion for formal summer reading.–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 112 pages
  • Publisher: Harcourt (November 7, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0151011478
  • ISBN-13: 978-0151011476
  • Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #771,958 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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More About the Author

Carlos María Domínguez
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One day in the spring of 1998, Bluma Lennon bought a secondhand copy of Emily Dickinson's poems in a bookshop in Soho, and as she reached the second poem on the first street corner, she was knocked down by a car. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Buenos Aires, The Shadow-Line, Carlos Brauer, Emily Dickinson
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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
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3 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Gift, December 24, 2005
By DS (Manhattan) - See all my reviews
This small novel is big in spirit and imagination. Beautifully illustrated and delightfully translated, it is a cautionary tale of a bibliophile who moves into his obsession. Its Kafka meets Conrad literary devices are splendid. But they do keep the tale cerebral-- leaving the reader to find their own emotional reaction and provoking an exploration of one's devotions, life and loves. That is this little story's big gift.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars "To build up a library is to create a life.", November 15, 2005
This short literary novel explores themes which academicians have discussed for generations--the relationship between reality and language, the belief that creating a library is akin to creating a life, the idea that books can take on a life of their own, and the obsessive collection of books and reverence for them. Creating an allegory of the literary world and its complications, Dominguez tells what appears to be a simple story--part mystery, part satire, and part quest.

When Bluma Lennon, a professor at Cambridge and a Joseph Conrad scholar, is hit by a car while crossing the street, she had been reading Emily Dickinson. Several months later, a copy of Conrad's The Shadow Line, coated in cement, arrives at her former address from "Carlos," a man she had met at a conference in Latin America. The unnamed narrator of the story, originally from Buenos Aires (as was Jorge Luis Borges), returns to Buenos Aires and eventually travels to Montevideo in search of Carlos Brauer, a former lover of Bluma, and the owner of an extraordinary collection of books.

As the narrator travels to meet scholars and antiquarian book sellers, he acquires additional information about Brauer, who has apparently gone mad. After accidentally setting the index of his books on fire and being unable to find anything in his weirdly organized collection, he moves to the sea and builds a house from bricks pressed from the waterlogged books in his collection. Conrad's The Shadow Line, the book he has returned to Bluma, is obviously from this damaged collection, and the symbolism of this book and its themes of a man's rejection of his youthful illusions, the belief in the sea as a healer, and the search for self-knowledge help explain Brauer's life.

Though the novel is carefully written, its self-consciously literary approach and its use of allegory and satire keep the attention on the intellectual, rather than emotional, level. The themes dominate the novel, and the reader must constantly ask what the unfolding events mean or represent as the parallels and conflicts between "real life" and the life of books unfold. Characters are more symbolic than real, and their behavior often becomes a satire of their academic lives. Erudite and clever, the novel exists on its own terms, rather than through any emotional connection with the reader, and it sometimes feels ponderous. n Mary Whipple
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Bibliomania at its literary best, December 1, 2005
This novella begins with a singular example of how books change people's fates. Bluma Lennon, an academic, is killed as she steps from a sidewalk immersed in a volume of Emily Dickinson's poems. Her nameless replacement, the narrator of the story, receives by mail a copy of Joseph Conrad's The Shadow-Line, encrusted in cement, and inscribed to a certain Carlos, whose last name is Brauer, as is later discovered. Wishing to return the book to its sender, the narrator embarks on a quest to find him, and is ultimately led to Delgado, who recounts his tale.

Brauer is a bibliomania in its purest sense, and his library, which overtook his first house, rules his life. The only thing that allows him to command his books is the index he created, which burns in an accidental fire and leaves him at a loss to find anything. He despairs and begins his descent into madness, selling his abode and creating another which uses his precious books as bricks. Delgado does not finish the story, and the narrator is left on his own to uncover the rest.

The House of Paper is a book by, for, and about book lovers. Dominguez describes from experience how the passion for reading is all-engrossing, in literal and figurative ways. When rendered inaccessible, they lose their meaning and purpose, which is to enhance the human experience. Without that, they could only serve in a utilitarian way, for their sheer physicality.

This slim volume, ornamented with delightful illustrations, is a wonderful read, particularly if you find yourself afflicted, even if mildly, by bibliophilia.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Is reading books dangerous? *
This week, I spent one afternoon reading The House of Paper, by the Argentinean writer Carlos Maria Dominguez. It took only one afternoon. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Ladyce West

4.0 out of 5 stars Love, obsession and books
A little gem of a book, revolving around love not only of the written word, but of the compact, paper-bound package that it comes in. Read more
Published 21 months ago by JustinWrites

3.0 out of 5 stars Self-conscious parable
Unlike several of the reviewers preceding me, I was less than satisfied with this book. It is a serious, funny and creative study in bibliophilia run awry, in the nature of the... Read more
Published on June 12, 2007 by M. J. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this little book!
A short, fun story. Makes you think twice about
additions to your library!!
Published on July 28, 2006 by Reader from Texas

5.0 out of 5 stars "You are what you eat..."
Uruguay's Carlos Maria Dominguez has written a wonderful little book in THE HOUSE OF PAPER. I rate this up with the very best of those works dwelling between a novel and a short... Read more
Published on June 29, 2006 by John Conner

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect book for the bibliomaniac
I was absolutely and utterly charmed by this small book (103 small pages, with illustrations)about one man's attempt to discover why a recently deceased professor of literature at... Read more
Published on December 15, 2005 by Margaret Dybala

4.0 out of 5 stars A Charming Novella About a Passion for Books and Reading
Professor Bluma Lennon of Cambridge University is struck and killed by an automobile as she crosses a Soho street reading a book of Emily Dickinson poetry. Read more
Published on December 9, 2005 by Steve Koss

5.0 out of 5 stars "A reader is a traveler through a ready-made landscape."
When Bluma Lennon is struck by a car and killed while reading a second-hand copy of Emily Dickinson's poems, everyone agrees that "books change people's destinies". Read more
Published on November 8, 2005 by Luan Gaines

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