The House of Paper is a novella by Carlos María Domínguez, and it opens with a woman who buys a book of poetry by Emily Dickinson. She then gets hit by a car and killed while she’s reading and walking down the street. That happens on page 1. The next few pages highlight other people whose fate was intertwined with a book, and moves into a discussion of book collecting and the struggles of storing a huge collection of beloved books.
It’s really too short of a read to tell you much more about the plot – I think it’s much better to just dive in and discover it for yourself. But it continues the theme of how the love of books and reading impacts our lives. It also evolves into a bit of a mystery: a quest for answers to questions raised by a copy of a book that falls into the hands of our narrator. His quest takes him across oceans and into the realm of book obsession. It also includes beautiful illustrations by the wonderful Peter Sís. Here’s one of them:
I first heard about The House of Paper in a review posted by Wordman. It’s a lovely, quick read, and I recommend it to fellow bookworms. It’s sort of like a fairy tale for bookish people.
Interesting you should read this now as I just started reading ‘The Shadow Line’ mentioned in ‘The House of Paper’. I say interesting because I have been trying to recall in which book I read about Shadow Line. Thanks, now I don’t have to go searching – I like your summation for ‘The House of Paper’: “a fairy tale for bookish people.” Spot-on Emily!
What perfect timing! Happy to have helped you identify the book source of The Shadow Line. Looking forward to hearing what you think of it – reading The House of Paper made me curious about it as well.
This sounds amazing! Definitely something I want to read. Thanks so much! I’m adding it to my TBR list right now.
So glad to hear this! I hope you enjoy it too!
Ooh this sounds delightful and it just might be the book to get me out of my fiction slump! My public library has it so I just requested a copy be sent to me. I can hardly wait!
I’m so glad your library had a copy – that’s awesome! Mine did too – I was very happy. I hope you enjoy it!!
This sounds so simple and lovely, and that illustration is fantastic.
Simple and lovely is a great summary – it is! A little treat for book lovers.