October Book Reviews
Chloe Blades from Unity Books with her reading recommendations.
If you’re reading this you’re a lover of books (and fashion). As am I. As a judge at this years PANZ Book Design Awards my appreciation for the process of creating a book, rather than simply reading them, reached new heights. I was able to read the notes from the designer’s brief and skim the pages and judge purely on aesthetic. I wanted to pay homage here to four of the titles on the shortlist (I already reviewed Rewi, otherwise that would be here too) that will undoubtedly pave the way for New Zealand designers to be recognised as world-leaders in book design.
The Lost Hours by Laurence Simmons (Six Point Press, $75) Coming Soon
At the PANZ design workshop there was an invigorating discussion on ‘What Is A Book?’, chaired by Massey University student Thomas Cumming, who runs 12am press. You could interrogate The Lost Hours to answer that question, because yes it looks like a book but it’s also a boundary-pushing work of art. The exposed binding is protected by one of four coloured covers, and its white and black paper divides it into day and night. The book itself portrays the 28 hours McCahon disappeared for after visiting the Botanical Gardens in Sydney on the eve of his 1984 major retrospective, ‘I Will Need Words’. He was later found disoriented 5 miles away in Centennial Park. Tāmaki Makaurau artist John Reynolds has reimagined those lost hours, creating a “pedestrian philosophy of walking” through art, in a series called “Walk With Me”. And it is breathtaking.
The Chair Curated by Kim Paton (Object Space, $45)
I hadn’t given too much thought to the humble chair before I saw this book, but now every time I see a chair I look at it and wonder what’s your story? There are 110 chairs in this book, all designed and made in Aotearoa, spanning the earliest documented period of local production in the 1800s through to the 3D printing technology of today. What’s so fabulous is how the chair is used as a device to navigate stories that offer insight into untold parts of Aotearoa’s history. From the whalers of Russell and the modernist era to the limited access to materials, this book pays tribute to the talents of New Zealand designers; designers of both books and chairs. There are 26 writers who have uniquely anthropomorphised and given life to these chairs, and upon closer inspection, you’ll notice these stories are formatted to look like a chair. When the four judges dissected this book we agreed that “every detail is a thoughtful nod to the chair’s essence, making this book a masterful blend of form and content.” You won’t be able to look at a chair the same way again.
Lucy and the Dark by Melinda Szymanik (Puffin, $21)
This glow-in-the-dark book is a sweet introduction to the dark for toddlers who might be afraid of it. Lucy meets the dark for the first time after her Mum takes her nightlight away. At first dark is sad because everyone’s afraid of him, but Lucy quickly realises that Dark isn’t that scary after all. They become friends and set off on an out-of-this-world adventure, where dark is taken away from earth making it perpetually light. The world soon realises how much they miss and need the dark after their ecosystem is interrupted, and dark learns that he is needed and appreciated after all. There are some shocking kids books out there that my toddler insists we read every night, and I’ve tried my best to “lose” them, but somehow they return to his room like a reoccurring nightmare. But Lucy and the Dark is one that I could read every night for the rest of the year. Not least because I have a penchant for pages made out of top-notch paper in a kids book but the story is easy to read and beautifully simple in illustrating its point. It’s a calm way to teach the younger children around you the importance of the dark and why they need not be afraid.
Past the Tower Under the Tree: Twelve Stories of Learning in Community by Balamohan Shingade & Erena Shingade (GLORIA, $38)
This book is the epitome of the phrase “good things come in small packages”. It’s smaller than your average paperback, uniquely crafted, and even though it won Best Non-Illustrated Book there are a few grainy photographs and artworks throughout. This bold package of a book explores the parameters of what education looks like outside of the traditional classroom lined with chairs and uniforms. It has essays from twelve artists and activists who show us a version of education that came from their community, where life experiences acted as lessons and a unique kind of teacher. There’s an essay from poet Dominic Hoey, for example, talking about writing rap “before Auckland was a Möet bottle filled with piss and landlord offspring,” and another from Catherine Delahunty on one relationship that “formed on the front lines of protest…in the village of Umangawha Colville in Hauraki during the 1980s, when multinational gold miners showed up”. It makes for a multifaceted reading experience, one that will bring memories to the forefront of experiences that shaped you. GLORIA press should be celebrated too, as a two-woman intercontinental publishing platform that acts as a research facility exploring a multidisciplinary approach to publishing.
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