Paper is patient

Paper: An Elegy by Ian Sansom
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Elegy for paper - very difficult task.
I respect the author for taking the challenge and all hard work. Unfortunately, at least in my case, he lost.
Already at the start of the first chapter I raised brows - idyllic description how paper was produced from the bark of mulberry tree... in Japan.
It puzzled me, I always thought that paper was a Chinese invention. Two pages later my thoughts were confirmed. Yes - China was a correct answer. So why Japan in the opening paragraph?
Another big and unexpected surprise - I was used to the idea, that paper is made from trees. The opening phrases about mulberry tree confirmed my view, and then a shock - at the beginning of XIX century there were problems with paper production because of shortage of rags.
Rags? There is no mention in the book since when and why rags were used for paper production.
Someone may say I that I am picking on the author.
Well, the problem is, that the book contains hundreds of associations of various events and writings. Majority of them unknown (and irrelevant) to me. I read them with some reserve - what for are they in the book? In many cases I got impression, that only to demonstrate author's knowledge and writing skills.
And again to the facts. Author mentions book burning in Nazi Germany in May 1933. He mentions some authors whose books were burnt.
Among them - Thomas Mann.
WRONG! These were books of his brother Heinrich.
Another point - author devoted few pages to the 1937 Munich agreement signed by Chamberlain and Hitler. Why just this, and only this, document has been treated in such detail?
Similarly, there is quite elaborate story about building of Natural History Museum in London. It ends with a conclusion - paper made it possible. Same conclusion as in the previous case.

View all my reviews