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A review by luluwoohoo
Adventures in Stationery: A Journey Through Your Pencil Case by James Ward
informative
slow-paced
2.5
Adventures In Stationery: A Journey Through Your Pencil Case by James Ward
☀️☀️⛅
A delightful concept I was keen to explore let down by dry writing and structural issues.
It's clear that Ward has some humour by the occasional quip thrown in at the end of a paragraph, which makes it all the more disappointing to find this book reads like a textbook. There is little creativity or nuance in the explanation of each item; rather, we're given a dry, factual play-by-play of its history with focus on patents and variations rather than what makes that specific item so special.
There are some interesting and enjoyable connections made within, like the fact that we have liquid paper corrector to thank for MTV, and why Scotch tape is called Scotch tape, but those gems of information were totally drowned out by the bland and repetitive facts.
Breaking the book up into chapters specific to each item(s) was smart but within chapters I struggled to understand the editorial choices. Ideas didn't flow logically into one another and many segues felt forced. The pictures throughout were wonderful but the book would have improved with more thoughtful use of them.
I really wanted to enjoy this but the style let down the small amount of interesting substance that could be mined from its pages.
☀️☀️⛅
A delightful concept I was keen to explore let down by dry writing and structural issues.
It's clear that Ward has some humour by the occasional quip thrown in at the end of a paragraph, which makes it all the more disappointing to find this book reads like a textbook. There is little creativity or nuance in the explanation of each item; rather, we're given a dry, factual play-by-play of its history with focus on patents and variations rather than what makes that specific item so special.
There are some interesting and enjoyable connections made within, like the fact that we have liquid paper corrector to thank for MTV, and why Scotch tape is called Scotch tape, but those gems of information were totally drowned out by the bland and repetitive facts.
Breaking the book up into chapters specific to each item(s) was smart but within chapters I struggled to understand the editorial choices. Ideas didn't flow logically into one another and many segues felt forced. The pictures throughout were wonderful but the book would have improved with more thoughtful use of them.
I really wanted to enjoy this but the style let down the small amount of interesting substance that could be mined from its pages.
"Is the perceived quality of these notebooks just an example of the placebo effect? We think they're better than their rivals just because we think they're made by Italian artisans and when we discover they're mass-produced in China, we assume the worst? The irony is that people assume 'made in China' suggests poor quality, but China is essentially the birth place of paper and for centuries led the world when it came to paper production."