Stationery In Fiction

[Poetman]

My apologies if this fits better in a other forum...I am hoping others might be able to recommend their favorite books where stationery features heavily.

 

Which novels have scenes where pens, stationery, or typewriters have significant prominence?

[Arcadian]

Definitely the novels by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Not so much stationery perhaps, but pens, typewriters, the desire to write and the love of books are heavily and wonderfully featured.

 

And they are bloody good reading, too!

 

 

- P.

[goodpens]

Definitely the novels by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Not so much stationery perhaps, but pens, typewriters, the desire to write and the love of books are heavily and wonderfully featured.

 

And they are bloody good reading, too!

 

 

- P.

+1. I have the 4th/final novel in the SHADOW OF THE WIND series on my nightstand.

 

Also:

 

POSSESSION by A.S. Byatt

 

GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

 

GRIFFIN AND SABINE by Nick Bantock

 

... and there may be another thread in Chatter that addresses this.

Edited June 19, 2020 by goodpens

[AAAndrew]

In Jane Austen's books, letters play a significant role.

[txomsy]

BTW, Carlos Ruiz Zafón passed away yesterday.

 

Bartleby the scrivener, by Herman Melville?

 

I'd call that the epitome of this topic.

 

The Library of Babel, by Jorge Luis Borges, is another interesting one.

[rluka]

If language is not a problem, there is a comic series by Aako Fujiwara, titled Serious Princess and Stationery Prince (きまじめ姫と文房具王子). 4 volumes so far.

It's a slice of life drama of stationery geeks.

Volume 1 if I remember correctly, are writing tools (pen, notebook, eraser, correction fluid)

Volume 2 the theme is designer stationery (including cutter knife, book cover, digital stationery)

Volume 3 is about older Asian stationery.

Volume 4 I haven't read yet, but it should be about inks and colours, and paper too.

 

Plenty of product placement, but also touches the story behind those products or company.

Edited June 20, 2020 by rluka

[johnsi02]

If you're into fantasy novels, The Paper Magician series by Charlie N Holmberg features lots of paper. Above average for writing quality, I enjoyed them.

[ENewton]

If language is not a problem, there is a comic series by Aako Fujiwara, titled Serious Princess and Stationery Prince (きまじめ姫と文房具王子). 4 volumes so far.

It's a slice of life drama of stationery geeks.

Volume 1 if I remember correctly, are writing tools (pen, notebook, eraser, correction fluid)

Volume 2 the theme is designer stationery (including cutter knife, book cover, digital stationery)

Volume 3 is about older Asian stationery.

Volume 4 I haven't read yet, but it should be about inks and colours, and paper too.

 

Plenty of product placement, but also touches the story behind those products or company.

 

How interesting! I wonder whether I can get these through my local Kinokuniya shop.

[welch]

Ernest Hemingway, in his "A Movable Feast", brags about his poverty, his writing in cafes, and his pencils and notebooks. He tells us that he is frugal by using a pencil sharpener rather than whittling a point with his knife. This is being a real writer, he suggests.

[Addertooth]

Some more contemporary examples with old classical typewriters...

 

"The Shining": All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

"Misery": with examples (within the book) of the manuscript shown, where they typewriter had missing keys.

[flyingfox]

If language is not a problem, there is a comic series by Aako Fujiwara, titled Serious Princess and Stationery Prince (きまじめ姫と文房具王子). 4 volumes so far.

It's a slice of life drama of stationery geeks.

Volume 1 if I remember correctly, are writing tools (pen, notebook, eraser, correction fluid)

Volume 2 the theme is designer stationery (including cutter knife, book cover, digital stationery)

Volume 3 is about older Asian stationery.

Volume 4 I haven't read yet, but it should be about inks and colours, and paper too.

 

Plenty of product placement, but also touches the story behind those products or company.

OMG I have been wanting to read them!!! I heard those mangas are fantastic. If it was not for the whole COVID-19 crisis, I was planning to go to Tokyo, and was hoping to find them at a local Book Off (used-bookstore chain) LOL. Kinokuniya would be pricey, but I should check Book Off in NYC...

 

 

Re. OP, among contemporary novel, diary plays a big role in Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (second one in Illuminae series.)

 

In Anne of Green Gables series, there are many scenes in which characters are writing/ receiving letters. There is also a legendary scene involving a tablet!