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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Had van mij nog een stapje verder mogen gaan, maar alsnog erg goed.
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
1.5 stars.
I didn't understand what the point of this book was at all. I mean, I live a pretty average day-to-day life, I don't need to read a book about a person who lives the same boring, average life as I do. There were several scenes about printing documents on a printer. What was the point of that? Boring me to death? When I read a book, I need a plot. And there was none in this book.
I didn't understand what the point of this book was at all. I mean, I live a pretty average day-to-day life, I don't need to read a book about a person who lives the same boring, average life as I do. There were several scenes about printing documents on a printer. What was the point of that? Boring me to death? When I read a book, I need a plot. And there was none in this book.
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Hard Copy is a novel about a young woman who makes friends with a printer, only to be separated from it. A customer service assistant at a startup spends her days printing in a little room, and talking to the printer. Unfortunately, her colleagues can hear these conversations, and she is placed on leave for burnout, where she is separated from her printer, and tries to look for purpose to her life.
This is the kind of book where the concept—"girl meets printer"—draws you in, and it does deliver on this, with a story of a protagonist who is obsessed with her work printer to give meaning to her tedious job, and a section that is from the perspective of the printer. The non-printer-narrated parts also explore her childhood in a working class area and how she might have come to be the anxious, stress-allergic person that she now is. There's a commentary on the modern world of work and the impact of class and status upon this that runs through the novel, with the absurd printer elements taking this in a slightly different direction to other books about an anxious narrator doing a tedious job.
Though I enjoyed reading Hard Copy, I found the ending was a bit disappointing, and generally I feel like the book, and especially the fourth section which comes after the part narrated by the printer, could've been much weirder, as the blurb felt like it was going to be. I'm sure some people will find the printer element weird enough, but for me, I felt like it could've delved deeper, and also maybe deconstructed the anxious narrator a bit more. Nonetheless, this sits nicely amongst absurd workplace novels that shine a light to modern life and books about millennials falling apart, so fans of those will probably enjoy it.
Not a comment on the quality of the book, I think I’m just over reading about anxious 20-somethings.