Reviews - Xerox | The StoryGraph

296 reviews for:

Xerox

Fien Veldman

3.4 AVERAGE

brownflopsy's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A customer service representative spends long hours alone in her tiny office. Lonely and isolated from her colleagues she confides her hopes and dreams to the office printer, and he seems to be the only one that really listens.

When her odd behaviour results in her being sent home on leave to 'recover from being stressed and overworked', the separation from her beloved printer hits her hard. She is determined to find a way for them to be reunited.

This quirky little story of girl-meets-printer is one of those strange books that somehow works, despite its weird premise. The story unfurls through a mix of narratives, largely from the point of view of our unnamed customer service protagonist, who flips between detailing the grinding tedium of an office job that plays on her anxiety issues, and reminiscing about sinister episodes from her childhood which give intriguing insight into her alienation from the world at large. Veldman also throws in a few enlightening snippets from other office based characters later in the story, including from the printer himself, and a compelling mystery about an enigmatic parcel.

The story is surprisingly emotional. You find yourself rooting for the lonely young woman, and longing for the unlikely couple to find a way back to each other in the face of pretty weighty obstacles on the job and personal fronts. There are some lovely threads about how the change in her work situation gives her the courage to turn her world around, and Veldman incorporates entertaining pitch black humour to the piece.

Veldman also touches on fascinating subjects in parallel with the off-beat romance, through the musings of the characters: capitalism, poverty, coming of age, office and sexual politics, and of course, the problem of loneliness in modern society, are all explored in the most thought provoking ways.

Beautifully translated by Hester Velmans, I thoroughly enjoyed this strange, and satisfying story.

edulaia's review against another edition

3.5

emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Ein Buch über einen Bullshit Job, Burnout und die Freundschaft mit einem Drucker. Besonders der letzte Aspekt macht das Buch zu etwas Besonderem.
Alles was nicht so mit dem Drucker zu tun hat hätte es nicht unbedingt gebraucht.

adraper2323's review against another edition

5.0

“It’s only human to be constantly looking for something good, but rarely be able to find it.”

This was such an unexpected treat! From the description, I thought it was a girl-printer romance and wanted to read it for the shock value. This book ended up being not that and so much more. It was a slice of life story that dealt with the difficulty of anxiety and made poignant commentary about society.

It was beautifully written and so unique and odd in the best way possible. I could fill a notebook with all the highlights I have from this book.

Needless to say, I highly recommend Hard Copy. I hope people are able to past what it appears to be in order to find the richness within.

miamon's review against another edition

2.75

funny reflective slow-paced

dawndeydusk's review against another edition

2.75

fast-paced

This was… okay? I felt similarly about Convenience Store Woman by Murata. Adore the concept but the execution felt a bit flat for me. A lot of kind of half-baked ideas. I’m all for musings and streams of consciousness, but this felt to me a bit like a ‘paper doll story’. The paper dolls are connected, sure, but they’re still made of paper, and they start to blend into one another over time. If you fold them over on top of each other, not much changes other than the opacity which is negligible.