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A review by ellejaoy
Memory Palace by Hari Kunzru, Robert Frank Hunter
5.0
When I went to the V&A exhibition of this I was fascinated but way too tired to really appreciate the words on the walls and the real meaning behind it, so I bought the book.
It's a quick read but I found it harrowing. This is my first time reading any Kunzru and his writing lifts off the page. The world he creates, in so few words, is memorising yet a little terrifying and for me, definitely confusing in a really great way. My sympathies changed several times throughout the book. I understand the main aim of 'the Thing' - getting back to nature- but at the same time understand the plight of people wanting to remember everything.
There is one particular scene near the end which is especially moving as throughout it (and it's quite short) my mind was jumping around like crazy, thinking of how we treat the world today and how we live our lives. The flower child in me found this book to be a truly amazing experience and really made an impression on me.
Aside from the writing, the illustrations are fantastic and give a good, but not perfect, view into what the exhibition was like. There is one particular real life model that is shown on page 18 & 19 that is quite possibly one of the most impressive wooden artworks I've ever seen. I could of spent hours staring at it.
If you get a chance to go to the V&A, I definitely recommend both seeing the exhibition, playing around with the memory posters & buying this book!
It's a quick read but I found it harrowing. This is my first time reading any Kunzru and his writing lifts off the page. The world he creates, in so few words, is memorising yet a little terrifying and for me, definitely confusing in a really great way. My sympathies changed several times throughout the book. I understand the main aim of 'the Thing' - getting back to nature- but at the same time understand the plight of people wanting to remember everything.
There is one particular scene near the end which is especially moving as throughout it (and it's quite short) my mind was jumping around like crazy, thinking of how we treat the world today and how we live our lives. The flower child in me found this book to be a truly amazing experience and really made an impression on me.
Aside from the writing, the illustrations are fantastic and give a good, but not perfect, view into what the exhibition was like. There is one particular real life model that is shown on page 18 & 19 that is quite possibly one of the most impressive wooden artworks I've ever seen. I could of spent hours staring at it.
If you get a chance to go to the V&A, I definitely recommend both seeing the exhibition, playing around with the memory posters & buying this book!