City of Dreaming Books - Walter Moers

Where Our Story Begins

It is with considerable trepidation that I must report to you, Dear Reader, on a subject of considerable interest to us both. One in which I must take the less fortunate role of literary critic and you the enviable position of connoisseur of exquisite literature. A great master of the quill has returned from the deepest catacombs of Zamonia to write of his miserable and horrid adventures beneath the city of Bookholm, the so called "City of Dreaming Books". A word of warning comes early, proceed if you dare.

In this epic tale, we, both reader and writer, are beckoned into the pages of a world filled with the depravities of society's addictions. We will recognize the city for its many coffee shops, its diversity of culture, and of course, its book stores which are too numerous to count. We will not recognize the mysterious forces pushing us forward, pushing us to turn each page, as we ourselves join in a grand quest to discover the city's greatest addiction. We will not recognize the deepest and darkest of the catacombs we will encounter as we consume the drug in its purest form--its written form, until it is too late. It is the drug of William Shakespeare, of Leo Tolstoy, of Herman Melville, and, of course, Edgar Allan Poe. We are powerless in its grip.

Our narrator also finds us ill equipped for a journey that spans centuries of writing including most genres with a sprinkle of the fantastical, the subterranean, and the extra-terrestrial as well. Our master teaches us the most difficult tricks of the literary craft as well as the more human tricks of treachery and deceit. Our skin will crawl as we venture deeper into the blackest and most gruesome areas of our mind, searching for the words to describe our fear, but which the master has already defined for us so well. We feel our hearts race as we whip endlessly on a rollercoaster though a labyrinth of time, searching for a way out, and a meaning behind it all. In a place where books dream, shadows cry, and the most frightening of creatures become our friends we learn how to channel the mysterious energy within us. Will we fight through this darkness until we find our own energy to climb back towards the civilization of great literature, or will we be hurled endlessly back into the abyss of despair and crappy writing? This, oddly, is where our story begins.

Walter Moers has created a tremendous fantasyland for all book lovers to call home, Bookholm, "The City of Dreaming Books". Read this story, you will not be disappointed, and you will become a better writer.

Imaginative, whimsical and scathing!

Fantastic book. Beautiful language. Original. Not only is it a work of astounding imagination and sparkling whimsy, but it's also a scathing satire on all things literary. Full of the darkest sort of humor, no one is spared -- not writers, critics, editors, agents, booksellers, or readers. As a writer myself, I found it hilarious, poignant, uplifting and humbling, all at once. It's also a rollicking good tale!

lost in the literary world

The City of Dreaming Books is a fable about life in the world of literature set in a world that revolves around writing, publishing, and book-collecting (and to a lesser extent, reading). Because all Moer's characters are animals of one fantastic sort or another, I wanted to describe his book as an allegory. However, I couldn't discover a thematic message (unless it's "all that matters is finishing the Bloody Book").

Nevertheless, Dreaming Books is a pleasant read. Stylistically it is light-hearted adult fantasy, similar in tone and touch to Salmon Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Puffin Books). The story itself is most reminiscent of Flaubert's first story, Bibliomania, the prototypical tale about the excesses of book collecting. But since you'll never find a copy of Bibliomania, try be satisfied with this book.

Magical!

Like another reviewer, I was initially attracted by the cover art. I don't read much fantasy, but this story pulled me in from page one. It is beautifully written, every word pitch perfect. It's an amazing book and truly a masterpiece. I laughed, I cried, I couldn't put it down. But although it's a fantasy story, it's really for adults who love books. I think a younger reader wouldn't really "get" it. I actually don't want to read other books by this author right away, because I don't want to ruin this perfect experience.

If you write something drunk, be sure to read it over the next morning...

That is just one of the nuggets of writerly wisdom imparted to young Optimus Yarnspinner on his journey through the labyrinths of Bookholm. One of the things that makes 'City of Dreaming Books' so special is that is a book about writing, at least in a sense, and the story is especially germane to aspiring writers and hardcore bibliophiles.

Did I mention the narrator is a dinosaur? The entire book is insane, informed by a sense of humor that is totally bizarre. Or that there is a mysterious Shadow King who dances balefully in a castle of fossilized books. How about an interlude with a Lovecraftian monster blowing snot all over the place. And all the diatribes about silly authors of Zamoria, most of them anagrams of actual writers that are fun to parse out. And very much more. This book is a rare and wonderful treat, my only complaint is I wish Mr. Moers should had translated the rest of Yarnspinner opus 'Tales of a Sentimental Dinosaur' instead of simply the opening chapter.