Another intriguing title led me to pick up The City of Dreaming Books, by Walter Moers.
Optimus Yarnspinner is a Lindworm (that is, a dinosaur) living in the fantasy world of Zamonia. His godfather dies, leaving behind a manuscript so well written that it brings everyone who reads it to tears. The last known whereabouts of the manuscript’s mysterious author is Bookholm, known as “the city of dreaming books”, an immense metropolis where literature is loved above all else. An encounter with a villainous bookseller lands Optimus in the endless labyrinth of deadly libraries below the city, where he must find a way to survive and escape.
This is without a doubt one of the most unique books I’ve read! The description and illustrations inside make it appear to be aimed at children, but it’s written as an adult-level book. The world of Zamonia is fantastical, with dinosaurs and talking animals living alongside the occasional human, and magical monsters with bizarre shapes and even more bizarre abilities. It feels very much like Alice in Wonderland, or Roald Dahl, or maybe even a grown-up Dr Seuss.
The illustrations are a unique touch. The book is filled with hundreds of black and white pen illustrations of characters and objects (mostly books, of course!), drawn by the author himself. Moers’ attention to detail is amazing!
The original book was written in German, and the translator did an excellent job adapting it into English. Considering the length and academic-type content (there’s a whole course worth of material for Fantasy Literature Analysis 101), it must have been a monumental task. Kudos to translator John Brownjohn for a nice adaptation!
The book isn’t perfect, as there are occasional stretches that are slow and dull, but overall I enjoyed this story. It’s definitely an interesting experience that I won’t soon forget! By the way, in case you’re wondering about the title, it’s explained that a book sitting on a shelf is asleep and dreaming, waiting for the day when it will be picked up and read again.
Cover Report: The cover has a background of hundreds of shelved and stacked books of all sizes and shapes. Near the bottom is an opening, where a strange creature with an eyestalk reads from an open book. The cover gives a clear idea of the importance that books will have in the story, as well as giving a glimpse of the fantasy creatures within. I give this cover a solid A!
Typo Police: I was unsure about finding typos here, because the language is very old-timey British (which adds to the Alice in Wonderland vibe). I suspected that any supposed misspellings I found would actually be correct, just weird to my eyes. One such word was “swingeing”, which I thought was a typo of “swinging”, but it turns out that it’s actually a word. I also noticed that they used the plural words “cyclopses” and “syllabuses” instead of what I believe is more properly “cyclopes” and “syllabi”. But I suppose that could be one of those situations where both are considered correct.
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