Enjoying a ‘girl meets printer’ book was not on my 2024 bingo card, but here we are. Engaging and witty and poignant and unexpected and I inhaled it in two sittings. Thought-provoking, with sprinkles of darkness, but not in an emotionally taxing way, just a lot of fun.

Really thought provoking read, quite unusual book!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my feedback.

What an odd and delightful little book! I was not expecting the chapter from the copier, but I thoroughly enjoyed his point of view. I would definitely love to read more translated works from the author!

If you are looking for. something a little bit different and a book that does not fit a typical genre, then this is the book for you to give a go.

This book follows a main character trapped in the monotony of a job she doesn’t love, finding solace only in her unusual attachment to a printer. She confides all her anxieties and haunted childhood memories to this inanimate object, her sole confidant. However, when her boss and coworkers catch her talking to the printer, they send her on leave. Separated from her "friend," she's forced to confront what really matters in life and face her fears head-on.

Though the premise is undeniably odd, the story is less outlandish than you'd expect. The slow, mundane details of the protagonist's life create a comforting, if peculiar, narrative. If you’re seeking a truly bizarre tale, this might fall short, but it still offers a unique, introspective journey.

Not sure where to begin with this book - I love anything a bit left of field or “different”, but unfortunately this was just a biiiiiit too much for me. I didn’t understand the relevance of the printer obsession, it just didn’t make sense though I kind of get how the author was trying to show the main character’s personality and loneliness through this relationship. Unfortunately not for me!!

On the surface, it’s girl meets printer. On a deeper level, it's a metaphor for capitalism.

See, I get that every single character in this novel being nameless is a metaphor for capitalism because working in a capitalist society that sees you as just another cog in the machine will rob you of your identity, steal your time and energy, and sap you of your creativity, making you just another mindless drone.

I get that a young woman entering a deeply intimate yet platonic relationship with a printer is a metaphor for capitalism because in a hell hole of a society bent on constant optimisation and continuous profit-seeking, genuine human relationships are impossible since they become yet another commodity and are measured in gain and return.

I get that the nameless protagonist spending half the novel chasing after a package that, in the end, is still left unopened is a metaphor because late-stage capitalism has us perform meaningless jobs, that contribute virtually nothing to society, to instil the impression of productivity and protestant work ethic.

I get all that, and in a novel less intent on cramming so many topics and themes into a mere 250 pages, I can even see some of these metaphors working beautifully, even if they’re a bit on the nose (which hasn’t stopped one or two reviewers from still missing the point by miles). But Hard Copy doesn’t stop there. Somehow, it also wants to tackle the lie of social upward mobility, misogyny in and outside the workplace, violence against women, classism, and violence as an immediate result of being forced to stay in poverty.

Thusly, the main protagonist not only comes from a working-class background, but she also experienced childhood negligence, was acquaintances with a girl who was raped and as a result became pregnant when they were teenagers, encountered teenage gang violence, and faces continuous covert and overt misogyny at the workplace.

Naturally, there are thousands and thousands of women out there in the real world who exist at and live in these intersectional margins that influence their identity and sense of self, so writing a character who is similarly complex, thereby calling attention to the very real issues too many women from disadvantaged backgrounds face, should not be the issue here, on the contrary. But the novel just doesn’t manage to braid these different strands into a cohesive narrative.

I don’t have much to say about the writing style (which I can’t properly judge anyway since I didn’t read the novel in the original but Hester Velman's translation) except that there was this one passage:

"People swat fruit flies, but even fruit flies have nightmares (and good dreams too, as it happens: even a fly needs to escape reality)."

which heavily reminded me of Shirley Jackson’s opening sentence of The Haunting of Hill House

"No live organism can continue for long to exist under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream."

All chapters are told from the nameless protagonist’s perspective except for one chapter towards the end of the book in which the printer takes over and tells its story. On the one hand, it’s unique to give an inanimate object a voice and let it tell a story but on the other hand, Challengers (2023) gave us a tennis ball’s POV shot this year so, there’s that.

All in all, my reading experience was a rather unsatisfying one. I wish, I could have enjoyed this more.

As always, thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for granting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Though not quite living up to the advertised tagline of ‘girl meets printer’, this was intriguing and unique enough for me to keep reading. The capitalist machine numbs the unnamed central character, who talks to her printer to make her days at work more interesting. I did find myself tuning out at times, as it was written in a deliberately rambling style, and I’m not sure that the flashback/intertwined back story quite worked. Nonetheless, I’m glad I read it and would recommend to anyone who likes quirky lit fic.

2 stars

**Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.**

Basics
Author: (she/her) Netherlands
Language: translated from Dutch
Genre: fiction
Setting: corporate office, city
Themes: daily grind, mundanity, loneliness
Mood: irreverant, sarcastic

Memorable Quotes

"Anyway, the way I see it, since the human heart beats only by the grace of tiny electric shocks, we too are machines."

Pros
+ absurdist office setting with an anxious no-name drone MC
+ office worker loses her grip on reality
+ the MC has an unusual affinity for her printer
+ flashbacks about childhood (dark content)
+ comment on the modern worker

Neutral
/ Stream-of-consciousness

Cons
- this was MESSY, a near DNF
- the MC's thoughts devolve into pointless, inane ramblings
- I don't understand the point of this at all (beyond the mundanity of office work life)
- a big letdown

TW: r*pe and murder (off-page), animal death, fire setting, pedo man, child assault

Comp Recs: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Hard Copy by Fien Veldman is a very hard book to describe. It's been translated from Dutch by Hester Velmans and I find it difficult to critique translations... because you don't know how much of the writing style (whether good or bad) can be attributed to the writer or translator. Here for example, some of the phrasing is exquisite and I wonder if the original is equally as mesmerising? Having said that, there's something about this book that felt just out of reach. Was there a metaphor I was missing? Was I taking everything too literally? Was Veldman's style - by not giving our lead character (and most others) - a name and obliquely hinting at backstories before getting into them, simply too esoteric for me?

I couldn't quite get a read on our (nameless) lead character. I figured initially that she had her quirks and she tells us as much, but then she seems far more 'normal' than I expected; relatively socially active but just prefers keeping to herself at work. She's got a complicated past which she slowly shares with us - albeit in a stilted rather than fluid way.

I had assumed from the backcover blurb that her relationship with the office printer was going to be very weird. And though she has more than a usual attachment, it's easily explained and quite understandable.

Anyway, the way I see it, since the human heart beats only by the grace of tiny electric shocks, we too are machines. Human, animal, thing: they're all arbitrary distinctions....

... Why do people assume that there's only one reality, and why do we all have to submit to it? 45% through novel

In essence, our lead character talks to her printer almost as if she's talking to herself (I was reminded of people's habit of sharing thoughts on social media... not expecting a two-way interaction, something I do given I spend a lot of time alone), and she takes solace in the whirs and sounds made by the printer in response.

Little does she know she's closer to the truth than she realises. Because it gets even weirder as we're introduced to a new narrator... or perhaps not. Given the rise of AI and the like god only knows what other animals or 'things' (who are unable to communicate with us) are capable of.

I initially got bogged down in trying to work if there was some deeper (metaphorical) meaning here, such as the missing work package that is dismaying our lead character for much of the first part of the novel. No one else other than her seems to care about it, but she seems to feels judged by her colleagues for not having collected it. And when she does track it down it's with someone who seems to receive A LOT of missing packages and seemingly doles them out as they see fit.

Eventually however I decided to do what I do best and viewed this at a more literal level, rather than seeking nuances that might not be there.

And in that vein, this is ostensibly a beautifully-written narrative about a woman put on stress leave and then furloughed along with some colleagues. That said, this is more about the character and the live is she currently living, it's about her loneliness and how she punishes herself, continuing  to let her past influence her present life.

Life is only interesting if you can share it with someone. I never used to understand why people were so obsessed with relationships, but that was before I had one of my own. People used to say to me, 'Wait until you have someone,' and I'd want to strangle them. Now it seems they were right. Without my printer, half the world no longer exists.  45% through novel

I absolutely loved the writing in this book. Initially it felt overwhelming... there was so much detail, so much contemplation of the world around our protagonist, but I became enchanted by it. By our narrators' thoughts and perceptions. And yes... I did mean to use the plural version there because (as I mentioned) our nameless office worker is joined by another narrator part-way through this book. The switch might not have worked, but it did. This would have been a 4.5 star read for me but something about the end made me feel a little disenfranchised, though I can't clearly articulate why.

Never did I expect to enjoy a book where one of the perspectives is a printer! Veldman weaves the story of a woman who's obsessed with a very specific aspect of her job, it's the one thing she has control over: the printer. I tore through the choppy narration, and was totally absorbed by the minutiae of her office life - so utterly familiar. This books really strikes a chord if you've ever felt like your office job is like a panopticon. It's weird and wonderful, and the printer reciprocates her feelings! Perfect for fans of Halle Butler and Jen Beagin.

“Hard Copy” – Fien Veldman (translated from Dutch by Hester Velmans)

“If you have nothing in common with other people, then try being close to things: they will not desert you.”

My thanks to @netgalley and @headofzeus for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, published now!

Our unnamed narrator works in an office doing remedial tasks for minimal pay in a small company. She spends most of the day alone, the monotony only broken by her excursions out to find some misplaced package. All of her workplace interactions are awkward and tense, save those with the only permanent companion in her office – the printer.

Ok, so this book was marketed as something far weirder than it is, especially with the tagline “this is a story of girl meets printer”. There’s a relationship of sorts, sure, but what emerges is far closer to a workplace comedy of manners than anything obviously “out there” (for much of the book, at least), coupled with a look at smaller nuances of life in our times. Living near Barcelona, and coming from London, I like moments that show touristic wonder and delight in a place you often find dull as dishwater, a place where you must pay bills and deal with petty neighbours. I’ve never really worked in an office, but I can certainly also sympathize with the ungainly conversations with people at work who just don’t seem to relate.

It’s intriguing, but it didn’t hold my attention for long, especially towards the end where I realized this was going to be a book with a weird protagonist with a dark past that was not going to be fully resolved. It all just felt like less than the sum of its parts, and I was left wanting more than I got from the original premise in the blurb. Looking at other online reviews, I’m not the only one who feels like this.

In summary, this was marketed like “Boy Parts” but comes out more like “Convenience Store Woman”. Go in knowing that and you might enjoy it more than me.

This book isn't quite what I expected it to be!

The front cover and the blurb made me think this tale of office-worker-forms-a-relationship-with-printer would be more comedic, but it's actually quite an insular and quietly thoughtful mediation on past trauma and burnout.

While it had nothing too unique to say on either subject, I did still really enjoy Hard Copy - it reminded me a lot of Convenience Store Woman. The decision to not name the protagonist or any of the other characters keeps the reader at a distance - a distance that could have started to feel a little drier if the book was longer, but Veldman knew exactly where to stop.

This would have been a four star for me, but I have to round it down to 3.5 because I came away from it wanting just a touch more substance.

Hard Copy by Fien Veldman, translated by Hester Velmans is billed as a story of a woman falling in love with a printer, but is actually something much more than that.

Our unnamed narrator whiles away the hours at her mundane office job by chatting - out loud - to her one true love, the printer. He senses her moods, reacts to her upsets and relishes in her joys. Unfortunately, when her co-workers overhear these deep, meaningful chats they assume she’s misusing the company phone and she ends up being sent off on furlough.

In this time away from work, she wrestles with her place in the world. Is it the printer she misses, or the glimmer of an identity her role at the company gave her? Who is she behind the confines of her small office? Who will she be when she manages to return?

This is a workplace novel in the realm of The New Me by Halle Butler or Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, but with its own unique take on productivity, ambition and worth. Nobody has a name beyond their job role and even the city the story takes place in, despite being unmistakably recognisable, remains bleakly anonymous.

Beyond the realms of work, Veldman asks questions about our place in the world at large. The twin spectres of climate change and capitalism loom over the novel and although Veldman does not purport to offer any solutions, she certainly leaves us with a lot of worthwhile questions.

Office life is associated with many things: dreary inbox checking, the infamous customer service voice, back pain from sitting motionless 9-5, strange colleagues, and terribly unchallenging tasks. That is certainly the case for our unnamed protagonist, but she has always been willing to plough on, work for the same minimum wage and stay without any ambitions at her starting level job, because she has just one immense comfort and pleasure from the job. Nothing so scandalous as a forbidden romance with her boss, or an understandable need to survive and a fear of change, instead she finds immense comfort from a sudden and unexpected source- her printer. The only reliable companion to her solitary days. The printer is always there when she needs to share the terrible suffering she feels from her repressed childhood memories, or there when she rolls her eyes at another interference on behalf of Marketing. That reliable machine with its warm flank, and stuttering breathing only admits to her touch, only prints for her, she is the printing woman, her name irrelevant and redacted, she exists only to manage the printer and lives life waiting to see her trusted friend again. It is not an admiration she feels for the machine, as much as a kinship. She sees herself in the printer and feels her identity become one with it.

What is a customer service assistant but expendable? Likewise a printer can always be endlessly criticised, abused, and then replaced in the blink of an eye. A working printer is a rarity, they are fussy creatures with a mind of their own, and this printer seems particularly asthmatic, chewing up and creating paper flower pieces, spitting out documents it doesn’t feel like reading. Our character too is sick of the world, she has been diagnosed with an allergy to stress, and the demands of everyday life make her want to spit them back out at the world too. Fien Veldman presents to us a cutting satire of modern class, office culture, and consumerism, in a tale of rediscovery for the 21st century. Secondary characters are never named, referred to only by their role and position: bossman, garbage man, Marketing, HR, and identifying characteristics are presented in square brackets [insert example] mirroring the very style of the emails she is forced to send. Language loses its meaning, just as life does, our character loses herself so completely, finds herself partially in the printer, oscillates between an unclear and uncertain past, and the no less understandable present. She sees no future, she has no plans, no dreams. When assigned to a coach, she tells him she does not want to be helping people, or any of the other noble labels he rushes to assign her, instead she thinks:

‘I simply want to print out my letters, replace the cartridge every so often. I want to run my finger over the paper so I can tell if it’s fit for use as I always do. I want to go up to my own little office every day and I want to be left alone in there. I want to switch on my printer in the morning and listen to it start up sounds as I take my first sip of coffee from my mug, the same one I use every day, I want to spend all day with the machine, watch the printed letters stack up, I want to count the envelopes, categorise them and sort them into piles, print out the postage labels and stick them on…”

Hard Copy is deceptively simple to follow at first, it starts out as an absurd and funny examination of one woman’s obsession, but quickly delves into a complicated history of growing up working class. At times the fragments of the past make it difficult to piece together what happened, and the reader is left somewhat disappointed that as a sub plot it is not particularly explored, it seems to mirror the protagonist’s desires to bury the past, and this leaves a large element of this work incomplete. Almost as if a part of the story was poorly printed, and our beloved machine wished to keep her friend’s secrets. Hard Copy is short, and startles with its brevity, too soon this delightful story comes to an end, before it is given the opportunity to blossom and truly root in our minds. The novel’s concept is extraordinarily unique, and the unaffectionate and withdrawn voice of the narrator who is stressed out by every tiny thing, is the perfect, if occasionally grating voice. This is not exactly a sympathetic character, living in her head is exhausting, she hates herself, her body, her identity, and it almost makes us hate her too, even if we simultaneously see the beauty she ignores. This is a character who is kind hearted and caring, and even the printer seems to see it before we do. This is an individual who is deeply lonely and unhappy, and her only brief moments of respite are from the printer. Which is perhaps why, it is so disappointing to see the story play out so rapidly, and without any clear resolution.

We are left struggling along, as the narrative first introduces us to the fascinating concept, and suddenly runs out of the right kind of ink halfway through, we continue wanting to see how the conflict between girl meets printer plays out, but there are never any stark new developments, and the story transitions from a quick witted commentary to another exhausted trope, of social outsider unable to function and bitter at the world. The world has to atone, but to a certain extent, it is a compromise from both sides, the printer adjusts, her colleagues adjust, we adjust, but somehow the protagonist doesn’t, and in the final part of the novel, she is somehow left behind. The magic is when the narrative switches to the printer’s perspective subtly, but this is too brief, and its ingenuity does not fully atone for when the novel attempts to shift from its office territory into the real world. It does not hold, and the wondrously phantasmagorical premise on which the story was built, falls apart, like a tiny wrong screw in a printer, undoing the entire machinery.

Hard Copy has its moments of brilliance. The linguistic care put into the office speak astounds with its attention to detail, and for anyone who has worked in an office setting, there are many humorous lines that will make you laugh out loud in appreciation for their incisive nature. Hard Copy cuts to the chase of office being, the false corporate levels of support, and the wholesome memories that make us human, finding unexpected friends, discovering shared interests, understanding what it means to care for others. It shows real potential to be something great, if it were either a more long form carefully thought out work, or an economically told short story. Although disappointing in its denouement, it is clear Veldman is a new voice to watch out for, because with more care for the subtle elements of their novel, and a better grasp of style, the freshness of Veldman’s ideas and blazing light, make for an intensely vivid reading journey that is not to be missed. As far as obsessions go, girl met printer, while we met an idea to reflect on, and a writer to watch out for.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers (Head of Zeus - Apollo) for allowing me access to an ARC of this book.

I was super excited about this as I'd seen it marketed as weird fiction, and that aspect of it didn't disappoint! I mean, a girl in love with her work printer - does it get weirder than that? However, in general, I feel really quite conflicted about this book. I read it in only a few days, but towards the middle onwards, I was just a bit confused at what I was reading. A lot of this felt disjointed and I see what messages the author was trying to convey, but it fell a little flat to me. That being said, I did enjoy Veldman's casual critiques of capitalism (everyone in the main character's office sucked, big time, though got to give it to Marketing - he was trying his best), and I also enjoyed the fact that all characters were unnamed, including our protagonist. It was all very Fleabag...
There were several sections of this book that I did find myself just glossing over and skimming, mainly the 'flashback' scenes (those that were italicised). I was also unsure on the quotes in the beginnings of chapters - I didn't see their relevance, but that's likely just personal preference.

All in all, I would definitely read another piece of Veldman's work as their writing is certainly intriguing, even if it seems that I was unsure on this book!

I feel like the tagline of this is a little misleading. If you’re a bit freaky and looking for a romance between a woman and a printer then I am so sorry you have come to the wrong place. If, however, you like a sad girl in the workplace novel then welcome! Sort of.

Our unnamed narrator is working a low paid job at a start-up. She’s kinda depressed, socially awkward and doesn’t really know how to interact with her coworkers. So when she’s stuck in the same small room as a printer all day she, naturally (?), forms a bond with it.

This touches on all the topics you’d expect from a workplace novel and soon the protagonist is burnt out & placed on leave. There are bits of her past woven throughout which I’m not sure provide… anything really? Maybe a bit more context for why she is Like That I guess.

I found this overall a bit boring unfortunately. There were definitely some paragraphs that I thought were so smart and relatable but I think this novel has been done before and done better. But if it’s a subgenre you gravitate towards it’s worth picking up!

I wanted to make an effort to read more translated fiction in 2024 because I always find the concepts to be super interesting. This is definitely the case with Hard Copy and I was taken in by the plot.

Hard Copy follows an office worker who develops a relationship of sorts with her printer. She chats to it and becomes quite attached. The story itself is split into four parts; Performance, On Leave, Peer Review and Reintegration.

This book really showed the effects of a monotonous 9-5 job and how your brain can run away with you. When our main character is asked to go on leave for her mental health, you can feel her descent as she becomes uneasy about leaving her printer. It is definitely less "woman makes friends with printer" and more about being a cog in the workplace.

I really enjoyed that fact that there were no names were used, even for our main character, and that people were reduced to their job title. My favourite parts were probably our main characters inner thoughts as she spoke to the printer but also the printer's POV section.

An unusual one!

How could I resist this cover!
I read this over the weekend, it falls into my weird books that I couldn't put down category..
A relatable and strangely lovely read about office life, loneliness, anxiety, class and the never ending daily grind.
I loved how this was written ( and translated) and was completely captivated by this unnamed main character.
One that will stay with, weird in the best possible way. A delight.

*I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Hard Copy is about a woman who becomes obsessed with the printer at work, telling it all her deepest thoughts and fears as though it’s a friend.

I initially picked this up because it sounded weird and I love a weird book, but it immediately became apparent that this book was more than that. It’s a tender exploration of loneliness, and how isolated people can often feel within their lives, even when they’re surrounded by people. It reminded me of Convenience Store Woman, and of a character who just feels as though she doesn’t fit in and doesn’t have anyone she can open up to.

It’s a moving read, despite the unusual concept, and you really feel for the main character. There were so many quotes which were relevant and relatable, focusing on what it means to be lonely and commenting on the workplace experience.

An insightful and memorable read rich in social commentary, which I’d recommend for translated fiction lovers who are looking for something a little bit weird, but still very relevant.

Hard Copy is a slice of life story that follows an unnamed protagonist feeling adrift as she struggles with work, her colleagues and her lack of a personal life. She finds solace in the form of her printer, with whom she shares her hopes, her dreams and her musings of life. The story was told through our narrators inner monologue as we follow her day-to-day life, filled with witty comments and observations on the mundane. I appreciated the commentary on the monotony of the workplace, as the narrator contemplates her role as a cog in the machine that can be so easily replaced and the effect this has on a person whose inability to feel like a whole person outside of her job causes intense anxiety. I was interested in the way this this book felt like a stream of consciousness and found the interspersed flashbacks of our narrator as a child to be a valuable addition. The book also had an open-ended conclusion with I think worked well for the story that was told. I would recommend Hard Copy to readers who, like me, love books focusing on complicated, weird women.