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.

I found it a little too strange but in a good way. Part 3 reminded me of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun. It was somewhat hard to follow when I first started it but you get into the stream-of-consciousness narrative quickly. There are funny moments but it is mostly an exploration of social anxiety, loneliness, and an unusual friendship. I thought it would've been interesting to learn what caused the main character's anxiety. If you enjoy weird, quirky books, this one's for you.

Hard Copy by Fien Veldman, translated by Hester Velmans
⭐️⭐️ 2.5 stars
Thank you to Head of Zeus and NetGalley for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

A customer service assistant spends her long workdays printing letters. Her one friend is the printer and, in the dark confines of her office, she begins to open up to him, talking about her fears, her past, her hopes and dreams.

I do not mind quirky or weird; I do not mind stream of consciousness; I do not mind "no plot, all vibes." But I have to admit that this book really stretched the limits of my enjoyment of all those things. I understand some of the points the author was making such as the dehumanisation of the corporate environment; our main character is unnamed, her colleagues only known as the department they work for - "Sales," "Marketing," "HR," etc.
And there was a strong focus on mental ill-health and a mind unravelling through the story. I even enjoyed the writing a lot; the second part of the book, which is from the POV of a printer (stay with me on this one), was stunningly written. But it all felt a bit too pointless for me to fully appreciate this book - it could be a case of me being too dumb for it and missing the point, which maybe... The synopsis really caught my attention, and I was really looking forward to reading this but sadly, the delivery didn't live up to my expectations.

Perhaps the tagline of "This is a story of girl meets printer" has given some readers the wrong impression of this book - it is not a romance between a woman and an inanimate object, nor is there any spice!

This is a workplace novel, with a touch of magical realism, centred around a rather lonely woman who is one of the lowest in the hierarchy at her place of work. With no-one to talk to, she talks to the printer, which leads to a misunderstanding with her colleagues and manager. The plot is fairly sparse, as most of the focus is on the inner monologue of our main character in a stream-of-consciousness style.

The day-to-day of the main character's life is interspersed with thoughts surrounding an incident that occurred in her youth and colours her view of her home town. I saw a review describing her as unlikable, but I found her to be a sympathetic and odd but generally likable character who has been affected by trauma.

The ending was left slightly open, but I think it worked for this story.

'Hard Copy' is a narration of the main character's stream-of-consciousness dialogue.

My overall rating is 3.5/5 ⭐️
My rating would have been higher if more of the book had been written like Part Three, where the concept of an inanimate object (the printer) having an awareness of human emotions is implied. The ending felt rushed and anticlimactic🤷‍♀️

The book is a recommended read for those who enjoyed the writing style in Anna Burns' 'Milkman', Sheena Patel's 'I'm a Fan', and Kazuo Ishiguro's 'Klara and the Sun' (specifically Part Three)📚

Thanks, NetGalley, for the early copy.

Many thanks to Head of Zeus and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

There seems to have been a glut of books about women choosing to live in defiance of social norms in recent years, and this unfortunately isn't a particularly memorable entry in this subgenre. While it did remind me at times of Convenience Store Woman, it lacked a lot of its warmth and wit and the main character was not nearly as sympathetic. I would have preferred for the story to have leaned more into the surreal, which I expected given that one of the central themes is the relationship between a woman and her printer. Additionally, while effort seemed to have been made to remove all references to a specific place, it would have given the story a bit more of an anchor had there been more explicit references to the city and culture (I can only assume, based on vague descriptions and the author's nationality, that the story takes place in Amsterdam). It was, however, well-written and very readable, although how much of that is down to the translation is hard to say.

Hard Copy was not what I expected it to be at all. I guess it is a comment on office drudgery and social anxiety and trauma. The printer is sort of an aside. Interesting but not in the way I anticipated it would be.

This was weird, but it was what I was expecting! This is definitely for the lovers of books like Big Swiss!

The premise of this debut sold me, but I felt that it fell flat for the most part. The narrator is neither likeable nor unlikeable – she just is. Life happens to her, and we get the notion that she's done something regretful in her past, but it's only ever inferred. I wanted to know more about her past beyond vague vignettes. She's afraid of everything and is allergic to stress. She struggles to bond with anyone, except a printer and a garbage man. I would have liked there to be more in the way of plot and character development. If you like 'no plot, just vibes' books like I'm A Fan by Sheena Patel, you'll enjoy this. It wasn't to my liking, though.

That being said, I did appreciate the humour, and the stream-of-consciousness narration was effective in points.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

"Hard Copy" by Fien Veldman is like a cozy chat with a quirky friend over coffee. You've got this customer service gal who's best buds with her printer, of all things. As she spills her guts to her trusty machine, her boss thinks she's losing it. Diagnosed with burnout and facing job loss, she's not going down without a fight – for her printer pal. Veldman's tale is quirky, heartwarming, and a bit offbeat, but it hits home with its message about friendship, mental health, and the unexpected places we find solace. "Hard Copy" is a quirky gem that'll make you smile.

Fans of Sayaka Murata, particularly of Convenience Store Woman, would adore this book. It is very reminiscent of it with the routine of a girl with a mundane job who goes about her day to day activities, but who's just a little bit different. I will say how this book is described and marketed is a little big misleading and the reveal was not the pay off I was expecting.

This was strange but not in the way i was hoping. Instead of being surreal and focusing on a weird relationship, it instead focuses on day to day life. A very depressing dull day to day life. It was not the book i was expecting at all and i struggled to finish it.

Girl meets printer.

That blurb was enough to convince me to request this book, and I deliberately started it without knowing much more. I do think the marketing and cover of this book was misleading - I expected a more farcical, surreal comedy, which this book definitely is not. It's a novel about loneliness and alienation in the modern workplace, where a young temp worker shares her thoughts with the office's printer, which she believes is her only friend. Unfortunately, her colleagues aren't charmed by this, and when she's placed on furlough she loses her beloved printer. Her dislocation is emphasised by the lack of names, eg she is '[My name]' and her colleagues are named as their jobs, eg 'PR', which I think further distances her from those around her. Possibly it's a feature of the translation, which at times felt a little awkward, but this book did drag at points for me - probably this is deliberate, to mirror the monotony of her job, but I did find it hard to stay focused.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a review copy!

This is such an odd book. But I really loved it. Written and translated so beautifully. It’s very effective and it really captures so office dynamics I have come across! Great to get an advance copy.

I feel that Hard Copy captures the monotonous world of low-level office life perfectly. Reading the blurb about the relationship between the narrator and a printer, I was expecting something more surreal or absurdist, but what I found was instead a moving portrait of a young woman's struggles with mental illness, and the tender connection she forms with an inanimate object.

The narrator feels disconnected from her colleagues, and the book conveys an increasing sense of isolation and otherness to her. The novel evoked strong emotional reactions in me; sadness for the narrator when she's put on leave from work and is separated from the printer, anger at her colleagues (referred to by their job titles only, which adds to the sense of disconnect) at not letting her be, and a wider frustration at the world for still not accepting otherness.

I felt the part narrated by the printer was deftly done. It was a surprisingly moving reflection on the disposable society we live in, and it added to an overall theme of how not just machines, but all of us, as people, are imminently replaceable.

Another really solid translated work about the monotonousness of the workplace and how office life can drive you completely insane. This book is about an unnamed narrator who starts talking to her printer in her office and her coworkers start to wonder what’s up. When she is told to go on leave for her mental health she finds it really hard to leave the printer and her attachment to it grows more maddening and dependant as the novel goes on.

I really loved the voice in this book and the tone was absolutely perfect. I didn’t expect it to be both such a great comment on the workplace but also have a really witty and slightly unhinged narration to it as well.

They have slightly oversold the whole “romance with a printer” thing in the marketing as this only takes up a small part of the book, and it is mostly focused on the narrators inability to leave the workplace and think of herself as a whole person without being attached to her job and the objects at her office.

A really great book and definitely want to read more from this author and translator.

As soon as I read the summary of this book, I knew it had to go straight on my TBR pile.
Both quirky and insightful, it really highlights how what can be considered the mundane day to day activities of work, socialisation and commuting can really take a toll on the average person’s mental and physical well-being.

I thoroughly enjoyed the concept of the book, and found the FMC & printers POV extremely well written. The writing style bought a human nature to the inanimate, and a detachment to the other surrounding characters, showing how sometimes the one person someone can lean on may not be a person at all.

The one thing this book did lack was the “weird” nature I was expecting from both the summary and the cover. I would say the phrase ‘Girl meets printer’ isn’t the main premise of the book, more of an accompanying story of a woman who seems to be suffering with social anxiety and some sort of coping mechanism for this. This is definitely not what I was expecting diving into this, so if you’re looking for a “weird” or “strange” read this may not be the book for you!

Hard Copy is out on 6th June 2024. Thank you to NetGalley & Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read the Arc!