Issue 44 / May 2012
Immersed in Reading
Tucked into a corner of Spitalfield's Market, a Japanese tearoom has suddenly materialised; its checkerboard framework and opaque walls give it the look of an anaemic Rubik's cube dropped into the still-wintry bustle of the old marketplace.
This is Shoreditch, so no one's at all surprised by pop-up happenings or that there is a bevy of eager assistants giving out steaming green tea at its door... but on closer inspection the punters notice they're also giving out books.
This is the 'Immersive Reading Room' created for the paperback release of David Mitchell's Booker-longlisted novel The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet, and designed to add to the reading experience of Mitchell's extraordinary novel many felt should have been shortlisted for literature's most prestigious prize.
The idea behind the reading room is to evoke eighteenth-century Dejima, a curious fan-shaped, man-made island in the bay of Nagasaki used as a trading post, where the novel is set. As the press release boldly claims, the reading room is designed to 'heighten the power of David Mitchell's [...] storytelling prowess' by creating the smells and sounds of old Japan.
Crucially the five-day event is also tapping into ideas of participation and interaction, increasingly relevant in publishing; and the reading room is part of a wider project to get 1,000 reader reviews of the book. (See: www.thousandreaders.com / @1000autumns) As such, each visitor is asked to type a review into the tablet computers provided afterwards; their comments will be put online and their review could be used in the promotional campaign for the book.
As David Mitchell sagely remarked, when I asked him if he thought the public demanded a lot more from authors and books in the twenty-first century, it's important to be noticed, and he'd rather be with a publisher prepared to try new things and take risks, than not. Besides, how could you not enjoy this? It was a 'happening', we agreed, and making something happen around the launch of a book is no bad thing.
He was keen to emphasise, though, that the business of reading should still be an immutable art; that a good book should take you into the wardrobe and to Narnia of its own accord, wherever you happen to be reading it. Fans of Mitchell's writing will already know his prose can transport the reader, with no special effects required.
So how did it work? You arrive at the teahouse and are given a cup of green tea and a copy of the book in which suggested extracts for reading had been marked under headings like: 'East and West'; 'Science and Medicine', and 'Love and Romance'.
Visual and sensory aids such as drawings from the book pinned to the walls, smells of old Japan (though, I admit, I couldn't smell anything), and sound effects like crashing waves on the shore and the rattle of horses' hooves were employed to help you immerse yourself in the text.
Once you've read the extract you step back out into cold cruel world and write your review on a digital tablet, on the completion of which, you receive a signed special edition of the book. Lovely.
And Mitchell was right: the whole idea of needing sound effects to bring a novel to life may be slightly absurd, but it was hugely enjoyable to sit down in a bustling part of London for twenty minutes - the little room was calming and the tea excellent -and read the startling opening pages of this brilliant novel.
It was also a delight to meet Mitchell himself. Charming, funny and wearing his considerable intellect lightly, I'd meant to ask him about the intensive research required for the novel, what he was working on at the moment, and other pertinent things, but instead our chat ranged from Twitter - which Mitchell likened to the terse condensed wit of the telegram - to Tipp-Ex and the Monkees. All in all, the most enjoyable lunch break I've had in ages.
The reading room is situated near Lamb Street, Old Spitalfields Market, and is open now until Saturday 19th March; 9.30am - 7pm. Entry is free.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet, published by Sceptre, is now available in paperback.
Thursday, 17 March, 2011
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