Hard Copy

LoveReading Says

Quirky and existential, Fien Veldmen’s Hard Copy debut — a love story, of sorts — presents an astute, tragi-comic commentary on the loneliness of our age through a strange story of the relationship between a young woman and a printer.

The nameless protagonist of this brilliant debut is a customer service assistant in a Dutch start-up. A young woman who feels alienated from everyone, bar the printer she shares her little office with. “Question: What is loneliness? Answer: Jumping when someone speaks to you.”  In this state, with no one to talk to (or, rather, there being no one she wants to talk to), the woman opens up to the printer.

She talks to it, reveals truths about her past, and her hopes for the future. In case you’re wondering: “How did it all start between the two of us? It was spontaneous, the way you might talk to a baby or a dog, even if you know it can’t answer you.”

As this relationship blossoms, the woman’s boss asks her to take time off, suspecting she might be suffering from stress. On being separated, both parties — woman and printer — feel a sense of loss, and neither are prepared to give up on each other.

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen’s lifelong love of reading and writing began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, and very much wished that witches (and Mrs Pepperpot) were real.
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