Step through the door to Lost Pages and escape a life you never wanted! On her tenth birthday, Aydee runs away from home and from her neglectful parents. At first, surviving alone on the streets is harsh, but a series of frightening, bewildering encounters with strange primordial creatures leads her to a bookshop called Lost Pages, where she steps into a fantastic, sometimes dangerous, but exciting life. Aydee grows up at the reality-hopping Lost Pages, which seems to attract a clientele that is either eccentric - or desperate. She is repeatedly drawn into an eternal war between enigmatic gods and monsters, until the day she is confronted by her worst nightmare: herself!
The Door to Lost Pages
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By Andre Farant
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
My father is a professional storyteller. I mean that in the literal sense: he travels throughout eastern Ontario and western Quebec, stopping in schools, art centres and museums, to tell his stories. Most of his stories are told in French and can be traced back to the days when lumberjacks would trade tales around a campfire after a hard day's labour.
For my sister and me, these were our bedtime stories. Every night, for a half hour to an hour before lights out, we would be transported to rambling palaces and murky swamps, to the lands of murderous giants and talking unicorns.
Through my father, I learned that stories were to be shared, did not need to be rooted in the real world, and could be changed, altered or entirely made up. Stories exist because we love them and we need them.
Claude Lalumière's beautiful Door to Lost Pages harkens back to that structured chaos, to the kind of story that begged to be told, demanded to be told, even before the first syllable was either uttered or scrawled. It is about myth and dreams and how each must be shared.
More specifically (or generally?), The Door to Lost Pages is a love letter to books, book shops, and book sellers. Every book shop is a door to lost pages, to unending possibilities and undiscovered potential, but, likewise, every book is itself a door to unknown knowledge and structured chaos.
Upon deciding to write this review, I struggled in deciding whether or not to include a plot synopsis and, in the end, I decided against. The Door to Lost Pages isn't about plot (though it has one). It's about all those things mentioned above and more. Let me just say this: The Door to Lost Pages is a series of dark, erotic, urban fairy tales strung together like beads (beads of bone? beads of sweat?) on a necklace with a tiny, cluttered book shop as its clasp.
The Door to Lost Pages is worth reading if only because it will remind you of what it was to be a chid discovering new worlds through stories--the excitement, the terror--while never letting you forget that that sense of excitement, that fear is still--and will always be--with you.
Note: I should also mention that The Door to Lost Pages is a physically beautiful book. The people at ChiZine Publications have done a wonderful job. The stock is heavier, the ink crisp. The cover is subtly embossed, highlighting Erik Mohr's kaleidoscopic art and Corey Beep's design.
For my sister and me, these were our bedtime stories. Every night, for a half hour to an hour before lights out, we would be transported to rambling palaces and murky swamps, to the lands of murderous giants and talking unicorns.
Through my father, I learned that stories were to be shared, did not need to be rooted in the real world, and could be changed, altered or entirely made up. Stories exist because we love them and we need them.
Claude Lalumière's beautiful Door to Lost Pages harkens back to that structured chaos, to the kind of story that begged to be told, demanded to be told, even before the first syllable was either uttered or scrawled. It is about myth and dreams and how each must be shared.
More specifically (or generally?), The Door to Lost Pages is a love letter to books, book shops, and book sellers. Every book shop is a door to lost pages, to unending possibilities and undiscovered potential, but, likewise, every book is itself a door to unknown knowledge and structured chaos.
Upon deciding to write this review, I struggled in deciding whether or not to include a plot synopsis and, in the end, I decided against. The Door to Lost Pages isn't about plot (though it has one). It's about all those things mentioned above and more. Let me just say this: The Door to Lost Pages is a series of dark, erotic, urban fairy tales strung together like beads (beads of bone? beads of sweat?) on a necklace with a tiny, cluttered book shop as its clasp.
The Door to Lost Pages is worth reading if only because it will remind you of what it was to be a chid discovering new worlds through stories--the excitement, the terror--while never letting you forget that that sense of excitement, that fear is still--and will always be--with you.
Note: I should also mention that The Door to Lost Pages is a physically beautiful book. The people at ChiZine Publications have done a wonderful job. The stock is heavier, the ink crisp. The cover is subtly embossed, highlighting Erik Mohr's kaleidoscopic art and Corey Beep's design.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars
9 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
And now for something completely different...
April 29 2011
By Susan Tunis
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I don't know that I would have seen this little book if it were not for an intriguing review in PW catching my eye. And I think what intrigued me is that this slight novella of linked stories was set around a bookstore. Surely I am not the only hard-core bibliophile that is immediately attracted to tales involving bookstores and booksellers?
The novella contains a brief (skippable) introduction, followed by a prologue and six stories spanning a number of years. The bookstore is not the primary setting or focus of all the stories, but it is one of the elements that link them. As is Aydee, the central character of the first story, who is introduced as a neglected and abused 10-year-old girl. The store, Lost Pages, came into her life at a time of need, as it had done for others over the years. It's not your average, florescent-lit chain store. Rather, it had echoes of Carlos Ruiz Zafón's Cemetery of Forgotten Books. And, readers, who among us isn't seeking a mystical bookstore?
There are many other mystical/mythical elements to the tales, some of them rather new-agey for my liking. (But my tolerance is low, and there wasn't so much that it was off-putting.) But those stories, some of them, were pretty "out there" and weird. This is another thing that can be off-putting to some readers and appealing to others. The stories contained a provocative mix of stark realism and fantasy, innocence and experience. Do know going in that there are repeated references to substance use and abuse. Additionally, there are graphic depictions of a broad spectrum of sexuality, some of it unconventional. What I'll say is that I think Mr. Lalumière showed restraint and didn't get too carried away with the weirdness. His writing is very strong, and the imagery was vivid and interesting.
Interesting. That's a word I returned to time and time again while trying to describe this book to a friend. It seems like such a bland word, but I'm stuck with it. There was nothing bland about this book. And there are worse things than being "interesting." And if I can't ever find the door to Lost Pages myself, at the very least I hope to find more of these stories.
The novella contains a brief (skippable) introduction, followed by a prologue and six stories spanning a number of years. The bookstore is not the primary setting or focus of all the stories, but it is one of the elements that link them. As is Aydee, the central character of the first story, who is introduced as a neglected and abused 10-year-old girl. The store, Lost Pages, came into her life at a time of need, as it had done for others over the years. It's not your average, florescent-lit chain store. Rather, it had echoes of Carlos Ruiz Zafón's Cemetery of Forgotten Books. And, readers, who among us isn't seeking a mystical bookstore?
There are many other mystical/mythical elements to the tales, some of them rather new-agey for my liking. (But my tolerance is low, and there wasn't so much that it was off-putting.) But those stories, some of them, were pretty "out there" and weird. This is another thing that can be off-putting to some readers and appealing to others. The stories contained a provocative mix of stark realism and fantasy, innocence and experience. Do know going in that there are repeated references to substance use and abuse. Additionally, there are graphic depictions of a broad spectrum of sexuality, some of it unconventional. What I'll say is that I think Mr. Lalumière showed restraint and didn't get too carried away with the weirdness. His writing is very strong, and the imagery was vivid and interesting.
Interesting. That's a word I returned to time and time again while trying to describe this book to a friend. It seems like such a bland word, but I'm stuck with it. There was nothing bland about this book. And there are worse things than being "interesting." And if I can't ever find the door to Lost Pages myself, at the very least I hope to find more of these stories.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enticing fantasy
Mar 23 2013
By wiredweird
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Lalumiere's collection of short stories offers a lot to like. Each one stands by itself - there's no need to read them in any particular order. But, the related people and notions stand even better together, each bolstering the others.
The world of these stories looks much like our own, with the charming "Lost Pages" used book store as a central feature. This isn't just any book store, though, it carries texts that no other seller does, and that might not even exist outside its walls. For me, books have always been a window into other worlds and ideas. Lalumiere gives literal meaning to that, since the store and its owners connect the mundane world to one where divine forces battle for mortal minds.
I found only one story less than satisfying - the last, a self-indulgent narration of writer's block (and we can ignore the seeming oxymoron of writing about that subject). But, in an collection of stories, one ranks below all the others. At least it came last. The rest carry a Lovecraftian sense of larger forces and of people attuned to them, but without H.P.'s pervasive darkness and florid language. On the whole, a very enjoyable read.
-- wiredweird
The world of these stories looks much like our own, with the charming "Lost Pages" used book store as a central feature. This isn't just any book store, though, it carries texts that no other seller does, and that might not even exist outside its walls. For me, books have always been a window into other worlds and ideas. Lalumiere gives literal meaning to that, since the store and its owners connect the mundane world to one where divine forces battle for mortal minds.
I found only one story less than satisfying - the last, a self-indulgent narration of writer's block (and we can ignore the seeming oxymoron of writing about that subject). But, in an collection of stories, one ranks below all the others. At least it came last. The rest carry a Lovecraftian sense of larger forces and of people attuned to them, but without H.P.'s pervasive darkness and florid language. On the whole, a very enjoyable read.
-- wiredweird
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Bookstore with dogs!
July 13 2012
By Amber Polo
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I want to read Clarence and Charlie's Old World Encyclopedia. I want to visit Lost Pages, meet the dogs, and have a latte at the Small Easy, Books and dogs with a lion thrown in were just my style . Claude Lalumiere's linked stories made me certain he's a victim of sleepless nights. I loved the bookstore, but don't want to live in his nightmares.
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Go to Amazon.com to see all 9 reviews
3.7 out of 5 stars
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