Book Review: The Paper Trail: An Unexpected History of the World’s Greatest Invention, by Alexander Munro

Available in bookstores nationwide.

It is highly unlikely that you are reading this review on a piece of paper held in your hand. And yet, it was the invention of paper that enabled mass communication and exchange of information quickly and effectively.

Now we have the internet rapidly replacing the likes of the daily newspaper, but this book casts a thought back to where it all began. First produced over 2000 years ago in China, paper very quickly replaced bamboo as a writing surface and from then on was unstoppable in its spread throughout eastern civilisation.

But it wasn’t until 1000 years later that paper made its way in a westerly direction to what is now Iran, Iraq, then Turkey to Europe.

The movement and development of paper has been integral to the history of these regions over the last 2000 years. As a form of storing religious texts, whether they be Buddhist, as in the early centuries of paper use in China; the Koran or the Bible; as a means of distributing religious messages amongst the populace as seen in the work of Martin Luther in the 1500s, looking for an alternative to the Catholic Church, or as fuel to the French Revolution in the late 18th century. Paper has been at the centre of it all.

Even New Zealand’s very own Treaty of Waitangi has two pages in this book devoted to it. Apparently the Treaty was a very rare type of document in British imperial history, in that it was a bilingual document − Maori and English – drawn up for both sides to sign. Although as we now know, the two versions actually had two different meanings. For all that, it is considered remarkable for its time, as it attempted to come to a political settlement without going to war. The author also points out that when the Treaty was signed in 1840, the Māori had only had around 20 years of exposure to the written word, their entire means of communicating and passing on history up to that time being oral in nature.

This research undertaken for this book by the author is mind-boggling. The author has studied Chinese and lived for a time in Beijing, so it is hardly surprising that half of this book is about the invention, development and spread of paper in China, Eastern and Central Asia − the first 1000 years of paper’s history. I am not entirely sure how one makes 1000 years of paper making interesting and riveting, and I think the author also struggled − at times, I found myself nodding off. The second 1000 years is easier to digest as it has much more relevance to history that we already know about.

There has been a trend in recent years for non-fiction writers to undertake histories of items/inventions that have been crucial to the development of the world we know and live in, and write about it in a way that makes it accessible to the average reader, E=mc2 by David Bodanis being a great example. In this book, however, the detail and minutiae of his subject is at times overwhelming, to the extent that I felt the thread of many of his stories was getting lost.

My biggest criticism − the almost total lack of illustrations. In a book of 368 pages there are only seventeen illustrations. I don’t understand how a book about paper and it’s place in modern history can only have seventeen, low quality illustrations. There is whole chapter devoted to the Renaissance and the use of paper in the creation of some of the beautiful art works from that time. Any illustrations from this time? No. Any pictures of some of the beautifully and crafted Bibles of the Middle Ages? No. Or the copies of the Koran produced by the Islamic Caliphate? No. I kept wanting to see pictures of what the author was writing about.

This was disappointing for a book with so much research and information in it.

But if you have the time and want to know where paper, the development of script, binding, typography, the printing press, the concept of reading, and the disbursement of knowledge sprang from, then you will get a lot out of reading this book.

by Felicity Murray

The Paper Trail: An Unexpected History of the World’s Greatest Invention
by Alexander Munro
Published by Allen Lane
ISBN 9781846141898

Book review: Cooked by Michael Pollan

This book is in bookstores now

I really enjoyed In Defence of Food by Michael Pollan, so was excited to have the opportunity to review Pollan’s latest offering, Cooked. I wasn’t disappointed.

Cooked explores how humankind has turned raw materials – animals, plants and their seeds – into food that is more nourishing than the original form, through the mechanisms of the elements of earth, air, fire and water. Pollan posits that the story of applying these elements to our food is the story of the evolution of human culture – and that we’ve now gone so far by outsourcing so much of our food preparation to corporations, that we’re at risk of going backwards.

Continuing in the vein of In Defence of Food, where Pollan asked the reader to eat food rather than food-like substances, Pollan puts forward a case for getting back to basics and cooking from scratch. If you care about food and where it comes from, it’s a compelling message.

For me the highlight was the quarter of the book that is devoted to the element of air; it’s really about how bread is made, and has resulted in my purchase of stoneground flour (much more nutritious than standard milling, according to Pollan) and having a go at making my own sourdough starter with just flour and water and whatever wild yeasts the air delivers. I’m a confident bread maker but have always used commercial yeast, something I’m less keen on doing after reading Cooked.

When making bread without commercial yeast success is definitely not guaranteed, and a lot of love goes into the loaf. My first loaf is baking in the oven as I write and after more than a week of nurturing the starter and 24 hours of raising and proofing, it smells better than any loaf I’ve made before. Even if this loaf doesn’t work I’ll persevere, I’m reluctant to buy a plastic-wrapped loaf again.

Rachel’s first natural sourdough loaf

As part of Pollan’s exploration of the four elements, he met expert practitioners working with each medium – these recounts were entertaining and thought provoking (and, in the case of the large scale bread manufacturer, a bit disturbing), and made a nice counterpoint for Pollan’s references to current research and his experiments in his own kitchen.

Food Channel junkies will get a kick out of the fire section, as it deals with “proper” Southern US barbeque, and anti-bacterial product manufacturers will not be adding Pollan to their Christmas card lists after reading the earth quarter. And the section on water, which is about long, slow cooking, is mouth-watering as we head into a New Zealand winter.

This is an extremely well-researched and hopefully provocative book. If you’re someone who loves good food and want to know more about it, I recommend you read it.

P.S. My loaf of bread didn’t rise as much as I hoped, but it was absolutely delicious!

Rachel’s first natural sourdough loaf – in making the bread she used a recipe from ‘River Cottage Every Day’, rather than the recipe from ‘Cooked’.

Reviewed by Rachel Moore

Cooked
by Michael Pollan
Published by Allen Lane
ISBN 9781846148033