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Memory Palace
A new work of fiction by Hari Kunzru, best-selling author of Gods Without Men, forms the basis of this innovative book and exhibition, in which reading a story is translated into a three-dimensional visual experience by leading typographers, illustrators and graphic designers. Hari Kunzru has conjured a dark vision of a future in which not just books but remembering itself is banned and a small group of renegade memorialists is all that stands in the face of total oblivion. From the point of view of one of their incarcerated members, Memory Palace takes us through his fragmented memories as he lies trapped in his cell, clinging to the belief that without memory civilization is doomed. An essay by the exhibition's curators, Laurie Britton Newell and Ligaya Salazar, unpicks the intentions and process behind this innovative project, while specially commissioned work by Robert Frank Hunter and drawings from the exhibition's collaborators illustrate the book.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published June 3, 2013
7 people are currently reading
520 people want to read
About the author
Hari Kunzru
45 books992 followersHari Mohan Nath Kunzru (born 1969) is a British novelist and journalist, author of the novels The Impressionist, Transmission and My Revolutions. Of mixed English and Kashmiri Pandit ancestry, he grew up in Essex. He studied English at Wadham College, Oxford University, then gained an MA in Philosophy and Literature from Warwick University. His work has been translated into twenty languages. He lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
July 14, 2013
I was worried I might think this too twee but I liked it, I liked the plays on words and for example how memory and oral traditions could transform The giant red Olympic statue in Stratford to a shrine and a god and the people of the area to Limpickers. I loved the fragments of the periodic table and scientists transformed into saints and lords of old. I loved this
So much to love, and so much to fascinate in this idea of the memory palace and these ancient systems of memorisation so vital to earlier times and now no longer -- but perhaps once again they will be. In this vision of the future they are.
The book is genesis and collaboration from a project of the V&A, so it is extensively illustrated with original works of art from a wide range of artists...as a longtime fan of graphic and experimental novels it seemed to me nothing new and the text is quite linear and alongside art that adds and illustrates so the postscript annoyed me a little about how this expands what a book is and what it does. That said, I am excited to see the exhibit, as there the text is in pieces, non-linear, connected not simply to graphics but sounds and performance and multi-media. Given how my mind works, I'm kind of glad that I will be able to anchor this to a linear narrative that I enjoyed and made me think all kinds of things about thought and memory and time and futures. But I am also sad that I will not be able to experience that without the traditional linear narrative to anchor it...
Later, after I was arrested and confined in this cell, I was afraid I would go mad, so small was it, so featureless and dark. I cried in the night. When I slept I dreamed I was being crushed. So I began to move my memories, to place them round the cell, in the cracks of the floor, on the rusty handle of the slop bucket. By rights, such a small room could not serve the purpose. But I gave each spot a meaning, and as I populated it with things I have been given to remember, the cell began to grow. It was like pushing the walls outwards with my hands. Now it has expanded to the horizon. To me, it is as grand as a power station. (9)
So much to love, and so much to fascinate in this idea of the memory palace and these ancient systems of memorisation so vital to earlier times and now no longer -- but perhaps once again they will be. In this vision of the future they are.
The book is genesis and collaboration from a project of the V&A, so it is extensively illustrated with original works of art from a wide range of artists...as a longtime fan of graphic and experimental novels it seemed to me nothing new and the text is quite linear and alongside art that adds and illustrates so the postscript annoyed me a little about how this expands what a book is and what it does. That said, I am excited to see the exhibit, as there the text is in pieces, non-linear, connected not simply to graphics but sounds and performance and multi-media. Given how my mind works, I'm kind of glad that I will be able to anchor this to a linear narrative that I enjoyed and made me think all kinds of things about thought and memory and time and futures. But I am also sad that I will not be able to experience that without the traditional linear narrative to anchor it...
July 25, 2013
A beautiful artefact and a pretty decent tale. The main attraction is a long dystopian novelette (or thereabouts) by Kunzru, the last testament of a captured dissident describing the world in which they live and how they live. It is ‘curated’ along with artwork from an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum (reviewed by Nick Harkaway here), plus an afterword by the curators, Laurie Britton Newell and Ligaya Salazar, and a short graphic story by Robert Hunter about the preparation of the exhibition. The backstory of Kunzru’s dystopia runs thus: a great event known as the Magnetization wiped all the world's electronic systems leading to a general collapse known as the Withering. In a ruined and drowned London, the authority of the Thing works towards the Wilding, a time when humanity can abandon all attempt to measure or control or impose on the world, and live as one with the world, outside time, in a pure natural/spiritual existence. Opposing them are the Memorialists such as our hero, who pass down sparks of knowledge from our world, many corrupted. As in other tales of this type, discovering the corruptions is half the fun -- voicemail is “a kind of armour made of speech”, an internet is “a plot against nature”, photoshop is “a ritual conducted before going out into the world” -- and in this case, it’s also where the artworks, which range from sketched scenes to purely abstract representations, come into their own. The body of the story -- an interrogation, a debate between abnegation and corruption -- is compelling enough, but it’s the whole artefact that impresses, right down to the typeface, which was apparently designed by William Morris.
October 8, 2015
I have been interested in this every since Jen Campbell mentioned it on her channel and I managed to get my hands on a copy to experience it for myself.
This is a strange book. It is essentially an exhibition that was commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and then 'translated' into book form. The story itself is essentially a dystopian set in London and then there are accompanying illustrations by about twenty illustrators and graphic designers that all took part in the project.
Overall, I loved the concept of this book. The story was a little confusing at first but I soon got into it. I think that it is a wonderful take on dystopian London and the loss of human knowledge; the author developed the world well considering how short this book is! The illustrations were extremely varied in style and though I preferred some to others, this is definitely a book that I would recommend reading. It is an experience not just a book and I think that it is successful what it sets out to do.
This is a strange book. It is essentially an exhibition that was commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and then 'translated' into book form. The story itself is essentially a dystopian set in London and then there are accompanying illustrations by about twenty illustrators and graphic designers that all took part in the project.
Overall, I loved the concept of this book. The story was a little confusing at first but I soon got into it. I think that it is a wonderful take on dystopian London and the loss of human knowledge; the author developed the world well considering how short this book is! The illustrations were extremely varied in style and though I preferred some to others, this is definitely a book that I would recommend reading. It is an experience not just a book and I think that it is successful what it sets out to do.
July 8, 2014
I very much enjoyed the experience of this book and the thoughts it provoked.
Images of Sherlock Holmes' Memory Palace intertwined with 1984 and 19Q4 to make for an enjoyable interlude to remember.
I now wish I was able to visit the V&A exhibition as my sister (who brought the book to Brisbane for me) had.
Images of Sherlock Holmes' Memory Palace intertwined with 1984 and 19Q4 to make for an enjoyable interlude to remember.
I now wish I was able to visit the V&A exhibition as my sister (who brought the book to Brisbane for me) had.
June 13, 2015
What a gorgeous, mind blowing, densely written and beautiful drawn art object!
December 8, 2019
This is a beautiful book as an object and artefact. I imagine it would mean more to the reader if you ad seen the original V and A exhibition that it is associated with - but you don’t need to have seen that to appreciate the book.
It contains a story by Hari Kunzru, illustrated with a variety of drawings by illustrators and graphics designers and an essay by the curators of the exhibition. I love both the story and the illustrations- by the time I got to the end I wanted to reread it with a deeper understanding. The variety of illustrations is fascinating and often left me wondering how the different contributors might have illustrated particular parts of the story differently (especially after I’d read the essay by the exhibition curators).
This is the kind of the book that has obvious appeal to anyone who is interested in graphic novels, illustration and design. It's innovative, intriguing and beautiful. My only negative is that I wish it had pushed a little further - I want more, of everything.
It contains a story by Hari Kunzru, illustrated with a variety of drawings by illustrators and graphics designers and an essay by the curators of the exhibition. I love both the story and the illustrations- by the time I got to the end I wanted to reread it with a deeper understanding. The variety of illustrations is fascinating and often left me wondering how the different contributors might have illustrated particular parts of the story differently (especially after I’d read the essay by the exhibition curators).
This is the kind of the book that has obvious appeal to anyone who is interested in graphic novels, illustration and design. It's innovative, intriguing and beautiful. My only negative is that I wish it had pushed a little further - I want more, of everything.
May 25, 2020
I bought this when I went to see the exhibition accompanying this book at the V&A years ago, which I loved. Never did read the book until now, and it did not live up to my memories of the exhibition. That said, it is an interesting read and very thought-provoking. If humanity's knowledge preservation were all down to you, what would you save?
February 10, 2018
a wonderful combination of art and literature that tells the story of a bleak future in which the world as we know it has fallen, and the act of remembering is illegal. i can only imagine what the exhibition at the v&a would have been like.
April 4, 2021
Here is my review of this book
https://youtu.be/WWpgt2irtBI
https://youtu.be/WWpgt2irtBI
July 21, 2013
When I went to the V&A exhibition of this I was fascinated but way too tired to really appreciate the words on the walls and the real meaning behind it, so I bought the book.
It's a quick read but I found it harrowing. This is my first time reading any Kunzru and his writing lifts off the page. The world he creates, in so few words, is memorising yet a little terrifying and for me, definitely confusing in a really great way. My sympathies changed several times throughout the book. I understand the main aim of 'the Thing' - getting back to nature- but at the same time understand the plight of people wanting to remember everything.
There is one particular scene near the end which is especially moving as throughout it (and it's quite short) my mind was jumping around like crazy, thinking of how we treat the world today and how we live our lives. The flower child in me found this book to be a truly amazing experience and really made an impression on me.
Aside from the writing, the illustrations are fantastic and give a good, but not perfect, view into what the exhibition was like. There is one particular real life model that is shown on page 18 & 19 that is quite possibly one of the most impressive wooden artworks I've ever seen. I could of spent hours staring at it.
If you get a chance to go to the V&A, I definitely recommend both seeing the exhibition, playing around with the memory posters & buying this book!
It's a quick read but I found it harrowing. This is my first time reading any Kunzru and his writing lifts off the page. The world he creates, in so few words, is memorising yet a little terrifying and for me, definitely confusing in a really great way. My sympathies changed several times throughout the book. I understand the main aim of 'the Thing' - getting back to nature- but at the same time understand the plight of people wanting to remember everything.
There is one particular scene near the end which is especially moving as throughout it (and it's quite short) my mind was jumping around like crazy, thinking of how we treat the world today and how we live our lives. The flower child in me found this book to be a truly amazing experience and really made an impression on me.
Aside from the writing, the illustrations are fantastic and give a good, but not perfect, view into what the exhibition was like. There is one particular real life model that is shown on page 18 & 19 that is quite possibly one of the most impressive wooden artworks I've ever seen. I could of spent hours staring at it.
If you get a chance to go to the V&A, I definitely recommend both seeing the exhibition, playing around with the memory posters & buying this book!
June 5, 2014
An interesting experiment. This book attempts to combine story with art, and does so in an interesting fashion. While the story itself may not be that original - many of its ideas are also found in classics like 1984 - it does make some choices in vocabulary which as an editor I found fascinating, because I could picture a dystopian society as described in the book using words like that.
Anyone attempting to read this book should have a sense of what London looks like today in order to truly understand all the details described. As not a Londoner I found myself thinking I sometimes missed things that could have made the story more vivid in my mind: locations I don't know, slang I don't understand. So read a guidebook to the city first. This may make the book slightly less accessible for out-of-towners or people from across the pond such as myself.
The art in the book did not always complement the story, but it was sometimes a story in itself. I am not that knowledgable when it comes to art, so suffice it to say I enjoyed it.
The book's concept is the main reason why I liked it. If there is a follow-up project, however, I will be expecting a better story. But all my respect to the people who have made this... you show us a new way of storytelling. Thumbs up for that!
Anyone attempting to read this book should have a sense of what London looks like today in order to truly understand all the details described. As not a Londoner I found myself thinking I sometimes missed things that could have made the story more vivid in my mind: locations I don't know, slang I don't understand. So read a guidebook to the city first. This may make the book slightly less accessible for out-of-towners or people from across the pond such as myself.
The art in the book did not always complement the story, but it was sometimes a story in itself. I am not that knowledgable when it comes to art, so suffice it to say I enjoyed it.
The book's concept is the main reason why I liked it. If there is a follow-up project, however, I will be expecting a better story. But all my respect to the people who have made this... you show us a new way of storytelling. Thumbs up for that!
October 31, 2013
Picked up this 'novella' in an unusual way... it was the text that was co-created with a whole range of artists in an installation/exhibition at The Victoria & Albert Museum. About a world in the future where reading, writing and remembering any of the 'old knowledge' re the sciences, thought , philosophy, maths, biology... well essentially all the sum of human knowledge is banned. Following, it appears, after a global magnetic storm essentially rendered all tech/computers and the like void - setting off a global collapse of civilisation.
At the installation graphic novelists created strips of scenes within the book, sculptors created 'churches' of garbage (advertising!), sets that recreated the scenes (a cell of the mind) within the text. Some beautiful stuff.
The book on it's own, though there are some preliminary graphics and sketches of the artwork, is a stripped down version of it, yet one that opens up it's own pictures of the mind.
At the installation graphic novelists created strips of scenes within the book, sculptors created 'churches' of garbage (advertising!), sets that recreated the scenes (a cell of the mind) within the text. Some beautiful stuff.
The book on it's own, though there are some preliminary graphics and sketches of the artwork, is a stripped down version of it, yet one that opens up it's own pictures of the mind.
May 18, 2014
Well, for a start, Hari Kunzru has been on my mental to-read list for ages and it wasn't until I joined Goodreads that I put two and two together and realized he was also responsible for Memory Palace. I was one of the people who saw the original Victoria & Albert 'currated novel'. That was a fantastic experience - imagine - reading a book as spectacle, a bit like going to the theatre of the cinema! When I first got the book though, I was a bit disappointed. I thought, for some reason, it would contain more than the show, rather than being just being a souvenir.
I was interested to see how the 'souvenir' would stand up, a bit less than a year later. Pretty well, I would say. The story is interesting, touching, thought-provoking, poignant to all of us, I think, and for Londoners, especially so.
I was interested to see how the 'souvenir' would stand up, a bit less than a year later. Pretty well, I would say. The story is interesting, touching, thought-provoking, poignant to all of us, I think, and for Londoners, especially so.
March 20, 2020
Well written novel to accompany an interactive exhibition of the book – the narrator is one of a sect which tries to maintain (now completely distorted) memories of the technological and scientific age before the “magnetization” when it would seem solar flares caused society to implode. The rulers of the new world ruthlessly suppress all memory of this times or attempts at writing or even farming as part of a belief that the science age fell because it was the last step of a descent (starting with farming) from a natural world with man as hunter gatherer. Very short book but entertaining and well illustrated.
July 15, 2024
The idea of a curated book is a fascinating one, but I had hoped that the illustrations would be more than a sidekick to the written word, as they normally are in illustrated books. Many of the art works themselves are evocative, and Kunzru's prose is good, though it pales, inevitably to the books it brings to mind- Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four', of course, Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' and Alan Moore's 'V For Vendetta', and rather lacks the conceptual intricacies of, say, 'The Invention of Morel' or Borges' fictions.
August 23, 2013
A really ambitious and unusual project of collaboration between a writer and a team of visual artists, creation of an exhibition that you can read and a book which content forms the exhibition. I would love to have been able to see the exhibition as well.
The only disappointing thing for me in this book was that the topic of Ars Memoria (Mnemonics) - an area of my fascination - was not explored enough, I guess the format of the book was recreating for that.
The only disappointing thing for me in this book was that the topic of Ars Memoria (Mnemonics) - an area of my fascination - was not explored enough, I guess the format of the book was recreating for that.
September 7, 2014
I love the post-apocalyptic London scenery and the usage of information and objects that their meaning is now lost. The idea of mnemonics is brilliant and it is what it somehow sets it apart from any similarities to George Orwell's 1984 (hence the tribute to the ending) and Alan Moore's V for vendetta.
June 30, 2013
Parts of this reminded me of the center story of Cloud Atlas. I really enjoyed the playful games of oral-history telephone that morphed names and concepts over time.
I'm looking forward to visiting the exhibition in London soon.
I'm looking forward to visiting the exhibition in London soon.
November 6, 2023
Intriguing, haunting and beautifully produced, but the ending left me unsatisfied and wishing the author had explored his themes more thoroughly. Perhaps Kunzru is following the old adage of "leave them wanting more!"
August 18, 2013
Incredibly well written and thoughtful Future-Drama.
Thought provoking my only criticism would be the denouement, but I shall avoid reference here to allow one to make up their own mind.
I would recommend this read to anyone.
Thought provoking my only criticism would be the denouement, but I shall avoid reference here to allow one to make up their own mind.
I would recommend this read to anyone.
February 10, 2014
This is a gorgeous miniature constructed by collaboration and a delicate but thorough attention to design and pattern. At once a dystopia tale of loss as also a primer on memory and a satire of contemporary conventions, these well prepared pages offer much to the tired and weary reader.
July 13, 2015
Beautiful and well written, makes you think without being too hard going. Just what I was looking for.
July 30, 2013
After visiting the V&A exhibition this Kafkaesque novel is a must read
October 17, 2013
Loved the feel and look of this book: one to explore again and again. Would have loved to have attended the exhibition that was the impetus for this work.
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September 19, 2013beautiful
January 3, 2014
Fascinating concept ... An exhibit in the guise of a book. Futuristic story line illustrated by 20 artists. Points for originality.
October 6, 2013
A bit of a strange one but couldn't put it down! Fascinating short story
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews