In my last post I may have unintentionally misled some of you in regards to the identity of the publisher playing host to me at the moment.  Although Virago and Persephone Books are an imprint and publisher, respectively, that I would love to work for and where most of you thought my placement is, I am actually at Random House HQ in Pimlico.  Vintage Books and Vintage Classics are imprints mentioned frequently on Paperback Reader because -as with Virago and Persephone- my preference when it comes to literature is backlist as opposed to frontlist titles especially classics or neglected classics.  I am working in the CCV division, which encompasses the literary imprints of Jonathan Cape, The Bodley Head, Yellow Jersey, Square Peg, Harvill Secker, Chatto & Windus, Vintage, Vintage Classics and Pimlico.  Working on nine imprints of prize-winning books and authors (and the potential Booker prize-winning C by Tom McCarthy) during one of the busiest times of year -with the upcoming Cheltenham Literary Festival and the publication of the high-profile titles for sale in the lead up to Christmas in full swing- is exciting and enriching.

My first week has flown by in a buzz of activity with every task and day varied, highly-pressured and  insightful.  A wealth of experience is being had and also fun.  I love to be busy and thrive on it and there is so much to see, learn and do in CCV with never a dull moment.  Yes, there are tasks that could be considered mundane and administrative in nature -photocopying and mailing out- but I am truly loving all of the different aspects of the publicity department; I have also designed fliers, made up showcards for book events, sent author mail, sought and compiled reviews, drafted party invite lists, planned other parties and events, data entry and I also putting my book blogging and digital experience to good use.

Of course I love being surrounded by the books and some of my favourite authors’ work -Rushdie, García Márquez, Morrison, Coetzee, Murakami are all published there- but publishing is a business and although a passion for the product is tantamount an understanding of how publishing works is an essential requirement for working in the industry.  My brief time so far in Random House is providing me with that crucial insight.

I will, however, share some of the bookish joys here on my site.  On Thursday I had a lunch consisting of several recipes from Nigella Lawson’s new cookbook, Kitchen; the RH canteen cooked up a storm to celebrate the premiere of Nigella Kitchen premiering that night on BBC2.  I can testify that the Pappardelle with Butternut Squash and Blue Cheese and the Panzanella (bread salad) are both completely and utterly delectable.

Lunch on Friday was spent with my mentor, Lisa, who kindly offered me anything on her Vintage Classics shelves after we discussed our shared love for classics; a spare five minutes later that afternoon and some exercise of restraint on my part resulted in the conservative pile above.

I’ve been wanting to read Yukio Mishima for some time but Simon of Savidge Reads convinced me to start with The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea, which I thought back to when perusing some Mishima books on the shelves.

I mentioned a couple of months ago that it was the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks this year, which meant that I had to read it; Lisa gave me the fiftieth-anniversary edition (click on the title link to see the cover) and I plan on reading it next.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood was my first Atwood novel and remains a favourite.  Vintage Classics are reissuing it with a striking new red and white cover for its twenty-fifth anniversary (click on the title link to see the cover), The Handmaid’s Tale is as pertinent in its dystopian vision of the subjugation of women as it was when first published.  My copy of the book is one I loaned and never received back so I could not resist owning it again especially with its new jacket design, which I love.

Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is the favourite book of one of my closest friends, consequently one that has been on my wishlist for some time.  I couldn’t resist taking a copy of this when I saw it especially as I was meeting the same friend for dinner that night (she is currently based in the US so it was great to see her); we discussed the Soviet novel a little over dinner and she then told me that it took her a month to read, which she had neglected to mention before.

Speaking of Russian literature, Lisa gave me an amazingly beautiful hardback edition of Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, a new translation -the first since the 1958 original- to celebrate Harvill Secker’s Centennial (the bookbag I brought the books home in also commemorates the imprint’s landmark).  I read Doctor Zhivago years ago for a Slavonic literature course at university and would love to reread it one day especially in this lovely snowflake copy and its new translation.

Coincidentally I am at present reading a Vintage Classics book -as you can see on the right-hand side of the post- for the Riverside Readers.  The lovely Polly of Novel Insights chose On the Beach by Nevil Shute as this month’s book; I am particularly thankful to her as I was supposed to read this for a Writing the Disaster module at uni several years ago and didn’t.

I hope to be able to share more books with you next week.  In the meantime feel free to ask me any questions you may have about my placement or Random House in general.

]]> http://www.paperback-reader.co.uk/2010/10/03/publishing-experience/feed/ 34 http://www.paperback-reader.co.uk/2010/07/14/a-russian-affair/ http://www.paperback-reader.co.uk/2010/07/14/a-russian-affair/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:54:56 +0000 Paperback Reader http://www.paperback-reader.co.uk/?p=2540

One of my very first reviews on Paperback Reader was of First Love by Ivan Turgenev and soon after I was gifted the complete Penguin Great Loves boxset.  When the Classics Circuit announced a tour of Imperial Russian literature, I was given the opportunity to read further about Russian love from the collection by opting for A Russian Affair by Anton Chekhov.

I have read Chekhov’s plays in the past and some of his short stories here and there; one of the stories, “The House with the Mezzanine” I read last year in the anthology, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off: Love Quarrels from Anton Chekhov to ZZ Packer also appears in this brief collection.  Consisting of only five short stories -all about love- A Russian Affair is a bite-size taster of Chekhov’s mastery of the short story form.  As a classic Russian writer, Chekhov can intimidate but he is surprisingly accessible and I am a great fan of his style; in the fashion of my favourite short story writer, Katherine Mansfield, Chekhov’s short stories are perfect little pieces of art.

Reading “The House With the Mezzanine” a second time in this volume was enriching; the first time it didn’t make a strong impression on me but rereading it I realised how powerful an evocation of first love it was.  An artist’s story, narrated in the first-person with hindsight, he recalls visits with two sisters seven years previously; he quarrelled continually with outspoken Lida whilst shy Zhenya was compliant and admiring of both her older sister and the artist.  Like the first story “About Love”, it is not about unrequited love but about love that is not acted upon, that haunts in its intensity and regret.  These first two stories struck me as being reminiscent of Turgenev’s First Love and wondered how much Chekhov was influenced by his successor; I also checked to see whether they perhaps had the same translator, but they did not share similarities in that technical way but more fundamentally in tone.

Also in included in this collection is one of Chekhov’s more famous short stories, “The Lady with the Dog”, which is the adulterous Russian affair to which the title alludes; this story moves from young love explored in the earlier stories to the more difficult, all-consuming love.

A Russian Affair provides an insight into Chekhov’s writing style, is easy to read and makes for romantic reading with emotional depth.  With only five stories, it is a mere sample of what Chekhov has to offer, but it is enjoyable glimpse of his work that draws you in with its exploration of the emotional complexities of love.