Between Memory and Oblivion
A bibliophile has a grand adventure in the musing novel Between Memory and Oblivion.
In Peter Briscoe’s meditative novel Between Memory and Oblivion, an isolated antiquarian bookseller works to complete an esoteric collection.
Michael parlayed his passion for books into his career as a bookseller. His business begins to collapse as readers and institutions shift toward digital formats. Still, he pursues titles for his own collection and for libraries around the world, maintaining a professional yet friendly rivalry with competing librarians by gifting them rare volumes to enrich their shelves.
On a country‑hopping quest, Michael reconnects with Elise, his on‑again, off‑again love. He’s hesitant in their interactions, while she holds him to account: “What I want wasn’t complicated.” He also uncovers the story of Gabriel Naudé, the seventeenth‑century scholar known as “the best‑read man” who founded a library to safeguard human knowledge.
The pace is unhurried, but quiet intensity runs beneath its pages. Michael moves through abandoned bookshops where creaking floorboards and the must of aged paper evoke both isolation and wonder. The book’s deliberate rhythm mirrors his internal struggle: He is driven by his fervent attachment to physical books, and he is unable to forge the intimate connections he yearns for. His quest for exotic tomes reflects his resistance to emotional openness; his long‑term friends and lovers know he’s closed off, but they still work to open him up.
The prose is precise, with a strong rhythm and cadence. Its short, clipped sentences mirror Michael’s avoidance of difficult feelings, while more expansive passages capture his deep, contemplative love for the written word. The bookstores spring to life in vivid, visual vignettes: “The dull gleam of gilt lettering under dim lamps,” for example, transforms a mundane shelf into a cinematic tableau.
After Michael becomes aware of Naudé’s legacy, the narrative begins to alternate between his pursuits and digressions to cover the French librarian’s life. Naudé’s expedition to preserve printed works deepens its thematic meditation on memory versus oblivion, suggesting that without active care, stories may slip away from human recollection. While the historical interludes enrich the novel’s intellectual heft, they are sometimes didactic regarding the politics of preservation, diverting attention from Michael’s personal discoveries.
True to its contemplative spirit, the novella eschews dramatic twists in favor of quiet triumph. Michael secures his latest acquisition and, in a gesture both literal and symbolic, entrusts it to his assistant for digitization, passing the torch of preservation onward. The conclusion is hopeful, too, suggesting that though the world may embrace intangible formats, stewards like Michael ensure that physical books will endure too.
Between Memory and Oblivion is a reflective novel about a lonely man who celebrates the tactile beauty of physical books.
Reviewed by
John M. Murray
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
