Nobody Knows Anything

Welcome to Diane Patterson's eclectic blog about what strikes her fancy

Ode to the Moleskine

Posted on Written by

In the comments to my last entry, Pooks asked, “What is a Moleskine?”

The quick answer is, “It’s a notebook.”

large01.gif

The longer answer is, “It’s a notebook with great paper and a envelope on the back cover and an oilskin cover and a sewn binding and the whole thing is kept tightly shut with an elastic band that makes a satisfying snap as you close your notebook for the day after a session of fantastic writing and it’s an object of adoration for quite a few people out there who would rather pay an outrageous sum for a beautiful, useful object like this than a dollar-ninety-seven for a cheap spiral-bound notebook at the drugstore (not that there’s anything wrong with dollar-ninety-seven cheap spiral-bound notebooks if that’s what you like).”

You can pick the style of notebook that’s best for you. First of all, there’s the large (13x21cm) and the small (9x14cm). Then you can choose whether you want blank, squared, ruled, or sketchbook paper. There are also the Moleskine diaries — week at a glance, or a page-per-day. And there are the new Moleskines: the music book and the storyboard book. There’s also something Moleskine sells that is three thin books in one package — there’s no oilskin cover, no elastic band, what’s the point?

The Moleskine notebook lies flat on the table, waiting for you to write or sketch something brilliant in it. The acid-free paper is fantastic for writing on. Cheap paper is rough, an impediment to the ballpoint. But Moleskine paper is smooth and lets your hand fly across the page. It has that pocket in back, so you can keep receipts, movie tickets, love notes on cocktail napkins, photos of loved ones. And no matter how much you jam in that pocket, that elastic band around the notebook is going to keep the whole kit-and-kaboodle together — you won’t lose anything.

Each Moleskine comes with a page of what is undoubtedly overblown (or outright made up) propaganda from the manufacturer about the great authors who have used Moleskine notebooks. Who cares? The notebook itself is all the inducement you need to keep using them.

I first read about Moleskine fanaticism on Metafilter. There is a fan site, not to mention a variety of fan groups on sites like Orkut. There are pages with tips on how to get the most out of your Moleskine. You can find them at Barnes and Noble and Borders now, or you can buy them in bulk.

I myself now prefer the large blank page edition, although if I ever start carrying my big handbag again, I may have to pick up a small notebook to tuck in there for special occasions. I am considering buying one of the new storyboard books, just to see what it’s like. I think that would be something I’d use when fleshing out a screenplay though — what’s the important visual here?

I love my Moleskine. It’s not just another notebook. It’s an inspiration.

Comments

  1. I don’t remember ever writing anything by hand that ended being something I wanted to keep. I’ve bought blank books before because they look cool, but after maybe copying a couple of poems or something into them, they gather dust. Because first, I rarely write by hand, anyway. My hands cramp, my handwriting is terrible, and my style of writing involves lots of backing up, deleting, etc., before I get a sentence on a page that even begins to make sense.

    All this to say, that moleskine is the neatest looking thing with a way cool history and I’d love to be the kind of person who would actually use it, but damn. I’m not.

    Okay, so do you then line them up on a shelf and keep them forever after you’ve written in them? Or do you more or less treat them like spiral notebooks that get trashed after they’ve served their usefulness?

  5. I’m pretty sure it’s mol-a-skeen-a, because it’s a notebook made by an Italian company. Of course, they were originally French, which would be mol-eh-skeen-ne, I think. But I go with “mol-a-skeen-a” until the information desk person says they have no idea what I’m talking about, and then I say “mole-skin.”