Review - Lutyens and Rubinstein Bookshop

So Borders is no more and no one in the book world seems to know whether to cheer or cry over it. There are two distinct schools of thought: 1) Borders was crap 2) Borders was crap but at least it was an actual, physical bookshop and it was only stocking what we bought anyway.

There appear to be three culprits 1) Amazon 2) Celebrity biographies (Jordan is an entire subsection to herself within this category of blame) 3)us.

As Franklin Roosevelt said, ‘in a democracy, we get the government we deserve’. We all buy our own books, and we buy shit. So we’re sold shit. Come to think of it, our government’s pretty rubbish too. Oh, and we’re destroying our own planet.

Now, to counter this, along comes Lutyens and Rubinstein. An independent bookshop! Hurrah! If it won’t reverse climate change it must at least mean that actually what we’re doing is sticking it to the man and experiencing a resurgence in independent shops for independent people. Except for the fact that independent bookstores which have been around for generations in Charing Cross are closing down around us, driven out by ever-increasing rental prices.

None of this is to knock Lutyens and Rubinstein – it’s quite a nice bookshop. It’s got a great name for a bookshop – if one you want to be careful to practice before announcing to anyone that you want to impress that you’re going there. It’s very Notting Hill (it’s even been featured in Vogue: http://www.vogue.co.uk/blogs/the-vogue-blog/articles/091026-lutyens-and-rubinstein-book-shop.aspx)– if it’s sticking it to the man it’s doing so with a delicately gloved finger. Pretty, exclusive cards sit alongside pretty, exclusive perfumes, and behind them there’s some pretty, less exclusive books.

Actually, the perfume is pretty cool – designed by a former cabbie – I imagine working in a small, enclosed space instilled his passion for pleasant-smelling people. The concept behind the scents is brilliant – based essentially on intelligent nostalgia, one of his scents, ‘In The Library’, is based upon the scent of his favourite book, another is meant to invoke a seaside holiday – which it does – although I wasn’t sure I wanted to go round smelling like the seaside. It’s nice at the seaside, but a bit fishy for everyday. I wanted to like ‘In The Library’ best, but ended up getting the delicious ‘Gypsy Caravan Tea’, which smells like a romanticised gypsy caravan – Patchouli, leather-bound books and a hint of wood smoke. It was expensive – as I said, very Notting Hill.

The book choice was nice. That was all, though, nice. There were lots of classic novels, some poetry, and some general interest, slightly off-the-beaten-track in a Christmas present sort of way ones. Very conservative selection. Very Notting Hill. Obviously, still better than Borders. Beautifully decorated and a nice atmosphere – tea and coffee served downstairs at a trendy and not very comfortable looking table – but doing the best they could with a very small space. The assistant was lovely and pretty, much like the products she was selling. She told the man who bought his books in front of me that the book he was buying was her favourite. I wondered if that was true. It was Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair so I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

In a nutshell, it’s great to see an independent bookstore flourishing. They’d had a run on a fantastic sounding book called Women Who Read Are Dangerous after a complimentary review of their shop in The Guardian. (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/nov/29/borders-bookshops-independent-lutyens-rubinstein )Mind you, after the man had bought their only copy of The End of the Affair, I suppose there’d been a run on that too. Their extras – particularly the perfume, are a great touch, and whilst it would have been nice to see some books which weren’t ‘safe’ sellers and really out of the ordinary, a solid client base should allow them to experiment a bit more. I bought a couple of books that I hadn’t heard of before on the grounds they looked interesting – which is what being in a bookshop is all about. If only I hadn’t gone home and ordered Women Who Read Are Dangerous off Amazon afterwards.

Go to http://www.lutyensrubinstein.co.uk/ for more details.