Synopses & Reviews
Inspired by the process of creating a library for his fifteenth-century home near the Loire, in France, Alberto Manguel, the acclaimed writer on books and reading, has taken up the subject of libraries. and#8220;Libraries,and#8221; he says, and#8220;have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as I can remember Iand#8217;ve been seduced by their labyrinthine logic.and#8221; In this personal, deliberately unsystematic, and wide-ranging book, he offers a captivating meditation on the meaning of libraries.
and#160;
Manguel, a guide of irrepressible enthusiasm, conducts a unique library tour that extends from his childhood bookshelves to the and#8220;completeand#8221; libraries of the Internet, from Ancient Egypt and Greece to the Arab world, from China and Rome to Google. He ponders the doomed library of Alexandria as well as the personal libraries of Charles Dickens, Jorge Luis Borges, and others. He recounts stories of people who have struggled against tyranny to preserve freedom of thoughtand#8212;the Polish librarian who smuggled books to safety as the Nazis began their destruction of Jewish libraries; the Afghani bookseller who kept his store open through decades of unrest. Oral and#8220;memory librariesand#8221; kept alive by prisoners, libraries of banned books, the imaginary library of Count Dracula, the library of books never writtenand#8212;Manguel illuminates the mysteries of libraries as no other writer could. With scores of wonderful images throughout, The Library at Night is a fascinating voyage through Mangueland#8217;s mind, memory, and vast knowledge of books and civilizations.
Review
andquot;How wonderfully appropriate that the endlessly inquisitive Alberto Manguel should consider the fascinating concept of curiosity. Fueled by a lifetime of reading, and with Dante as his guide, he embarks on an elegantly conceived excursion of the mind, driven by a single, timeless wordandmdash;why?andquot;andmdash;Nicholas A. Basbanes, author of On Paper and A Gentle Madness
Review
andquot;Manguel vaults over the traditional fences of genre, literary history, and discipline with breathtaking virtuosity. He is the Montaigne de nos jours and, as regards this latest effort, if they put another rover on Mars they should call it and#39;Manguel.and#39;andquot;andmdash;John Sutherland, University College London
Review
andquot;For Alberto Manguel reading is a pilgrimage, a secular-sacred encounter with mystery, and a way of reinvigorating the dead. Dante and Montaigne and Pinocchioand#39;s Collodi are his guides and his intimates in this passionate quest for knowledge, but it is the state of inquiry itself and even doubt that define for him the pleasures of curiosity. With his loving, keenly felt, highly enjoyable delving into writers and their writings, Manguel argues for literatureandrsquo;s revelatory illusions, its epiphanies and its testimony.andquot;andmdash;Marina Warner, author of Stranger Magic: Charmed States and the Arabian Nights
Review
andquot;Alberto Manguel is a wanderer among books, immensely curious in such an intriguing way that he lets his readers easily discover the fruits of his curiosity.andquot;andmdash;Roberto Calasso
Review
andquot;This is a dynamic, lively book that leads the reader to appreciate the pleasures and the power of curiosity. In writing its remarkable history Alberto Manguel sees it both as a primary passion and as a force behind all intellectual experiences.andnbsp; In a sort of encyclopedic narrative Manguel journeys over the most distant placesandmdash;from Danteandrsquo;s Florence to Rome, Jerusalem, Athens, and Latin America, etc.andmdash;and he invites us to a grand tour of wonders and surprises.andquot;andmdash;Giuseppe Mazzotta, Yale University
Review
andquot;Manguel travels through books in the same way he travels through various countries. He meets new friends and asks questions of them about himself, and about life. In a style which is all his own, he delights us with the unlimited bounds of human curiosity.andquot;andmdash;Lina Bolzoni, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
Review
"Books jump out of their jackets when Manguel opens them and dance in delight as they make contact with his ingenious, voluminous brain. He is not the keeper of a silent cemetery, but a master of bibliographical revels."and#8212;Peter Conrad, The Observer
Review
and#8220;In this excellent collection of essays. . . Manguel reminds us of the community we join every time we open a book, be it something new or a treasured volume from our youth.and#8221;--
Publishers WeeklyReview
"If there are such things as a musicianand#8217;s musician and a writerand#8217;s writer, one could argue that Manguel (
The Library at Night) is a readerand#8217;s reader.and#8221;--
Library Journalandnbsp;
andnbsp;
Review
and#8220;Essays of this quality are worth reading, or rereading, wherever they are encountered.and#8221;--John Gross, New York Review of Books
Review
and#8220;For those of us who are serious about books and literature, reading amounts to an almost sacred act. Many famous authors have extolled the pleasures of the printed page, of course, but to my mind none in recent years has done it so expertly or eloquently as Alberto Manguel. Happily, a collection of his best literary meditations is now on offer,
A Reader on Reading, and it is a must for book lovers."--John Sledge,
Mobile Press-Register
Review
and#8220;The range of
A Reader on Reading is in itself as intriguing as that of a good library. . . . A book full of good things.and#8221;--Michael Dirda, Barnes and Noble Review
andnbsp;
Review
andnbsp;and#8220;A meditation on and#8216;the art of readingand#8217; . . . [and]andnbsp;a celebration of and#8216;the readerand#8217;s whims--trust in pleasure and faith in haphazardness.and#8217;
and#8221;-
-The New Yorker
Review
"In my personal library of imaginary places, and more specifically on the bookcases near my desk, I maintain a shelf reserved for brilliant readers. There's rarely any turnover. Borges, Calvino, Benjamin and Zweig (plus a few other steadfast patrons).andnbsp;With Manguel's
The Library at Night, that will clearly have to change."and#8212;Allen Kurzweil, author of
The Grand Complication and
A Case of CuriositiesReview
and#8220;In a good book, certain passages stand out because they are well written. In a great book, nothing stands out because nothing can.
The Library at Night is one of those great books.and#8221;and#8212;
The Globe and MailReview
"Alberto Manguel . . . the Argentine-born author and bibliophile celebrates books as brothers, as crucial companions for a lifetime."and#8212;Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune
Review
"[A] deliciously rich and lavishly illustrated book of books. . . . [A] magical book."and#8212;Jeff Simon, The Buffalo News (Editor's Choice)
Review
"Manguel has assembled thumbnail biographies, entertaining anecdotes, close readings, and photographic documentation into a kind of commonplace book stitched together by his amiable prose. . . . The Library at Night . . . communicates the joy and the solace of being yourself a reader."and#8212;Brian Sholis, BookForum
Review
"In The Library at Night, Alberto Manguel . . . lovingly explores the nooks and crannies of this enchanted domain. To call Mr. Manguel a 'bookman' would be the grossest of understatements. He lives and breathes books."and#8212;Eric Ormsby, New York Sun
Review
"Alberto Manguel has brought out a richly enjoyable book, absolutely enthralling for anyone who loves to read and an inspiration for anybody who has ever dreamed of building a library of his or her own."and#8212;Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World
Review
"The success of The Library at Night is the product of a mind made by reading, and the realization of its own essential argument: The library is a mirror in which we find ourselves and our world reflecting and interpenetrating."and#8212;Matthew Battles, Wilson Quarterly
Review
"To read this book is to be invited into a world in which books are both, luxury and necessity, destiny and serendipity, to experience that sweet moment when the world falls away and we are leftandnbsp;along with the words on the page."and#8212;Susan Larson, New Orleans Times-Picayune
Review
"A vivaciously erudite justification for society's inexorable efforts to collect, order and store information. . . . Book lovers will luxuriate in these earnest and impressively researched pages."and#8212;Christine Thomas, Miami Herald
Review
". . . a pleasureand#8212;especially at this time of . . . internet related uncertainty for libraries. For those . . . who are distressed by the amnesia of the Web, this book is . . . an excellent example of how to rejuvenate the past and continue its conversations."and#8212;Ben Carlson, The Atlantic.com
Review
and#8220;A bold undertaking . . . meditative, questing, and essayistic. . . . Manguel takes the broad sweep that his subject demands. andnbsp;He is a humane and judicious commentator whose wide reading is matchedand#8212;something not always the caseand#8212;by broad sympathies. . . .
The Library at Night remains a remarkable bookand#8212;remarkable above all for its openness to the possibilities that books hold out, and for the passion with which it tries to instill the same attitude in its readers.and#8221;--John Gross,
New York Review of BooksReview
"Like Montaigne's essays and Borges's fables, Manguel's ruminations on libraries are inviting, discursive, learned, playul, and imaginative."--Michael J. Ryan, Papers of the Biliographical Society of America
Review
andldquo;An erudite analysis and exploration of curiosity through the authorand#39;s own works and those of countless others. . . . Among the fictional or mythical characters that readers meet on this journey through the history of mankind are Eve, Pandora, Ulysses, and Ebenezer Scrooge, as well as a host of real scholars, religious figures, authors, poets, artists, philosophers and even economists. Human beings are, Manguel notes, self-conscious animals, capable of experiencing the world by asking questions and putting our curiosity into words, then turning those words into stories that lead to further questions.andrdquo;andmdash;Kirkus Reviews
Review
andldquo;The search for knowledge, and the discontents associated with that search, provide a loose pretext for this rambling literary meditation.andrdquo;andmdash;Publishers Weekly
Review
andldquo;Certain books are so absorbing, and so wide-ranging, that even the index at the back becomes entertaining. Curiosity (Yale University Press), a new work by Alberto Manguel, falls in that category.andrdquo;andmdash;Robert Fulford, National Post
Review
andldquo;Elegant and erudite, his book is a celebration of critical readingandmdash;a challenging, enjoyable and essential craft that is in danger these days of becoming a lost art.andrdquo;andmdash;Glenn Altschuler, Psychology Today
Review
andldquo;A profound, insightful look into the human proclivity for questions, through literature.andrdquo;andmdash;Noah Cruickshank, Shelf Awareness for Readers
Review
andlsquo;Reading Mr. Manguel is like taking a city walk or an unhurried meal with an erudite, cosmopolitan friendandhellip; Few cultures or historical periods are closed to him. He hops knowledgeably and divertingly from topic to topic. Yet he never strays far from his true interest, reading itself.andrsquo;andmdash;
The Economist.
Review
andldquo;Curiosity is a book about the Talmud and the Mars rover, sophistry and knot-languages, David Hume and reading machines, Zoroaster and Pinocchio andmdash; and, periodically, curiosity and Dante. [Manguel] embraces the character of his own thinking andmdash; miscellaneous, excursive, fragmentary. . . . Closing the last page of this book, I wondered if perhaps Manguel intended to demonstrate curiosity in the behavior of his prose more than to discuss it. In many ways the book ought to be approached as a charming portrait of the curious man.andrdquo;andmdash;Robert Minto, Open Letters Monthly
Review
andldquo;[Manguelandrsquo;s] andlsquo;writing with what others have written,andrsquo; his insistence on being called a reader rather than a critic or an editor, is a noble stance, and he has been faithful to it. May he and his library long flourish.andrdquo;andmdash;Philip Marchand, National Post
Review
andldquo;An eloquent blend of philosophical review, literary audit and memoir. . . . There are plenty of intriguing images and illustrations embedded within the text that help to place us in an earlier time, but a readerandrsquo;s experience with language can also be constructively reset with the help of Manguel. . . . Reading Manguelandrsquo;s book is a pleasing reminder that time, as much as anything, changes our relationship with art, ideas, but also with language itself.andrdquo;andmdash;Iain Reid, Toronto Globe and Mail
Review
andlsquo;Alberto Manguelandrsquo;s dizzying account of curiosity is a fitting testament to his life as a literary evangelist.andrsquo;andmdash;Duncan White, the Daily Telegraph.andnbsp;
Review
andlsquo;Curiosity is amongst the most interesting parades of humane knowledge, wry speculation and intellectual versatility that any curious person might hope to readandhellip; Time and again Manguel retrieves dusty stuff from the out-trays of history and restores them to beguiling currency.andrsquo;andmdash;Frederic Raphael, Literary Review.andnbsp;
Review
andlsquo;Enormously enjoyable about the pleasures of readingandhellip; [a book] about how books help us to be thoughtful, feeling human beings.andrsquo;andmdash;Jonathan Bate, New Statesman.andnbsp;andnbsp;
Synopsis
An eclectic history of human curiosity, a great feast of ideas, and a memoir of a reading life from the internationally celebrated Alberto Manguel
Synopsis
An eclectic history of human curiosity, a great feast of ideas, and a memoir of a reading life from an internationally celebrated reader and thinker
Curiosity has been seen through the ages as the impulse that drives our knowledge forward and the temptation that leads us toward dangerous and forbidden waters. The question "Why?" has appeared under a multiplicity of guises and in vastly different contexts throughout the chapters of human history. Why does evil exist? What is beauty? How does language inform us? What defines our identity? What is our responsibility to the world? In Alberto Manguel's most personal book to date, the author tracks his own life of curiosity through the reading that has mapped his way.
Manguel chooses as his guides a selection of writers who sparked his imagination. He dedicates each chapter to a single thinker, scientist, artist, or other figure who demonstrated in a fresh way how to ask "Why?" Leading us through a full gallery of inquisitives, among them Thomas Aquinas, David Hume, Lewis Carroll, Rachel Carson, Socrates, and, most importantly, Dante, Manguel affirms how deeply connected our curiosity is to the readings that most astonish us, and how essential to the soaring of our own imaginations.
Synopsis
Curiosity has been seen through the ages as the impulse that drives our knowledge forward and the temptation that leads us toward dangerous and forbidden waters. The question andldquo;Why?andrdquo; has appeared under a multiplicity of guises and in vastly different contexts throughout the chapters of human history. Why does evil exist? What is beauty? How does language inform us? What defines our identity? What is our responsibility to the world? In Alberto Manguelandrsquo;s most personal book to date, the author tracks his own life of curiosity through the reading that has mapped his way.
Manguel chooses as his guides a selection of writers who sparked his imagination. He dedicates each chapter to a single thinker, scientist, artist, or other figure who demonstrated in a fresh way how to ask andldquo;Why?andrdquo; Leading us through a full gallery of inquisitives, among them Thomas Aquinas, David Hume, Lewis Carroll, Rachel Carson, Socrates, and, most importantly, Dante, Manguel affirms how deeply connected our curiosity is to the readings that most astonish us, and how essential to the soaring of our own imaginations.
and#160;
Synopsis
In this major collection of his essays, Alberto Manguel, whom George Steiner has called and#8220;the Casanova of reading,and#8221; argues that the activity of reading, in its broadest sense, defines our species. and#8220;We come into the world intent on finding narrative in everything,and#8221; writes Manguel, and#8220;landscape, the skies, the faces of others, the images and words that our species create.and#8221; Reading our own lives and those of others, reading the societies we live in and those that lie beyond our borders, reading the worlds that lie between the covers of a book are the essence of
A Reader on Reading.The thirty-nine essays in this volume explore the crafts of reading and writing, the identity granted to us by literature, the far-reaching shadow of Jorge Luis Borges, to whom Manguel read as a young man, and the links between politics and books and between books and our bodies. The powers of censorship and intellectual curiosity, the art of translation, and those and#8220;numinous memory palaces we call librariesand#8221; also figure in this remarkable collection. For Manguel and his readers, words, in spite of everything, lend coherence to the world and offer us and#8220;a few safe places, as real as paper and as bracing as ink,and#8221; to grant us room and board in our passage.
About the Author
Alberto Manguel is one of the world's great readers. He is a member of PEN, a Guggenheim Fellow, and an Officer of the French Order of Arts and Letters. He has been the recipient of numerous prizes, including the Prix Mand#233;dicis in essays for A History of Reading, and the McKitterick Prize for his novel News from a Foreign Country Came. Among his most recent books is The Library at Night, also published by Yale University Press. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages.