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Review
Penelope Fitzgerald called this 'a fine defence for the liberating power of the book' and it is certainly a fascinating, revealing work which delves into the very purpose of this most natural and least questioned of pleasures. Taking in the theories of Flaubert: 'read in order to live' and Kafka: 'read in order to ask questions' and many, many more, Manguel studies the development of writing and reading from the first marks made in the sand to the development of the autocue and computers. Essential for anyone interested in any form of literature, and enhanced by some fascinating plates. (Kirkus UK)
A delightful set of interlinked essays that explore the history of reading, by a novelist (News From a Foreign Country Came, 1990) and anthologist (Other Fires, 1985, etc.). This is written more in the pursuit of learned pleasure than of pedantic knowledge, by a man plainly in love with books and reading. Its agreeably digressive path does not begin at the beginning and proceed chronologically, as one might expect a "history" to do. Rather, each chapter is a freestanding essay that takes up topics in the history of reading: the way reading has been taught and learned, how people read in public and in private, bookish means of divining the future, the idea of reading as a metaphor, the relation of that which is heard to that which is read. Manguel claims no governing concept here, but there is a striking idea that recurs in varied forms. It concerns what might be called the prerogative of the reader. The reader's imagination can transform a book "into a message that deciphers for him or her a question historically unrelated to the text or to its author. This transmigration of meaning can enlarge or impoverish the text itself. . . . Through ignorance, through faith, through intelligence, through trickery and cunning, through illumination, the reader rewrites the text with the same words of the original but under another heading, re-creating it, as it were, in the very act of bringing it into being." This explains not only the ability of the Bible and the classics to speak to successive generations, but also clarifies the deeply personal appeal of any favorite book: It says what we need it to say, what we wish we could say for or about ourselves. Manguel's urbane, unpretentious tone recalls that of a friend eager to share his knowledge and enthusiasm. His book, digressive, witty, surprising, is a pleasure. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
A delightful set of interlinked essays that explore the history of reading, by a novelist (News From a Foreign Country Came, 1990) and anthologist (Other Fires, 1985, etc.). This is written more in the pursuit of learned pleasure than of pedantic knowledge, by a man plainly in love with books and reading. Its agreeably digressive path does not begin at the beginning and proceed chronologically, as one might expect a "history" to do. Rather, each chapter is a freestanding essay that takes up topics in the history of reading: the way reading has been taught and learned, how people read in public and in private, bookish means of divining the future, the idea of reading as a metaphor, the relation of that which is heard to that which is read. Manguel claims no governing concept here, but there is a striking idea that recurs in varied forms. It concerns what might be called the prerogative of the reader. The reader's imagination can transform a book "into a message that deciphers for him or her a question historically unrelated to the text or to its author. This transmigration of meaning can enlarge or impoverish the text itself. . . . Through ignorance, through faith, through intelligence, through trickery and cunning, through illumination, the reader rewrites the text with the same words of the original but under another heading, re-creating it, as it were, in the very act of bringing it into being." This explains not only the ability of the Bible and the classics to speak to successive generations, but also clarifies the deeply personal appeal of any favorite book: It says what we need it to say, what we wish we could say for or about ourselves. Manguel's urbane, unpretentious tone recalls that of a friend eager to share his knowledge and enthusiasm. His book, digressive, witty, surprising, is a pleasure. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
This study of the history of reading goes from the earliest examples of the clay tablets and cuneiform of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt via the invention of printing in the 15th century to the birth of a mass reading public and today's digital revolution. It argues that it is the demands and expectations of the reader, acting alongside the creative will of the writer, that is the evolutionary motor of literary forms and genres. From man's first use of the written word simply as a form of reference, to the emergence of the first holy or devotional texts, and onto the development of fictions, both poetic and novelistic, this work aims to both challenge and enlighten.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Insightful and readable account of man's relationship with the written word. This is a timely account showing how the transmission of thoughts and ideas through the written word has changed through the evolution of culture, learning, and the physical form of the written word. At a time when the informational age pushes us towards a new relationships with the written word, it is worth taking stock of how we got to this point in our cultural history.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Mangel is a true dilettante and a man who truly knows where to be, when it comes to reading. He is a jew, risen in Argentina, but has traveled all over the world. As a teenager he read to Borges, who was already blind, so he could enjoy not only the reading, but the comments, too! He speaks several languajes and has lived in France, Canada, Israel...
The book makes a comprehensive history of the act of reading, is not a chronological history of how writing was invented, but more about the meaning of writing and reading to the person and to civilisation. He has built an essay on culture, on how culture is built on the shoulders of reading and writing. He coves from Sumer to Paris, from Buenos Aires to Pennsylvania. His knowledge is ample and superb. He goes from St Agustine to Walt Whitman, from Virgil to Kafka, and back again.
In the end, one is happy, truly elated to be able to read, to share this experience with so many people.
The book is also superbly illustrated, and one wonders how the author has managed to get hold (and to set in place) so much wisdom.
A true intelectual and esthetic joy.
The book makes a comprehensive history of the act of reading, is not a chronological history of how writing was invented, but more about the meaning of writing and reading to the person and to civilisation. He has built an essay on culture, on how culture is built on the shoulders of reading and writing. He coves from Sumer to Paris, from Buenos Aires to Pennsylvania. His knowledge is ample and superb. He goes from St Agustine to Walt Whitman, from Virgil to Kafka, and back again.
In the end, one is happy, truly elated to be able to read, to share this experience with so many people.
The book is also superbly illustrated, and one wonders how the author has managed to get hold (and to set in place) so much wisdom.
A true intelectual and esthetic joy.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I think this is a really great book which I have given a number of people as presents and they have all rated it highly.
Easy to read and a fascinating account of how we read.
Easy to read and a fascinating account of how we read.
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