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Loading... The Library at Night (2006)by Alberto Manguel
  
» 6 more Books Read in 2016 (267) Top Five Books of 2016 (528) Bibliomemoirs (22) Favourite Books (1,231) Books Read in 2021 (4,670) Used books to buy next (455) No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) lschiff | Sep 24, 2023 |  The book describes libraries of the past, and in many forms and settings. I found out that the famous Library at Alexandria did not burn down in one big conflagration, it more just withered away. He writes of secret libraries, historical libraries, national libraries, imagined libraries, book burnings (sadly they still happen, and here in the United States), and much more. We live in a society where books are being banned and librarians and teachers can be arrested for carrying or promoting certain books. Where the U.S government can flag library patrons for books that they take out. Funds are being dramatically cut to libraries. This is very sad and terrible. For many, libraries are the only source of books, study, and reading. Libraries are necessary for a free society. I think I need to re-read Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451... Manguel writes almost poetically in his descriptions, and this was a joy to read. Anyone who loves books and libraries (everyone in Goodreads?) will enjoy this. And use an "I read banned books" bookmark-I did!! (  ) CRChapin | Jul 8, 2023 |  ) emilymcmc | Jun 24, 2023 | ) imagists | Sep 26, 2021 | I have bookcases in the rooms we live in, not a separate library with a wall from a medieval castle. Well, good for him, but it makes relating to what he writes very difficult. I gave up fairly early. ( )1  MarthaJeanne | Jan 30, 2020 |
 The Library at Night, fortunately, is more than a tour of the microcosm contained in Manguel's converted barn. Its fondness for leathery bindings and its fussy annoyance about the 'evil white scabs' of price-stickers slimily glued to book jackets soon give way to a crusading defence of the library as a mental sanctuary, a repository of memory, the only kind of home that has any emotional value for Manguel the deracinated cosmopolitan.  Manguel beschrijft de vele facetten en problemen van het verzamelen, zowel voor de particuliere verzamelaar als voor de professionele bibliothecaris. Wie het boek van Alberto Manguel leest, maakt een boeiende en interessante reis door de boekenwereld van vele eeuwen. Boeiende beschrijvingen, doortrokken met anekdotes die in Manguels fabelachtige geheugen liggen opgeslagen. Ik raad iedereen die meer dan honderd boeken heeft aan dit boek te kopen en te lezen De bibliotheek bij nacht is een boek over de manieren waarop de mens door de eeuwen heen boeken heeft verzameld en bibliotheken heeft vormgegeven. Manguel is niet alleen geïnteresseerd in geschiedenis en architectuur, maar ook in de psychologie van de bibliothecaris, waarbij hij volop ruimte biedt aan anekdotes die ergens in zijn fabelachtige geheugen lagen opgeslagen („Ik denk in citaten”). Den spränglärde Alberto Manguel har skrivit en faktaspäckad bibliotekshistoria med poetiska och en del humoristiska och tragikomiska inslag. Om dock, som sagt, alltför välfylld Manguels bok har den där sällsynta kombinationen av lätthet och tyngd, oväntade infall och uppfordrande eftertanke. Belongs to Publisher SeriesActes Sud, Babel (937)
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. "Libraries," he says, "have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as I can remember I've been seduced by their labyrinthine logic." In this personal, deliberately unsystematic, and wide-ranging book, he offers a captivating meditation on the meaning of libraries. Manguel, a guide of irrepressible enthusiasm, conducts a unique library tour that extends from his childhood bookshelves to the "complete" 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 thought-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 "memory libraries" kept alive by prisoners, libraries of banned books, the imaginary library of Count Dracula, the library of books never written-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 Manguel's mind, memory, and vast knowledge of books and civilizations. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)027Information Library and Information Sciences General Libraries; Reports, etc.LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.11)
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