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The Library at Night (Paperback)

by Alberto Manguel (Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Yale University Press; 1 edition (April 28 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0300151306
ISBN-13: 978-0300151305
Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 14 x 2.8 cm
Shipping Weight: 477 g

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #773,580 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"'... crowded with memorable tales of reading as rescue, as solace, as liberation, in times of want, fear or tyranny... The Library at Night revels in the physical pleasure of drifting and dipping through the Gutenberg galaxy of ink-on-paper books.' Boyd Tonkin interview with Alberto Manguel, The Independent '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.' Peter Conrad, The Observer"

Product Description

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.

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4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars perambulating through the stacks, Nov 5 2006

By	Ian Gordon Malcomson (Smithers, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Library at Night (Hardcover)

I have often said that next to the comforts of my bed are the books that make up my library. To this end, it helps that I have the shelving for many of my books right beside me as I settle down for a late night's read. Manguel's treatise on the hidden nature of libraries throughout the world affirms the point that libraries are the outward expression of an expanding personal search for the illusions of knowledge and truth. Why do we, the self-confessed bibliophiles that we are, buy books simply to read and then protectively place them on shelves to collect dust like trophies and, if we feel gratified, perhaps, guardedly loan one or two to friends as if they were a costly jewel? Manguel provides some intriguing and surprising answers to these and other puzzling questions in this study that poses more like a psychological thriller than a history of libraries. Great read for anyone who has a love affair with books.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring book about books, Feb 26 2007

By	Kelly Rossiter (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Library at Night (Hardcover)

The Library at Night is for anyone who has ever said "Yes, actually, I do need all of these books." Alberto Manguel has written an inspiring book about keeping books. He explores all aspects of libraries dropping little facts and bits of wisdom that he has gleaned over the years from collecting and living with printed material. He has so many books that when he lived in Toronto he was forced to shelve them on his front porch. His children complained that they felt the need of a library card in order to enter their home. There is plenty of information here regarding the history of libraries, great collections, famous library buildings, great librarians and certainly Manguel's own library. A charming and erudite writer, Manguel is no book snob. Detective fiction, poetry, history, fiction, non-fiction all have a place in his book room. One of my favourite chapters was about organizing libraries - do you organize them by language (Manguel reads in 5 or 6 languages)?, by country of origin?, alphabetically by author?, by category?, do you separate works by best friends because they don't write in the same category? These are weighty issues for anyone with more than a handful of books. I have a library and I have a lot of books, although not nearly as many as Manguel, so I was interested in his response to the ever popular question "Have you actually read all of these books?". His simple reply is "Well, I've certainly opened them all".

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