The library at night by Alberto Manguel

The library at night, by Alberto Manguel.

Libraries, whether my own or shared with a greater reading public, have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as I can remember I’ve been seduced by their labyrinthine logic, which suggests that reason (if not art) rules over a cocophonous arrangement of books. From Foreword, The library at night (pg 4)

I went through a stage last year where I read nothing but books about books and libraries. I was going through the stages of setting up my own small but intimate library in the spare room. I spent a lot of time in libraries, my own, other people’s as well as imaginary ones. I read their books because I felt a connection with them – they were booklovers and lovers of the bibliotech itself.

I read The library at night at the peak of my compulsion. The book is an account of Manguel’s own study of the history and mystery of libraries. He begins with a personal description of his own library – a converted fifteenth century barn in Loire, western France. Throughtout fifteen themed chapters Manguel returns to his own library and his own attitudes. His love of libraries and books is echoed in his prose, which is eloquent and candid.

I have no feeling of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have unlimited patience. They will wait for me till the end of my days. They don’t require that I pretend to know them all… The library at night, Alberto Manguel, pg 254-255

This is easily one of my favourite books.

My rating: 5/5

The art of looking sideways

I love books and I love to read. I try to read from every category; naturally I have my favourites. One of these, from my own humble library, is The art of looking sideways, by the late Alan Fletcher. The book is like a hardcover curiosity cabinet. Fletcher says the book “has no thesis, is neither a whodunnit nor a how-to-do-it, has no beginning, middle or end. It’s a journey without a destination.” It’s full of trivia, quotes, anecdotes, images and random thoughts. Open a page at random and peer into the mind of Alan Fletcher. At over 500 pages it will be a long time before I tire of this gem.

The book thief

This brief review has been transferred from The Sunlit Desk.

Narrated by Death itself during war-time Germany, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, tells a story of Liesel Meminger, a German girl with a penchant for books. Liesel steals books to feed her fascination, but it is her relationship with a Jewish man, Vandenburg, whom her foster parents give refuge to, that really makes this story for me. Hiding in the basement Vandeburg teaches Liesel to read and write so she can understand the books she’s stolen (her first acquisition is The Gravediggers Handbook). For her birthday he writes her a story and illustrates it with crude drawings. He calls his book The Standover Man, which is short and simplistic but beautifully done. The Book Thief is an incredibly well crafted book told during a time when men were destroyed as easily as the books they wrote. It is intense but very rewarding reading. I read it like it was the most important thing I’d ever do. Highly recommended reading.

In fact: the best of creative non fiction

Forgive the brevity of this post, but I’m in the process of transferring some posts from another blog. In fact: The best of creative nonfiction, edited by Lee Gutkind

If you like reading creative nonfiction, this will be a really good read for you.  Each of the twenty-five essays represents the best taken from the journal Creative Nonfiction. At the end of each essay the writer offers advice for beginner writers which could apply to most types of writing I suppose. Most of the essays are engrossing, so much so that I had to pace myself and read only one essay at a time so I wouldn’t finish it too soon. I still read it cover to cover in a day and a half.

A quote

“In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.” – Mark Twain