A History of ReadingIn this marvelous book, acclaimed around the world, Alberto Manguel takes us on a fascinating exploration of what it means to be a reader of books. A History of Reading is a brilliant reminder of why we cherish the act of reading—despite distractions throughout the ages, from the Inquisition to the lures of cyberspace. He shows us what happens when we read; who we become; and how reading teaches us how to live. He reminds us that we live in books as well as among them—how we find our own stories in books, and traces of our lives. He shows us how our reading habits have developed over the centuries, and how, ever since humans first transcribed their thoughts and deeds on clay and papyrus, the act of reading is itself a part of being human. Alberto Manguel is a lover of reading, and he brings a lover’s delight and enthusiasm to his history of reading. His stories take us across a breathtaking range of time and experiences. From the invention of the reader to Pliny the Younger’s first lip-synch in history; from the moment when Alexander the Great’s conquering army watched, amazed, as their captain read a letter from his mother—but silently—to himself!—to reading clubs in medieval France; from the Great Camel Library of the Grand Vizir of Persia, who trained his camels to walk in alphabetical order, to the ancient delights of bedroom reading and the modern horrors of book burning in Nazi Germany; from cuneiform and codexes to the invention of printing and to Penguins; from the creation of eyeglasses to the hypnotics of hypertext—the story of reading is laid open here for our pleasure. |
Contents
THE LAST PAGE | |
ACTS OF READING | |
The Silent Readers | |
The Book of Memory | |
Learning to Read | |
The Missing First Page | |
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according act of reading ancient Anthony Comstock Aristotle audience Beatus Rhenanus became become Bible Biblia Pauperum Bibliothèque Nationale Book of Hours Borges Buenos Aires Callimachus Cambridge catalogue centuries later Christ Christian Church classics codex Constantine copy depicted early eyes fiction French German Greek hand history of reading Ibid images imagined invention Jorge Luis Borges Kafka King Labé Labé's language Latin letters Libri listener literature lived London Louise Labé manuscript Mary meaning medieval memory Middle Ages mother never novels Oxford Paris Petrarch photo credit Pliny Pliny the Younger poems poet public readings Quoted read out loud reader Rilke Roman Rome Saint Augustine scholar scribe scroll Sei Shonagon Sélestat sense sibyl silent reading society sometimes stories symbol tablets teacher Thomas translation verses Virgil voice volumes Walt Whitman Walter Benjamin Whitman women words writing written wrote York