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saidtheraina's review against another edition
4.0
Required reading in grad school. Kinda wish I could reread it every year. So good.
literallykalasin's review against another edition
2.0
This is a very competent, but in the end entirely workmanlike history of libraries through history, with a very heavy bias for the history of cultures that fall under the Abrahamic religious purview. With a subtitle like "An Unquiet History," you really expect some sparkle, but in that you would be mistaken. Rather, I think the subtitle is aimed at the lay reader who knows the library only as a stereotype. Anyone with a passing knowledge of history or indeed the inner working of libraries, will encounter no new or surprising information: librarians are fallible, formats for the transmission of texts change, stuff burns/breaks down/ages/gets censored/etc.
The problem does not lie in the fact that this information isn't interesting, because it is! Libraries are full of controversy and drama and characters. The real problem is that Matthew Battles isn't a very good writer. He tries to tell a story, and yet his only narrative theme is "the passing of time in a linear fashion." Not very compelling stuff. Also, Battles seemed less preoccupied with actual libraries and how they have operated historically, and more fascinated by the intellectual milieux that they inhabited. While arguably these go hand in hand, this book spent much more time talking about the intellectual rigors of various points in history than it did on their contemporaneous libraries.
The problem does not lie in the fact that this information isn't interesting, because it is! Libraries are full of controversy and drama and characters. The real problem is that Matthew Battles isn't a very good writer. He tries to tell a story, and yet his only narrative theme is "the passing of time in a linear fashion." Not very compelling stuff. Also, Battles seemed less preoccupied with actual libraries and how they have operated historically, and more fascinated by the intellectual milieux that they inhabited. While arguably these go hand in hand, this book spent much more time talking about the intellectual rigors of various points in history than it did on their contemporaneous libraries.
danchibnall's review against another edition
2.0
This is the Sunday of negative reviews.
Sadly, this book did not capture my interest at all despite the subject matter. The author spends too much time focused on certain particular areas of history and also loved to drop historical names like crazy. It was difficult keeping track of who he was talking about and why they were important. This book for me bordered on the boring.
I'm not entirely sure what I expected from this book, but it was as if I was reading someone's dissertation. It seemed focused at a particular audience and I guess, despite the fact I'm a librarian, I'm not in that audience.
I'm sure some of you will disagree with me (Kelsey, I think you've read this one) but I've read much better books about the history of libraries and their impact on society. Alberto Manguel's "Library at Night" is a great book.
Anyway, I like Matthew Battles and I've always enjoyed his articles in the past, but this book didn't do much for me.
Sadly, this book did not capture my interest at all despite the subject matter. The author spends too much time focused on certain particular areas of history and also loved to drop historical names like crazy. It was difficult keeping track of who he was talking about and why they were important. This book for me bordered on the boring.
I'm not entirely sure what I expected from this book, but it was as if I was reading someone's dissertation. It seemed focused at a particular audience and I guess, despite the fact I'm a librarian, I'm not in that audience.
I'm sure some of you will disagree with me (Kelsey, I think you've read this one) but I've read much better books about the history of libraries and their impact on society. Alberto Manguel's "Library at Night" is a great book.
Anyway, I like Matthew Battles and I've always enjoyed his articles in the past, but this book didn't do much for me.
sarah_dietrich's review against another edition
3.0
Matthew Battles' Library is a non-fiction account of the history of libraries. I enjoyed it overall. I wish it had been longer - more info on non-Western libraries, more focus on personal/private libraries, more detail on libraries in the Jewish ghettos during WWII. Weighing in at a slim 222 pages, it certainly could have been longer.
My first book finished in 2017.
My first book finished in 2017.
milamoo's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Fully of interesting and useful information, but some of the vignettes were wholly uninteresting to me. I skipped them and continued on to the more informative sections.
rustadmd's review against another edition
2.0
This book about the history of libraries relies primarily on anecdotes about particular libraries and librarians. The author sometimes gets lost in the ideals surrounding a library. While he does cover both the positives and negatives (such as Nazi cooperation), this book was not comprehensive enough for me to feel I now understand library history.
nellkup06's review against another edition
4.0
I learned so much about libraries. Well written and not overwhelming.