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A review by danchibnall
Library: An Unquiet History by Matthew Battles
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.