Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World by
Irene Vallejo
My rating:
3 of 5 stars
There is nothing to really complain about with this book, but there's nothing to be excited about really either. This is not a history of Papyrus, nor is it necessarily about the invention of books (although that is covered, and I found it very interesting). This is more a journey through various topics the author finds interesting. The topics are indeed interesting, and they tie into paper, or writing, in some form or another. But they are chosen by the author for no apparent objective reason.
Conspicuously missing was the entire Asian continent. Indeed, anything East of the Levant. It would've been fascinating to read about how the Chinese used bamboo and silk for writing (and how these influenced the way Chinese characters could be carved, and therefore how they look).
Not to mention the fact that China lays claim to the invention of paper. It seems that might have been worthy of a mention.
The author also mentions the book as a major improvement to the scroll, but no mention of the accordion style used by Buddhist monks long before this.
It also would've been interesting to read about independent writing inventions and how they differed with/without paper, as in with the Americas.
Regardless, obviously it's not exhaustive, but just a collection of thoughts.
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The Passengers on the Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa
