The Library at Night by Alberto ManguelMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you are a lover of books (and libraries), as I assume many people on this website are, then you will likely love this book.
If you aren't, this will be a dull book where nothing happens.
I finished this book surprisingly quickly. It is chock-full of interesting tidbits and pieces of information about libraries, books, readers, authors, and ancillary topics.
I was surprised to read how certain libraries, like the Library of Congress, have destroyed more books than were destroyed in the burning of the library of Alexandria. Putting them (faultily, it turns out) onto microfiche usually meant destroying the originals. His example of the scanning of the Domesday book and all the time and effort it took (and how it was subsequently unreadable) is very interesting.
Also interesting was how librarians saved books that were headed for the landfill by clandestinely stamping false withdrawal dates on them, thereby making them seem more popular than they were (p. 72)
Some highlighted quotes:
"According to (Richard) Semon, memory is the quality that distinguishes living from dead matter." (p. 203)
"Tradition tells us that words, not light, came first out of the primordial darkness." (p. 269)
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