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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
fast-paced
It felt like an inside secret that was finally being expressed. I love the love for books that was so frankly expressed! Great read, would love to read more from this author.
El libro más emotivo que he leído en mucho tiempo. Es una carta de amor a los libros, a las bibliotecas personales, a las historias que teje cada lector cuando lee, cuando guarda libros, cuando los regala. También es una historia sobre las personas que nos acercan a los libros. Espero releerlo pronto.
من عاشق خوندن کتابهاییم که درباره کتاب و کتابخوانی نوشته شدن.
I don't know if I've ever been so comforted by the words of a book. Except that one essay with the footnotes, I plan to read this over and over again.
This collection of essays is extraordinarily intellectual and bookish with plenty of unfamiliar terms. The subject matter is very cerebral but the quirky, personal stories she shares make the stories accessible and very amusing. The topics chosen for the collection of essays are eclectic and unexpected, but they all demonstrate Fadiman's fervor for books and literature from all time periods.
Growing up in a household full of books and passionate readers, Fadiman continued to pursue her love of reading and writing throughout her entire life and chose a spouse with the same zeal for books. In these essays, she references a LOT of other written works, most of which I have never heard of because of my preference for contemporary works. But I'm sure I would have gotten a lot more out of these essays if I were familiar with them.
Overall, this collection is well-written and overwhelmingly literary and such a tribute to books of all kinds; I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I am the target audience.
Growing up in a household full of books and passionate readers, Fadiman continued to pursue her love of reading and writing throughout her entire life and chose a spouse with the same zeal for books. In these essays, she references a LOT of other written works, most of which I have never heard of because of my preference for contemporary works. But I'm sure I would have gotten a lot more out of these essays if I were familiar with them.
Overall, this collection is well-written and overwhelmingly literary and such a tribute to books of all kinds; I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I am the target audience.
I chanced upon this slim volume at a community library but it was not until I glimpsed the paperback edition that I decided my bookshelf would like one of its own.
I found Fadiman's observations very striking. She captures in very beautiful ways and words what it means and/or feels like to love books, to be consumed by them; the little things: a secondhand bookstore with its laid-back tiny messes is a treasure hunt and a trip of wonder, a book about books is opium for the ardent bibliophile.
Most of these things that are already known by myself, and while reading it my heart gave a little jump for joy whenever I identified with what she was saying -- and quite often. But with most things already known it seems the writer's duty is to make it known as if one acquaints with it for the very first time, the 'Oh!' of surprise coupled with the 'and that is exactly how it is.' A bit of a paradox, of knowing and yet not really knowing, now that I've written it down, but it's...how she manages to tell it more eloquently and beautifully with such polished, assuring prose, that it seems like that is the pure, true nature of, say, what I felt the first time I stepped into a secondhand bookstore, or considered how I should go about arranging my shelves.
Her life as a bibliophile is far more enriched and prolific than mine and she delves into details of things I as of yet cannot relate to: marrying bookshelves, reading aloud, and even people I do not know much about (eg Gladstone) but that just makes reading Ex Libris a learning experience. When these things do occur in my life, someday perhaps, I think I would be hit by that familiar spark of recognition, but in these cases, it will come from the other direction: book first.
I found Fadiman's observations very striking. She captures in very beautiful ways and words what it means and/or feels like to love books, to be consumed by them; the little things: a secondhand bookstore with its laid-back tiny messes is a treasure hunt and a trip of wonder, a book about books is opium for the ardent bibliophile.
Most of these things that are already known by myself, and while reading it my heart gave a little jump for joy whenever I identified with what she was saying -- and quite often. But with most things already known it seems the writer's duty is to make it known as if one acquaints with it for the very first time, the 'Oh!' of surprise coupled with the 'and that is exactly how it is.' A bit of a paradox, of knowing and yet not really knowing, now that I've written it down, but it's...how she manages to tell it more eloquently and beautifully with such polished, assuring prose, that it seems like that is the pure, true nature of, say, what I felt the first time I stepped into a secondhand bookstore, or considered how I should go about arranging my shelves.
Her life as a bibliophile is far more enriched and prolific than mine and she delves into details of things I as of yet cannot relate to: marrying bookshelves, reading aloud, and even people I do not know much about (eg Gladstone) but that just makes reading Ex Libris a learning experience. When these things do occur in my life, someday perhaps, I think I would be hit by that familiar spark of recognition, but in these cases, it will come from the other direction: book first.
This is a smart and witty collection of essays about reading and all the peculiarities that being a bibliophile can bring. My favorite essay is probably the one about 'marrying' libraries. I read this book for the first time about 8 years ago and the essays have lost none of their charm or insight over the years. It's something I think I'll pick up again and again throughout my reading life.