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slim_oysterhiatus's review against another edition
Dense and thorough, this took a while to finish, but ultimately it was readable. As usual with histories like this, it was very Eurocentric. The bulk of the book focused on medieval-renaissance periods, illustrated with trivial, repetitive, and unmemorizable facts about which monastery or rich, influential person owned what books, that clutter up the bigger arguments. The greater context and exploration of development, uses, and value of different libraries and book forms was lost in the excruciating detail. I think I'd benefit from another read-though in a year or two.
elsje's review against another edition
4.0
The library is a fascinating account the history of libraries and books through the ages. The chapters span from the ancient library of Alexandria to libraries in this day and age. The writing of the library is pretty accessible but it is clearly a scholarly read. The amount of research the authors put in write this book is evident throughout book and manifests itself in an impressive number of references (many of which seem worthy to read on their own).
The library is not the type of book you read trough on a rainy afternoon. There is much knowledge to be gain here and worthy to take your time with. I read this as an eARC and will definitely seek to add a physical copy of this book to my own collection when it gets published later this year.
The library is not the type of book you read trough on a rainy afternoon. There is much knowledge to be gain here and worthy to take your time with. I read this as an eARC and will definitely seek to add a physical copy of this book to my own collection when it gets published later this year.
musicdeepdive's review against another edition
4.25
It's comprehensive and impassioned, although I do agree that there is a lack of focus on the modern era compared to the origins of private collections that is most of this book's first two-thirds. The evolution from private collections to public libraries is fascinating to read about for the relatively short time that we're granted, though, as well as the pieces about how architecture plays a role in the growth and/or decline of libraries.
ibbyham1's review against another edition
No finish date. Did not finish. Dry. Long. Boring. Tedious. Pages and pages of irrelevant information about princes and honour and monks and god with big useless adjectives and not a single iota of entertainment value. Zero stars. Do not read. Do not recommend. Read any other book.
riaryan's review against another edition
4.0
With 100 pages of this 500+ page history being owed to references and bibliography just goes to show how much research was painstakingly gone through to produce such a wonderful and comprehensive examination of the library, and the challenges it has faced and overcome over the years.
literary_heather's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 rounded to 5.
So interesting, if not the most exciting.
So interesting, if not the most exciting.