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dancing_river's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
brilliancee's review against another edition
4.0
1st reading - unknown date, but really enjoyed
2nd reading - 2021 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2nd reading - 2021 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
selenajournal's review against another edition
5.0
i’ve thought long and hard about how to better record the connections that i make and wish to make when i’m reading books. then i found out that alberto manguel had written part of that discussion for me.
on book summaries and giving away plots:
I don’t like people summing up books for me. Tempt me with a title, a scene, a quotation, yes, but not with the whole story. Fellow enthusiasts, jacket blurbs, teachers and histories of literature destroy much of our reading pleasure by ratting on the plot.
on writing in books (something i’ve only recently allowed myself to do)
I always write in my books. When I reread them, most of the time I can’t imagine why I thought a certain passage worth underlining, or what I meant by a certain comment.
and then, i found i liked his reading tastes, that he’s read books i haven’t heard of. i imagined that it wouldn’t be interesting reading about books i haven’t read, but the snippets that he gives are enough that i can get the gist of the novel (and decide if i should read it) and figure out the point he’s trying to make.
i found out about francois-rene de chateaubriand and his book memoirs from beyond the grave. with one excerpt, i knew i wanted to read it.
There are people who, while empires collapse, visit fountains and gardens.
threads of chateaubriand come up throughout what i’ve read of the book so far, and they’re related to manguel’s life, memories, surroundings. he relates passages and texts to remember (much in the way that chateaubriand himself encourages and finds).
from chateaubriand:
Our existence is so fleeting that if we don’t record the events of the morning in the evening, the work will weigh us down and we will no longer have the time to bring it up to date. This doesn’t prevent us from wasting our years, from throwing to the wind those hours that are for us the seeds of eternity.
when the last section on chateaubriand came, i had already inquired about an english copy. and then another perfect sentence:
Reading Memoirs from Beyond the Grave, I forget that it is Chateaubriand, not I, who is mourning.
i’m was to october at this point with firm mind to read chateaubriand and more manguel. i had also figured out how he’s managed to be so thoughtful about his reads, something i truly needed to learn to do myself. first, he’s choosing books based on whims and wants. no reading schedules, really, just, going with the flow of things.
by the end of the book, he’d read 12 books, one per month, with some diaries, letters and related material read throughout to help write about the books and fully understand them. that’s the kind of reading year i’d like for 2012. slow and thoughtful, unrushed.
I feel uncomfortable having other people’s books at home. I want either to steal them or to return them immediately. There is something of the visitor who outstays his welcome in borrowed books. Reading them and knowing that they don’t belong to me gives me the feeling of something unfinished, half-enjoyed. This is also true of library books.
also: note to self, read the pillow book by sei shonagon:
There are times when the world so exasperates me that I feel I cannot go on living in it for another moment and I want to disappear for good. But then, if I happen to obtain some nice white paper, Michinoku paper, or white decorated paper, I decide that I can put up with things as they are a little longer.
on book summaries and giving away plots:
I don’t like people summing up books for me. Tempt me with a title, a scene, a quotation, yes, but not with the whole story. Fellow enthusiasts, jacket blurbs, teachers and histories of literature destroy much of our reading pleasure by ratting on the plot.
on writing in books (something i’ve only recently allowed myself to do)
I always write in my books. When I reread them, most of the time I can’t imagine why I thought a certain passage worth underlining, or what I meant by a certain comment.
and then, i found i liked his reading tastes, that he’s read books i haven’t heard of. i imagined that it wouldn’t be interesting reading about books i haven’t read, but the snippets that he gives are enough that i can get the gist of the novel (and decide if i should read it) and figure out the point he’s trying to make.
i found out about francois-rene de chateaubriand and his book memoirs from beyond the grave. with one excerpt, i knew i wanted to read it.
There are people who, while empires collapse, visit fountains and gardens.
threads of chateaubriand come up throughout what i’ve read of the book so far, and they’re related to manguel’s life, memories, surroundings. he relates passages and texts to remember (much in the way that chateaubriand himself encourages and finds).
from chateaubriand:
Our existence is so fleeting that if we don’t record the events of the morning in the evening, the work will weigh us down and we will no longer have the time to bring it up to date. This doesn’t prevent us from wasting our years, from throwing to the wind those hours that are for us the seeds of eternity.
when the last section on chateaubriand came, i had already inquired about an english copy. and then another perfect sentence:
Reading Memoirs from Beyond the Grave, I forget that it is Chateaubriand, not I, who is mourning.
i’m was to october at this point with firm mind to read chateaubriand and more manguel. i had also figured out how he’s managed to be so thoughtful about his reads, something i truly needed to learn to do myself. first, he’s choosing books based on whims and wants. no reading schedules, really, just, going with the flow of things.
by the end of the book, he’d read 12 books, one per month, with some diaries, letters and related material read throughout to help write about the books and fully understand them. that’s the kind of reading year i’d like for 2012. slow and thoughtful, unrushed.
I feel uncomfortable having other people’s books at home. I want either to steal them or to return them immediately. There is something of the visitor who outstays his welcome in borrowed books. Reading them and knowing that they don’t belong to me gives me the feeling of something unfinished, half-enjoyed. This is also true of library books.
also: note to self, read the pillow book by sei shonagon:
There are times when the world so exasperates me that I feel I cannot go on living in it for another moment and I want to disappear for good. But then, if I happen to obtain some nice white paper, Michinoku paper, or white decorated paper, I decide that I can put up with things as they are a little longer.
sprinkledwithwords's review against another edition
4.0
Alberto Manguel takes us on a journey through his reading. Keeping a journal to record his experiences with travel, friends, family, quotes, world events and his own thoughts, Manguel rereads one book a month, and now we are invited in to see a little of his world at this time and what happened on his reading journey. I wouldn't necessarily say that this is a unique novel - there have been many books about books - but Alberto Manguel is a very unique person, and I think that is what makes this an interesting and different read, far different from what I was expecting.
He says himself in the novel that he "speaks in quotations" and that is very true in his writing, and is a reason why much of this review will consist of quotations.
"What others see as our finest achievements are often not what we ourselves see." - p. 19
Manguel's record of the moments in his life are interesting, and offer a unique perspective on a man who has lived in more cities than I have probably visited. He visits Argentina, Canada and Switzerland, as well as his home in France, throughout the course of this novel, and talks about many other places he has visited/lived in as well. His reflections on Argentina, where he was brought up, also, I feel, offer an insight into a place I don't really know much about. The past 50 years or so (Manguel was born in 1948) have been a tumultuous time, and he reflects on this in his book. Oftentimes, he isn't actually writing about the book he is reading, but about what is happening around him. Sometimes this correlates to the book, through a character, a quote, or even a plot point.
I also liked how throughout the course of the book he is creating his library.
"LATE AFTERNOON
I will sleep one night in the library to make the space truly mine. C. says that this is the equivalent to a dog peeing in the corners." - p. 25
I feel like the books Manguel chooses (listed below) are actually really interesting. There is a mixture of English and foreign authors, from Kipling to Chateaubriand and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Many more books have been added to my TBR. I also like how the novels seem to incorporate themselves into Manguel's life throughout his rereading of them. I find it interesting, sometimes, having read a book and then noticing the topic of it, or a scene of it, everywhere you go.
"Mirrors and mating are abominable, because they multiply the number of men." - Tlön, Uqbar. - p. 23
This book was written in 2002 and 2003, around the time of two very important and devastating world events: a year after 9/11, and the start of the Iraq War. I am too young to remember 9/11 happening, although I have some vague recollections of the early Iraq War (and I certainly remember later events). It is interesting to see Manguel's perspectives and how the talk everywhere he went was about the war... aside from in Switzerland. He reflects on this in the insightful manner of a travelled man. (And his comedic mix-up where the hostess mistakes him for Yann Martell, author of Life of Pi, is a nice touch.)
This is a journal, not a book, really. The entries are sometimes somewhat fragmented, but I feel that this gives a proper insight into Manguel's mind than if it had been written in beautiful prose. I really enjoyed this book: not only was it interesting, it was also inspiring, and I want to go back and reread some of my favourite books and record the events and thoughts I have surrounding them as well. It's definitely one I would recommend.
"This morning, I looked at the books on my shelves and thought that they have no knowledge of my existence. They come to life because I open them and turn their pages, and yet they don't know that I am their reader." - p. 213
A Year of Alberto Manguel's Books
June: The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares
July: The Island of Dr. Moreau by HG Wells
August: Kim by Rudyard Kipling
September: Memoirs from Beyond the Grave by Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand
October: The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
November: Elective Affinities by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
December: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
January: Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
February: The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati
March: The Pillow-Book by Sei Shonagon
April: Surfacing by Margaret Atwood
May: The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
jaaade's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
hayesstw's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book.
It looks deceptively simple. The author reads 12 favourite books, one each month, and keeps a diary of the thoughts he has while reading them. Some thoughts are relevant, inspired by the book, and others come from current events, near or far, foreign or domestic.
The cat has not come to be fed for three days now.
But how often, when reading, does a book not inspire thoughts, some worth recording, perhaps, and some not? This is a book of such thoughts.
The cat returned during the night.
In another place there are thoughts inspired by waiting for, and during the Second Iraqi-American War of 2003. Some thoughts seem trivial, like the ones about the cat, while others are profound, but even the ones about the cat spark of my own thoughts and memories of cats I have known.
Silvia, my old schoolmate, tells me that in my school is a plaque to the students murdered by the military. She says I'll recognize several names.
Of the twelve books [a:Alberto Manguel|3602|Alberto Manguel|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1227041892p2/3602.jpg] read I had read only two: [b:Kim|210834|Kim|Rudyard Kipling|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387747342l/210834._SX50_.jpg|1512424] and [b:The Wind in the Willows|5659|The Wind in the Willows|Kenneth Grahame|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1423183570l/5659._SY75_.jpg|1061285]; my review of Kim is here Kim revisited: imperialism, Russophobia & asceticism.
Today, at breakfast, my brother tells me that "only" ten percent of the judiciary system is corrupt. "Of course," he adds, "excluding the Supreme Court, where every single member is venal.
While typing that I am listening to Peter, Paul and Mary singing "...and if you take my hand my son, all will be well when the day is done" and I am transported 1500 km away and 50 years back to Windhoek, St George's Church Hall, where Cathy Roark (now Cathy Wood) is teaching that song to the confirmation class, and I wonder where they are today. Not many murdered by the military, perhaps, but some forced into the military to kill.
Half an hour later I pick up Kim where I left off reading yesterday and find these word spoken by the Lama: "Thou hast loosed an Act upon the world. and as a stone thrown into a pool so spread the consequences thou canst not tell how far.
It looks deceptively simple. The author reads 12 favourite books, one each month, and keeps a diary of the thoughts he has while reading them. Some thoughts are relevant, inspired by the book, and others come from current events, near or far, foreign or domestic.
The cat has not come to be fed for three days now.
But how often, when reading, does a book not inspire thoughts, some worth recording, perhaps, and some not? This is a book of such thoughts.
The cat returned during the night.
In another place there are thoughts inspired by waiting for, and during the Second Iraqi-American War of 2003. Some thoughts seem trivial, like the ones about the cat, while others are profound, but even the ones about the cat spark of my own thoughts and memories of cats I have known.
Silvia, my old schoolmate, tells me that in my school is a plaque to the students murdered by the military. She says I'll recognize several names.
Of the twelve books [a:Alberto Manguel|3602|Alberto Manguel|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1227041892p2/3602.jpg] read I had read only two: [b:Kim|210834|Kim|Rudyard Kipling|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387747342l/210834._SX50_.jpg|1512424] and [b:The Wind in the Willows|5659|The Wind in the Willows|Kenneth Grahame|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1423183570l/5659._SY75_.jpg|1061285]; my review of Kim is here Kim revisited: imperialism, Russophobia & asceticism.
Today, at breakfast, my brother tells me that "only" ten percent of the judiciary system is corrupt. "Of course," he adds, "excluding the Supreme Court, where every single member is venal.
While typing that I am listening to Peter, Paul and Mary singing "...and if you take my hand my son, all will be well when the day is done" and I am transported 1500 km away and 50 years back to Windhoek, St George's Church Hall, where Cathy Roark (now Cathy Wood) is teaching that song to the confirmation class, and I wonder where they are today. Not many murdered by the military, perhaps, but some forced into the military to kill.
Half an hour later I pick up Kim where I left off reading yesterday and find these word spoken by the Lama: "Thou hast loosed an Act upon the world. and as a stone thrown into a pool so spread the consequences thou canst not tell how far.
carpelibrum's review against another edition
5.0
Alberto Manguel cucereste cititorul prin dragostea pentru carti si lectura, cu care acesta de cele mai multe ori se identifica. Lejeritatea discursului, sinceritatea, alaturarea unor reflectii, amintiri si evenimente diverse dau o impresie de intimitate, de suspendare momentana a timpului exterior si fac din Jurnal o lectura placuta, accesibila ( in ciuda sentimentului de inferioritate pe care marturisesc ca l-am simtit fata de cultura vasta a autorului), fara pretentii. Intreaga carte pare mai mult decat un jurnal, o conversatie, te invita sa-ti formezi propriile analogii, liste, reflectii.
debnanceatreaderbuzz's review against another edition
5.0
I could literally tag this book with every single tag I have for my books. Books-about-books? Yes, of course. Manguel's format is to take a book a month and write down quotes and his thoughts and other people's thoughts on the same subjects as the book. Then he takes off from there and shares anything and everything that seemingly comes into his mind, and, trust me, his is a brilliant and thoughtful mind. So I could easily tag this book for Happiness and Philosophy and Justice and just about every single tag I've listed; it's a book that takes on the world. I felt exhausted at times while reading this book, as I wanted to think carefully about everything he said and to do so would have taken me a year or two. Sigh. A wonderful book for all of us who are passionate about reading.
sprinkledwithwords's review against another edition
4.0
Alberto Manguel takes us on a journey through his reading. Keeping a journal to record his experiences with travel, friends, family, quotes, world events and his own thoughts, Manguel rereads one book a month, and now we are invited in to see a little of his world at this time and what happened on his reading journey. I wouldn't necessarily say that this is a unique novel - there have been many books about books - but Alberto Manguel is a very unique person, and I think that is what makes this an interesting and different read, far different from what I was expecting.
He says himself in the novel that he "speaks in quotations" and that is very true in his writing, and is a reason why much of this review will consist of quotations.
"What others see as our finest achievements are often not what we ourselves see." - p. 19
Manguel's record of the moments in his life are interesting, and offer a unique perspective on a man who has lived in more cities than I have probably visited. He visits Argentina, Canada and Switzerland, as well as his home in France, throughout the course of this novel, and talks about many other places he has visited/lived in as well. His reflections on Argentina, where he was brought up, also, I feel, offer an insight into a place I don't really know much about. The past 50 years or so (Manguel was born in 1948) have been a tumultuous time, and he reflects on this in his book. Oftentimes, he isn't actually writing about the book he is reading, but about what is happening around him. Sometimes this correlates to the book, through a character, a quote, or even a plot point.
I also liked how throughout the course of the book he is creating his library.
"LATE AFTERNOON
I will sleep one night in the library to make the space truly mine. C. says that this is the equivalent to a dog peeing in the corners." - p. 25
I feel like the books Manguel chooses (listed below) are actually really interesting. There is a mixture of English and foreign authors, from Kipling to Chateaubriand and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Many more books have been added to my TBR. I also like how the novels seem to incorporate themselves into Manguel's life throughout his rereading of them. I find it interesting, sometimes, having read a book and then noticing the topic of it, or a scene of it, everywhere you go.
"Mirrors and mating are abominable, because they multiply the number of men." - Tlön, Uqbar. - p. 23
This book was written in 2002 and 2003, around the time of two very important and devastating world events: a year after 9/11, and the start of the Iraq War. I am too young to remember 9/11 happening, although I have some vague recollections of the early Iraq War (and I certainly remember later events). It is interesting to see Manguel's perspectives and how the talk everywhere he went was about the war... aside from in Switzerland. He reflects on this in the insightful manner of a travelled man. (And his comedic mix-up where the hostess mistakes him for Yann Martell, author of Life of Pi, is a nice touch.)
This is a journal, not a book, really. The entries are sometimes somewhat fragmented, but I feel that this gives a proper insight into Manguel's mind than if it had been written in beautiful prose. I really enjoyed this book: not only was it interesting, it was also inspiring, and I want to go back and reread some of my favourite books and record the events and thoughts I have surrounding them as well. It's definitely one I would recommend.
"This morning, I looked at the books on my shelves and thought that they have no knowledge of my existence. They come to life because I open them and turn their pages, and yet they don't know that I am their reader." - p. 213
A Year of Alberto Manguel's Books
June: The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares
July: The Island of Dr. Moreau by HG Wells
August: Kim by Rudyard Kipling
September: Memoirs from Beyond the Grave by Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand
October: The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
November: Elective Affinities by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
December: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
January: Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
February: The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati
March: The Pillow-Book by Sei Shonagon
April: Surfacing by Margaret Atwood
May: The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
More...