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A review by shanaqui
The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Roland Allen's The Notebook is, as the subtitle says, "A History of Thinking on Paper" -- one that ranges pretty far tracking down where we began to use paper as a way to do things we can't hold in our heads, as a tool for processing information, as a way to test things out, etc. It's almost completely Western-oriented, focusing on areas like Italy, France and the UK for the most part, discussing various different strands of how notebooks are used. First for financial accounting, then for digesting popular culture and literature, and then evolving into diaries. It also discusses artists' sketchbooks, the use of notebooks for collecting recipes, and of course, bullet journaling.
It's the kind of book I love, rambling through the topic and finding examples to discuss, casting them in their context, etc. I found the stuff about da Vinci's notebooks particularly fascinating, for example (and giggled about the cursing of his terrible handwriting), and of course, Darwin's notebooks and the famous "I think".
My favourite chapter of all was the one about ICU patient diaries and how they're used, though. I didn't expect this book to make me cry, but the topic hit unexpectedly close to home here, and I found myself crying my way through the last few pages of that chapter.
Definitely recommended if you're interested in this kind of thing -- not just notebooks specifically, but also if you enjoy history through the eye of a single object or set of objects.
It's the kind of book I love, rambling through the topic and finding examples to discuss, casting them in their context, etc. I found the stuff about da Vinci's notebooks particularly fascinating, for example (and giggled about the cursing of his terrible handwriting), and of course, Darwin's notebooks and the famous "I think".
My favourite chapter of all was the one about ICU patient diaries and how they're used, though. I didn't expect this book to make me cry, but the topic hit unexpectedly close to home here, and I found myself crying my way through the last few pages of that chapter.
Definitely recommended if you're interested in this kind of thing -- not just notebooks specifically, but also if you enjoy history through the eye of a single object or set of objects.