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guybrarian133 's review for:
Papyrus. Een geschiedenis van de wereld in boeken
by Irene Vallejo
(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of the English translation of this book courtesy of NetGalley)
I went into Papyrus expecting something of a straightforward, chronological history detailing the origins of books. What I ended up partially reading instead was much more of a collection of author anecdotes and musings about the written word mixed in with an array of historical facts from primarily the Greco-Roman era, all presented in a meandering narrative. It’s a combination that clearly hits the right notes for numerous other readers - there’s much to learn, many sentiments to agree with, and Irene Vallejo’s genuine and enormous passion for her subject matter is undeniable.
That all being said, for me the end product ended up being an ultimately unsatisfying reading experience. Whereas others may delight in the loose format where chapters bounce about from various points in ancient history to book-relevant topics, I quickly found myself bogged down and struggling to keep up with the flow. Stream-of-consciousness style of writing has never been easy for me, and this proved to be no exception. Also, while I found the history itself interesting, I didn’t find anything in Vallejo’s reflections to be particularly eye-opening or thought-provoking. If anything, I ended up finding them to have a bit of a pretentious feel at times as she described experiences spent reading old manuscripts or visiting old libraries across Europe. I definitely do not assume that this was her intention one bit. But even as a bibliophile whose own love of books can be a lot at times, I found her musings to be a little overdone.
I appreciated what Vallejo was attempting to accomplish here. But that general appreciation wasn’t nearly enough to carry me through the rest of the book. For me, Papyrus was simultaneously too little and too much.
I went into Papyrus expecting something of a straightforward, chronological history detailing the origins of books. What I ended up partially reading instead was much more of a collection of author anecdotes and musings about the written word mixed in with an array of historical facts from primarily the Greco-Roman era, all presented in a meandering narrative. It’s a combination that clearly hits the right notes for numerous other readers - there’s much to learn, many sentiments to agree with, and Irene Vallejo’s genuine and enormous passion for her subject matter is undeniable.
That all being said, for me the end product ended up being an ultimately unsatisfying reading experience. Whereas others may delight in the loose format where chapters bounce about from various points in ancient history to book-relevant topics, I quickly found myself bogged down and struggling to keep up with the flow. Stream-of-consciousness style of writing has never been easy for me, and this proved to be no exception. Also, while I found the history itself interesting, I didn’t find anything in Vallejo’s reflections to be particularly eye-opening or thought-provoking. If anything, I ended up finding them to have a bit of a pretentious feel at times as she described experiences spent reading old manuscripts or visiting old libraries across Europe. I definitely do not assume that this was her intention one bit. But even as a bibliophile whose own love of books can be a lot at times, I found her musings to be a little overdone.
I appreciated what Vallejo was attempting to accomplish here. But that general appreciation wasn’t nearly enough to carry me through the rest of the book. For me, Papyrus was simultaneously too little and too much.