Name: the library at night
SKU: 2654900
Price: 430.00 ZAR
Availability: InStock
Author: Alberto Manguel

Type

Physical Book

Author

Alberto Manguel

Publisher

Yale University Press

Language

English

Pages

400

Format

Paperback

Dimensions

22.4x13.7x2.8 cm

Weight

0.48 kg.

ISBN

0300151306

ISBN13

9780300151305

Synopsis "the library at night"

A celebration of reading, of libraries, and of the mysterious human desire to give order to the universe Inspired by the process of creating a library for his fifteenth-century home near the Loire, in France, Alberto Manguel, the acclaimed writer on books and reading, has taken up the subject of libraries. "Libraries," he says, "have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as I can remember I've been seduced by their labyrinthine logic." In this personal, deliberately unsystematic, and wide-ranging book, he offers a captivating meditation on the meaning of libraries.Manguel, a guide of irrepressible enthusiasm, conducts a unique library tour that extends from his childhood bookshelves to the "complete" libraries of the Internet, from Ancient Egypt and Greece to the Arab world, from China and Rome to Google. He ponders the doomed library of Alexandria as well as the personal libraries of Charles Dickens, Jorge Luis Borges, and others. He recounts stories of people who have struggled against tyranny to preserve freedom of thought--the Polish librarian who smuggled books to safety as the Nazis began their destruction of Jewish libraries; the Afghani bookseller who kept his store open through decades of unrest. Oral "memory libraries" kept alive by prisoners, libraries of banned books, the imaginary library of Count Dracula, the library of books never written--Manguel illuminates the mysteries of libraries as no other writer could. With scores of wonderful images throughout, The Library at Night is a fascinating voyage through Manguel's mind, memory, and vast knowledge of books and civilizations.

Alberto Manguel

(Author)

View Author's Page

Alberto Manguel is a writer, editor, translator, and essayist of Argentine-Canadian descent, born in Buenos Aires on March 13, 1948. Internationally recognized for his profound reflection on reading, books, and libraries, Manguel has dedicated much of his work to exploring the connection between human beings and the written word.

During his youth, he briefly worked as a reader for Jorge Luis Borges, an experience that deeply marked his life and his view of the act of reading. In the 1980s, he moved to Canada, where he became a citizen and developed much of his career as an author. He also lived in other countries, such as France and Germany, and has worked in various roles related to the publishing, academic, and library worlds.

Among his most famous books are A History of Reading (1996), The Library at Night (2006), and The Traveler with the Light Luggage (2011). His work blends personal memory, cultural history, and literary criticism, with a scholarly yet accessible style.

He was the director of the National Library of Argentina from 2016 to 2018. Considered a great contemporary humanist, Manguel continues to be an influential figure in thinking about written culture and reading as a form of knowledge and freedom.

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