The Library

A Catalogue of Wonders

De: Stuart Kells

Narrado por: Julian Elfer

Libraries are much more than mere collections of volumes. The best are magical, fabled places whose fame has become part of the cultural wealth they are designed to preserve.

To research this book, Stuart Kells traveled around the world with his young family like modern-day "library tourists". Kells discovered that stories about libraries are stories about people, containing every possible human drama.

The Library is a celebration of books as objects, a celebration of the anthropology and physicality of books and bookish space, and an account of the human side of these hallowed spaces by a leading and passionate bibliophile.

©2017 Stuart Kells (P)2021 Tantor

Excellent Story -- Really Enjoyed It

Thoroughly enjoyable exploration of diverse histories of libraries and book collectors-- with great tangents and backstories that give depth and real-life color to centuries of historical book fanatics. Excellent narration, though sometimes rushed, it still earns 5 stars for performance, in my view -- and definitely for content too.

Fascinating and fun. Attention to detail without losing the broader context.

Very well read; thank you for not using virtual voice as it would have been anathema to the subject, an overview of the entire history of collecting culture in various forms for current and future perusal in the study of words, stories, thoughts, from inception of idea through the processes of housing, caring for, and making them available to varying human participants, all the way to in many cases their ruin only to find a phoenix rising somewhere else to provide this extensive human enrichment to anyone interested.

It connects libraries throughout the ages to real world events whether catastrophic or a tiny but interesting or funny moment in time making them all vivid in the hearer’s mind. This includes not only actual physical libraries but also many of the most famous fictional libraries and fictional cultures with near reverential respect for them.

Consideration is given to the most recent major cultural changes that challenge many of the aspects that the trials and errors of eons and countless generations of varying societies developed and honed to improve the way the cultural centers connected with the living. It is not that there is no hope, but rather that the challenges exist, time is an urgent factor, and the price of failure potentially devastating to all humanity and certainly devastating to vast amounts of history and information only contained in the original medium.

My specific contrary thoughts only tend toward a couple of minor things personally encountered rather than the perspective of general observation, thereby making them less critical than a chance for me to engage in chatting about some of my favorite subjects. For instance, the movies and television show The Librarians were left out, though they embody the love of libraries, knowledge, and history into quirky hidden superheroes protecting the world via unexpected adventures. It’s a blatant reference to how knowledge, stories, and art combined and made available for everyone in approachable ways can be a powerful force for humanity and fun. Most importantly it’s presented in a manner very palatable to a broader audience brought up on video games, assuming they don’t miss the underlying theme.

Thanks for the experience.

wonderful!

If the history of libraries and books is exciting to you this book has a great deal to offer. I've thoroughly enjoyed it! I would compare it to Nicholas Basbane's works, Basbanes is slightly better at continuity, but both share great stories.