The Guardian of All Things: The Epic Story of Human Memory

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The Guardian of All Things: The Epic Story of Human Memory

3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 · rating details · 69 ratings · 17 reviews

A sweeping exploration of the history of memory and human civilization

Memory makes us human. No other animal carries in its brain so many memories of such complexity nor so regularly revisits those memories for happiness, safety, and to accomplish complex tasks. Human civilization continues because we are able to pass along memories from one person to another, from one gen...more

Hardcover, 304 pages

Published August 21st 2012 by St. Martin's Press

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Feb 28, 2013 Stephen rated it 1 of 5 stars

So...this book, it's full of errors. Ridiculously full of errors, so much so it was like watching a movie so bad that it's enjoyable. I can only speak to the section where I already knew something, which are those furthest from the authors expertise in modern technology (and I expect he knows those better) but boy do the pseudo-facts come fast and furious.

In just the first few chapters, Malone gives far too much credence to reconstructions of the history and use of cave paintings, talking about...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Caren rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-nonfiction

This was one of the best books I have read in a long while. The title, from a quote attributed to Cicero, tells us that the human perception of the importance of memory is very old. Think for a moment about what distinguishes us , as humans, from other creatures. Is it not our consciousness, not only of ourselves, but of the place we hold in the time/space continuum? Is it not also the fact that we can remember a past and contemplate a future? The author takes us on a fascinating journey through...more This was one of the best books I have read in a long while. The title, from a quote attributed to Cicero, tells us that the human perception of the importance of memory is very old. Think for a moment about what distinguishes us , as humans, from other creatures. Is it not our consciousness, not only of ourselves, but of the place we hold in the time/space continuum? Is it not also the fact that we can remember a past and contemplate a future? The author takes us on a fascinating journey through time, showing how humans have grappled with how we can maintain our memories, not only individual, but cultural. Covering numerous disciplines, he begins in anthropology with a description of the evolution of language in early humans. Without language, there is no way to name and store memory. Early man may, he says, have lived very intensely in the present moment, in a way no longer possible to us. Living and working in groups was made possible by, or perhaps led to, the development of spoken language. Once humans had language, how could they keep memories through generations, in order to build on knowledge? At first, and for many thousands of years thereafter, it was through development of natural human memory. The author tells wonderful stories of ancient attempts at enhancing memory, such as through "theaters of memory", specific places with provocative statuary and aids to moving memories from short-term to long-term storage. Systems of writing were a great leap forward in storing memory, and man has ever since developed artificial means to storing memory in preference to strengthening natural memory. Mr. Malone spends the majority of his book taking us on a tour of the development of artificial memory storage, and such a tour guide he is! This is an engrossing tale that winds its way through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance,the Enlightenment, the Industrial Age, right up to the age of computers and artificial intelligence. He tells us of early computer pioneers, leaving us with recent speculations of what the future may hold (Ray Kurzweil's "Singularity" perchance?). He leaves us with a warning, a warning not to place all of our eggs in one memory basket. He notes that current means of memory storage do degrade, and that unimaginable disasters have been unavoidable throughout history. Could all of our electronic systems be destroyed, and with them our national memory? It could happen. He juxtaposes this possibility with a reminder of a 5,000 year old scroll left by one TK from ancient Egypt. The scroll now resides in a museum in California. He reminds us as well of the vellum Bodley 764 bestiary from the 1200s, now quietly resting in a library at Oxford University in England. In our all of our technological hubris, Mr. Malone quietly reminds us, "Still,there is.....a thread that reaches back through the history of mankind to a dream even older than that of immortality. It is for one's brief time on this earth to have meaning, for it to echo down through history if only as the faintest memory. It is the oldest human voice on earth whispering, Don't forget me."
Working in a library, as I do, this is my favorite quote from this amazing book:
"Meanwhile, as all of your magnetic memory erases itself under this onslaught [from a solar storm], the world's books, quietly resting on shelves in private dens and public libraries (at least those that survived de-accessioning and pulping to make way for computers), will be undisturbed other than by flickering lights and the angry shouts of hobos doing online gambling."
I read this book, which is due to be published this August,as an uncorrected proof, in ebook format, kindly provided by the publisher, St. Matin's Press, through Netgalley. Being an old-fashioned book lover, I plan to buy the actual book when it appears in paper and ink, and to read it again. It is that good.(less)

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Oct 09, 2012 Dale rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, cb_book_club

I found this book to be almost unreadable even though the topic appeals to me. Mr. Malone needs to EDIT himself. The book suffers incredibly from the overwhelming number of tangents (a few are interesting, but belong in an Afterward or as footnotes. The book is actually fatiguing to read: his prose is repetitive - he has little confidence that the audience caught on the first three times he states the same fact. The section on the history of human memory, and the psychology/anthropology regardin...more I found this book to be almost unreadable even though the topic appeals to me. Mr. Malone needs to EDIT himself. The book suffers incredibly from the overwhelming number of tangents (a few are interesting, but belong in an Afterward or as footnotes. The book is actually fatiguing to read: his prose is repetitive - he has little confidence that the audience caught on the first three times he states the same fact. The section on the history of human memory, and the psychology/anthropology regarding how memory and speech enabled humans to develop, build communities, increase skill-sets, and are ultimately the drivers of empathy, is fascinating. Mr. Malone seems to have crammed 5-6 different books into one and included every thought that popped into his head rather than present a cohesive narrative and argument. Also, in a book that discusses the history of "external" memory - from hieroglyphics and cave drawings to the computers of today - it's striking, and odd, that he spends almost no time on the Old and New Testament, the basis of so much shared context regardless of anyone's personal religion and beliefs. The creation of these texts were hugely impacted by just this idea: updates in technology affect the way history is remembered and told. Oral stories passed through generations were written on long scrolls as the Old Testament. Later, when religious scholars set about writing the New Testament, a new invention, the book form, was available, and therefore they first transferred the scrolls of the Old Testament into book form. These texts are a case in point of a discussion on this exact topic and yet the link is completely omitted. Again, I'm thinking of them in a secular way, NOT as any part of personal religious beliefs.

The book just doesn't work, although not for lack of trying. Malone is overly enthusiastic and invested, if anything. The topic is interesting and there are passages that are incredible - but it doesn't deliver on the promise of it's Forward: the anecdote regarding the WWII plane mechanics. I so wish that the promise of that passage was fulfilled. Maybe there are other books that get closer.(less)

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Nov 09, 2012 H Wesselius rated it 2 of 5 stars

For a book and an idea, it held alot of promise but was in the end disappointing. There's some fascinating information in the early chapters on the evolution of man and memory both biological and anthropological thats worth the time to read. However, as one progresses through the book, the reader perceives an author who's not terribly comfortable with some of the topics especially the medieval era. Its only when the author enters the late 19th century and focuses on American business and technol...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Bryan rated it 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the book very much (although I found it to be hard to read) and was fascinated by the examples of memory through out history. I do not agree that people will one day be replaced or enhanced by technological in the sense of memory. All we, as people can do, is record and share our accumulated memory (or wisdom) with the next generation. Much in the same way as the people of the past. Yes technology has improved the memory and knowledge of all of mankind and will continue to do so; we mu...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Chris rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, first-reads

I won this book on first reads, and thus really wanted to like it. I ended up being disappointed.

The title is a little misleading -- it's more of a book on the technology of preserving memory, rather than the science of memory itself; more pop-history than pop-sci. That was fine by me. It's also incredibly ethnocentric. It starts almost entirely about Europe and North Africa, narrows down to America once it is established, and then narrows even further to just Silicon Valley with only brief ment...more I won this book on first reads, and thus really wanted to like it. I ended up being disappointed.

The title is a little misleading -- it's more of a book on the technology of preserving memory, rather than the science of memory itself; more pop-history than pop-sci. That was fine by me. It's also incredibly ethnocentric. It starts almost entirely about Europe and North Africa, narrows down to America once it is established, and then narrows even further to just Silicon Valley with only brief mentions of other peoples.

Aside from being generally ignorant, it gets infuriating at parts. For instance, in a chapter on the iPod, the author builds up how difficult it would be to build a device that was cheap and would still carry "thousands of songs in your pocket". He goes on to say how the guy Jobs tasked with building this was laughed at, dismissed, etc, etc for paragraphs and then concludes with a SINGLE SENTENCE "Fortunately for Rubinstein, Toshiba delivered the new little minidisks on time". That's it. Nothing on how they did it or why a company with no reputation for memory development pulled it off. Malone has no interest in Japan.

He presents the history of memory as a great march forward to FREEDOM(!). He claims that the reason we find cave paintings in caves is because of shamans jealously guarding them and using them to spook the common man. The much more likely explanation, as explained in Werner Herzog's documentary, The Cave of Forgotten Dreams, is simply that caves are way better preserved than most environments. In the case of the Chauvet Caves in France, a landslide or volcano actually covered the entrance, protecting the art inside. Malone glosses over the part of medieval history were the Church purposely tries to guard holy books by keeping them in Latin and away from the general populace, both because it hurts his premise of endless progress, and maybe for other reasons as well -- he celebrates the middle ages as the last time man could unabashedly and unreservedly believe in god, as opposed to the modern, soulless, purposeless world.

The section on the bestiaries claims the world gets its modern version of a dragon from them. Even as a not-terribly-worldly kid (who loved dragons), I knew Asian dragons existed and looked different. He even says the Alien from the movie Alien was likely influenced by it. Yes, the penis monster alien looks just like Smaug.

Perhaps most damning of all was the actual way the book was written. I feel like this sort of book lives and dies on its tone as much as anything else. Think Sagan's sense of wonder or Bryson's goofiness/humor. Malone just comes of as incredibly bland. Despite the title, the book rarely comes off as "epic" at all. He reminds me of equally bland sports writer, Peter King.

There were a few parts of this book I did enjoy. Bestiaries are pretty cool, and the part on parchment and vellum was fascinating. I had no idea they were made from animal skin. I do give points for name dropping Pynchon's Mason & Dixon and the mechanical duck chapter wasn't bad. I was expecting the concluding chapters on the singularity, transhumanism, etc to be stupid based on what had come before, but they were actually solid. But still, meh to this disappointing book. It took me over a month to read like 250 pages and that is saying something for me.

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Jul 22, 2012 Clare Cannon added it

Shelves: non-fiction

A detailed study of the history of human memory which reads more like an historical narrative than a self-help guide. It incorporates a history of many forms of human communication: symbol creation and writing, politics and official record keeping, different schools of philosophy and historical theory, a history of attitudes towards God and religion, printing, sound and film recording, digital data collection, memory loss and the future possibility of memory implants.

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Sep 28, 2012 Shaun rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. If you like Malcolm Gladwell, it reads a little bit like his books. It's all about the human brain and memory and how we can store what our memories in things like books, computers, etc. I found it quite fascinating as the author stepped through the history of memory. I learned so much about things I didn't anticipate. I would highly recommend this book. It got me motivated to write my own memories down.

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Jun 06, 2012 Christina Dudley rated it 4 of 5 stars

For full review, see blog - http://tinyurl.com/7pa2yp8

Really enjoyed this book. Fascinating and far-ranging history of human memory, from hominid days to the gabillion gabillion links of the Internet, and everything in between. Made me want to print my own novels on vellum because it appears the most durable.

Because Malone's book covers such a giant subject, he touches on everything imaginable: clay tablets, print, automatons, film, sound, computers, you name it.

I've already put this on my hub's...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Juliana marked it as to-read

Wall Street Journal, October 25, 2012 - "How to Avoid a Bonfire of the Humanities 'English majors are exactly the people I'm looking for,' one successful Silicon-Valley entrepreneur recently told me" by Michael S. Malone
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000...

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Jul 13, 2012 Jennifer Osterman rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is a fascinating survey of the history of mankind's attempts to immortalize human knowledge. From the birth of communication to the advent of the Internet, Malone touches on all methods of documentation and recording. Despite the huge scope of the topic, this book did not seem neglectful or too ponderous when discussing details. I file this book alongside Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything in terms of edutainment value.

Highly recommended!

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Feb 03, 2013 Leslie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-books

The Guardian of All Things is the fascinating story of humanity's quest to record its memories for the future. From cave paintings to microchips and beyond, with detours for the "memory theatres" of the Renaissance and modern studies of the brain, Malone mostly examines the exterior technology of memory, but his reflections on the implications of those technologies are thoughtful and insightful. I would actually give this book 3-1/2 if it were allowed, because I found the part on computers to be...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Trish marked it as to-read

So anxious to read this!!! My mom has Alzheimer's and I'm so interested in our Memory! It's hard to see her through this disease.

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Oct 14, 2012 Nina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Not really what I was expecting, but still pretty interesting.

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Aug 29, 2012 GONZA rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was so happy when I received this book from Netgalley as I consider myself a little bit of a Neuropsychologist so memory held a big part of my interest. This is a well written essay that covers more or less everything there is to know about memory, from an anthropological and linguistic point of view also and this journey is very interesting and well written.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND ST.MARTIN'S PRESS FOR THE PREVIEW

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Sep 06, 2012 Burky Ford marked it as to-read

Could not find a copy (hardback or e-book).

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Sep 08, 2012 Lucy Rowles-springer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Love this book, I'm fascinated by the brain and the way it works and this book explains it all really well.

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Apr 04, 2013 Julie rated it 1 of 5 stars

I love books on the subject of memory, but this was tedious and unreadable.

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May 11, 2013 Dawn Stricker rated it 3 of 5 stars

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Shelves: next-up

Apr 06, 2013 Angelica rated it 4 of 5 stars

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About Michael S. Malone

Michael S. Malone is a journalist and author who has been nominated for the Pulitzer price twice for his investigative journalism contributions. He has a regular column Silicon Dreams in Forbes (previosuly Silicon Insider for ABC)

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