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60th out of 465 books
—
717 voters
The Library at Night
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, d...more
Hardcover, 373 pages
Published
April 29th 2008
by Yale University Press
(first published January 1st 2006)
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hey, what did you guys do on your friday night? get drunk? get laid? spend a quiet evening with friends? see a fillum??
me? oh, i just sat at home, nursing a sore back with painkillers, and decided to let my thoughts about cloud atlas percolate a little before writing a review for it, and decided to play a little booknerd game with myself. as part of my new year's resolution to finally get around to reviewing all the books on my "favorites" shelf, i scrolled through all of 'em until i came to the...more
56 likes · like · see review
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Alberto Manguel understands you.
He knows that you look at your shelves at night, remembering a favorite passage, or how you acquired a book, as your gaze moves across titles on spines in the moonlight.
He sympathizes with your attempts to figure out new ways to organize your books, a task that becomes more urgent and, at the same time, more impossible as time passes and your collection grows outside the spatial boundaries of your shelves, or perhaps even of your home.
He understands your frustrat...more
He knows that you look at your shelves at night, remembering a favorite passage, or how you acquired a book, as your gaze moves across titles on spines in the moonlight.
He sympathizes with your attempts to figure out new ways to organize your books, a task that becomes more urgent and, at the same time, more impossible as time passes and your collection grows outside the spatial boundaries of your shelves, or perhaps even of your home.
He understands your frustrat...more
57 likes · like · see review
8 likes · like · see review
Jul 26, 2010
umberto
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Praj, Sawyer, May, Maciek, Starcatcher, P_u_m_s, Gabrielle Koret, Andreea Ros
Shelves:
history,
literary-studies
If you enjoyed reading his "A History of Reading," this might as well entertain you with lots of interesting quotes from various intellectuals, men of letters, bibliophiles, etc. in various centuries. Of course, you can admire his ideas, insights and inspirations regarding his looking at such different dimensions of "The Library".
The quote I like most, since I've never read it before, is the one by Francois Mauriac (p. 215) who bluntly states, "An old man is always a Crusoe" and of course I can'...more
The quote I like most, since I've never read it before, is the one by Francois Mauriac (p. 215) who bluntly states, "An old man is always a Crusoe" and of course I can'...more
3 likes · like · see review
For anyone who loves books and reading this book will probably be delightful. I'm pretty sure that except for the intricacies of cataloging books (and how to be king of the file clerks in a company, something I'm going to forget I ever had the misfortune to learn as soon as the class is over, so we'll ignore that) everything I've learned in my 3 semesters of Library School is in this book, and generally presented in a much more enjoyable manner than any of the things I've been required to read s...more
21 likes · like · see review
Sep 26, 2012
Adam Floridia
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
discovered-thanks-to-goodreads,
5-star-books
This is a book I'm tempted to add to my "Favorites" list, an honor even more prestigious than my "5-star-books" list. It's not that I don't have a few complaints about the book, but this may just have been the perfect book at the perfect time for me. Recently, Life (new job, new baby mainly) has been inhibiting my regular-reading and, dare I say, my ability to become absorbed in a good book, all of which has caused my book-a-week pace to fall to a pathetic book-or-two-a-month pace. That is why I...more
9 likes · like · see review
I feel ambiguous about this exploration of libraries and their meanings. On one hand I'm deeply on the side of libraries - I've used and worked in libraries for nearly all my life and am emotionally bound up with them in undisentanglable ways. But there's a big difference between a public library and a private one, and that's where this book fell down in my estimation. What Manguel is building and talking about is his private library, which is a completely different thing from something that is...more
2 likes · like · see review
THE LIBRARY AT NIGHT by Alberto Manguel
=======================================
You have a brilliant and charming grandfather.
You know he leads an adventurous life. He travels constantly all over the world. He speaks many languages. He fills his life with fascinating and sensual (and disease-free) liaisons of every imaginable type.
One day he decides to build a living memorial to all his liaisons. He chooses Western France and designs a barn around an ancient wall.
He invites you to visit him.
When...more
=======================================
You have a brilliant and charming grandfather.
You know he leads an adventurous life. He travels constantly all over the world. He speaks many languages. He fills his life with fascinating and sensual (and disease-free) liaisons of every imaginable type.
One day he decides to build a living memorial to all his liaisons. He chooses Western France and designs a barn around an ancient wall.
He invites you to visit him.
When...more
9 likes · like · see review
مازال ألبرتو مثل كتابه السابق (تاريخ القراءة) يستحضر التاريخ ، وإن كان في كتابه هذا قد انطلق من تاريخه الخاص وتجربته الشخصية إلى التاريخ العام للحضارات كلها،،
ويشهد هذا الكتاب حضور شخصيات الحضارة الإسلامية أكثر من كتابه السابق.
ويشهد هذا الكتاب حضور شخصيات الحضارة الإسلامية أكثر من كتابه السابق.
الكاتب الأرجنتيني البرتو مانغويل، محب للكتب من نوع استثنائي، أمضى سنوات عمره في البحث والحديث والكتابة عن الكتب والمكتبات بشغف غير مسبوق.
لعلّ الكثير منكم يعرفه من كتابه «تاريخ القراءة» الذي حقق مبيعات كبيرة والذي ما إن تطبع نسخه الجديدة حتى ينفد من المكتبات مجدداً، هكذا هي الكتب المميزة التي تمنح القارئ فرصة ليرى نفسه ويحتفي بهوايته القريبة من قلبه كما يجب.
في كتابه The Library at Night أو المكتبة مساء يتحدث مانغويل عن الكون الذي يحتضن شغفه الأوحد، يتحدث عن المكتبة.
قُسّمت الفصول في الكتاب إلى رؤى...more
لعلّ الكثير منكم يعرفه من كتابه «تاريخ القراءة» الذي حقق مبيعات كبيرة والذي ما إن تطبع نسخه الجديدة حتى ينفد من المكتبات مجدداً، هكذا هي الكتب المميزة التي تمنح القارئ فرصة ليرى نفسه ويحتفي بهوايته القريبة من قلبه كما يجب.
في كتابه The Library at Night أو المكتبة مساء يتحدث مانغويل عن الكون الذي يحتضن شغفه الأوحد، يتحدث عن المكتبة.
قُسّمت الفصول في الكتاب إلى رؤى...more
17 likes · like · see review
I found this book while browsing on Amazon and was immediately entranced by Manguel's opeing chapter in which he describes his personal library. He has converted a 15th century barn in the French countryside into a home for his books. Wow! How cool is that? For me, this is a dangerous book, as it gets me thinking..."Maybe someday I can buy a hobby farm in the picturesque rolling hills of the Wisconsin country side, convert the barn into a library, and spend hours in retirement exploring the dept...more
5 likes · like · see review
Have you ever thought, "I love my grandpa, but wouldn't it be cool if he read five languages, had a Ph.d. in Comparative Literature or Philology, and lived in the French countryside, where he built his own library in a four-hundred year old stone barn?" Well, first, why don't you accept your grandpa for who he is, you miserable bastard? Second, by pick up this warm and wonderful book by just such a barbate and bespectacled old sweetie.
I can't imagine anyone on Goodreads could be wholly disintere...more
I can't imagine anyone on Goodreads could be wholly disintere...more
"The starting point is a question.
Outside theology and fantastic literature, few can doubt that the main features of our universe are its dearth of meaning and lack of discernible purpose. And yet, with bewildering optimism, we continue to assemble whatever scraps of information we can gather in scrolls and books and computer chips, on shelf after library shelf, whether material, virtual or otherwise, pathetically intent on lending the world a semblance of sense and order, while knowing perfectl...more
Outside theology and fantastic literature, few can doubt that the main features of our universe are its dearth of meaning and lack of discernible purpose. And yet, with bewildering optimism, we continue to assemble whatever scraps of information we can gather in scrolls and books and computer chips, on shelf after library shelf, whether material, virtual or otherwise, pathetically intent on lending the world a semblance of sense and order, while knowing perfectl...more
My intention of reading more non-fiction this year is being put to good use and turning into something very positive!
This is a book about all books and library related topics: from different ways to organize books in a library, to the history of libraries, to famous libraries... there is a bit of everything here, told in a very engaging way! Manguel puts into words a lot of my thoughts about books and reading.
By the way, I think the smallest library in the world is in Lisbon, it's just a kiosk i...more
This is a book about all books and library related topics: from different ways to organize books in a library, to the history of libraries, to famous libraries... there is a bit of everything here, told in a very engaging way! Manguel puts into words a lot of my thoughts about books and reading.
By the way, I think the smallest library in the world is in Lisbon, it's just a kiosk i...more
1 like · like · see review
ألبرتو مانغويل.. مجددا وقصة عشق أخرى مع الكتب والمكتبات وغوص لا متناه في هذه العوالم السحرية.. وكعدد من كتب مانغويل الأخرى.. لا نستطيع تصنيف هذا الكتاب ضمن سياق أدبي محدد.. بل هو مزيج من العواطف والمعرفة والخيال والقصص بأسلوب يخاطب به مانغويل القلب أكثر من العقل وان لم يغفل عن الآخر بتاتا..
النظرة الجديدة التي نظر بها مانغويل للمكتبة هي مايميز انتاجه هذا.. فهو قد خرج عن التقليد المتبع في النظر إلى المكتبات بوصف نظامها ومحتوياتها.. في سياق علمي صارم.. أو النظر إلى كتبها وتصنيفاتها التقليدية وماينق...more
النظرة الجديدة التي نظر بها مانغويل للمكتبة هي مايميز انتاجه هذا.. فهو قد خرج عن التقليد المتبع في النظر إلى المكتبات بوصف نظامها ومحتوياتها.. في سياق علمي صارم.. أو النظر إلى كتبها وتصنيفاتها التقليدية وماينق...more
8 likes · like · see review
Alberto Manguel's examination of the whats, hows, whys and wheretos of libraries starts with his own private library, constructed from a mediaeval wall in France and filled with everything from ancient tomes to cheap paperbacks, and ends up... well, like a book version of a private library. He divides his book not by strict, Dewey-like categories, but rather by free association, tackling his subject from different angles. The shelves say the library as myth, the library as shadow, the library as...more
What we have here is a number of essays largely un-systematically presented. Alberto's starting point is his home in the Poitou-Charentes region of France where he has had a library constructed to house his 30,000 strong book collection. He sits alone at night reading while the world sleeps outside and the books 'talk to each other' making literary connections.
Just some of the topics that are presented- The library of Alexandria its formation and destruction, a short history of book classificati...more
Just some of the topics that are presented- The library of Alexandria its formation and destruction, a short history of book classificati...more
A experiência da grandes livrarias tirou um pouco do impacto das grandes bibliotecas. Projetos para novas grandes bibliotecas tendem emular a atmosfera de grandes livrarias, acrescentando às salas de leitura e de empréstimo uma cafeteria, uma loja de pequenas lembranças, talvez uma ala de exposições de fotos e um pequeno auditório. É quase certo que os jovens achem mais interessante uma megastore num shopping, onde os livros, com capas lustrosas e coloridas, se amontoam em pilhas geométricas sob...more
I cannot do justice to this book by writing a lengthy review. I do not desire to keep it or buy myself a copy to add to my humble bookshelves. It is overdue at the library so here goes with a quick summary:
Well-known author, editor and translator writes about books and libraries. He has a large collection of books in his own home. He describes different ways people have tried to sort and classify books. He also provides a thorough history of libraries located in places of Europe and ancient civi...more
Well-known author, editor and translator writes about books and libraries. He has a large collection of books in his own home. He describes different ways people have tried to sort and classify books. He also provides a thorough history of libraries located in places of Europe and ancient civi...more
Alberto Manguel's writing, even in the essay form, flows naturally into a style that I associate with many South American authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Jorge Luis Borges (and others who don't go by three names as well). Reading Manguel reveals to me the writer's sense of wonder and respect for the power of books. Manguel characterizes authors as "a subset of readers" and affirms the joy of reading widely and making connections where the mind may, by describing the idiosyncratic organiz...more
The Library at Night is a cultural and intellectual history of libraries, both ancient and modern, private and public. It also explores the power of the written word and, therefore, the power of the places in which those written words are housed. The first half of the book, in which Manguel focuses on the more concrete aspects of libraries (discussing the famed library of Alexandria, for example, or the construction of Michelangelo's Laurentian Library, or the Dewey Decimal System)is interesting...more
Like sitting down to a long conversation with a wise and widely-read old friend. This book explores libraries, including Manguel's 30,000 volume library built in a restored French barn but now overspilling his house. The book examines the roles that libraries, and the books they house, have played in history. But this is not an in-depth history. Instead it consists of reflections on themes through history and literature by a man who lives for books, has read widely, and who can write with stirri...more
I was really looking forward to reading this book, but my excitement didn't last beyond page 10. This was a very dry and difficult read. I found it slow-going and scattered at times. However, I kept on pushing through, hoping I'd fall upon a gem or two. But even the few fun facts I read were not enough to save the book for me.
Once I finished I immediately wished I was the type of reader who flips to the last page of the book and reads it before deciding to read the complete book. If I was that t...more
Once I finished I immediately wished I was the type of reader who flips to the last page of the book and reads it before deciding to read the complete book. If I was that t...more
At times I felt that Manguel's look into the concept of a "library," how it's built, designed, organized, understood and used was a mere excuse for him to talk at length about his own library and how it was built and designed and how he organizes it and feels about it and uses it. And while I often found myself wishing his survey had more survey to it - more historical background, more theory on the idea of libraries, and more examples of libraries - in the end I could not fault someone for want...more
فهرس المكتبة في الليل :
مقدمة
١- المكتبة أسطورة
٢- المكتبـة ترتيباً
٣- المكتبـة مكاناً
٤- المكتبـة سلطة
٥- المكتبـة طيفاً
٦- المكتبـة شكلاً
٧- المكتبة عامـل مصادفـة
٨- المكتبة ورشـة عمـل
٩- المكتبة عقلاً
١٠- المكتبـة جزيرة
١١- المكتبـة وسيلـة بقاء
١٢- المكتبـة و النسيان
١٣- المكتبـة خيالاً
١٤- المكتبة هويّة
١٥- المكتبـة وطناً
خاتمة
قال ألبرتو مانغويل :
حب المكتبات، مثل أكثـر المحبّات، ينبغي أن يُكتسب بالتعلم. مامن أحـد يخطو أوّل مرّة داخـل غرفة مليئـة بالكتب، و بإمكانه أن يعرف بالغريزة كيف يتصرّف، ماذا يت...more
Despite the imposing size of this volume, Manguel's essays are in fact quite a quick read for those interested in all aspects of the library. The author mingles his own experiences as a book lover and collector with a breadth of historical information, making his text engaging and educational. Although I read them all at once, the essays can be easily digested at a more leisurely pace. I particularly enjoyed the Workshop and Island essays. I also enjoyed the authors' Non-Canonical List of Favori...more
Alberto Manguel loves to sit on his ass and read; he also loves to think about how much he sits and reads, or rather how he sits and reads. He thinks about how we all sit and read. Well-traveled, well-read and well-researched, Alberto Manguel writes “The Library at Night” not only from the view point of himself as a reader, but from how own person library in the Poitou-Charentes region of France. From here, a reader is taken east to the Far East, where libraries were once organized by social sta...more
A charming read about the wonders of libraries. I initially bought this book at a used bookstore because I am a librarian and was intrigued by the title. I was SO pleasantly surprised by the content! This book feels like it was written for bibliophiles: collectors, book lovers, booksellers and librarians. If you are not completely devoted to books as a way of life, you might not find this as fascinating as I did. Manguel is an accomplished writer with a sophisticated, worldly point of view. I le...more
Strangely, the best thing about this book is actually a story about a library: The Multnomah County Library specifically. I picked this book up over the summer based on a recommendation from goodness knows where. I took it on vacation to France, where I read the first half of it while alternately piloting and lounging on a canal boat. I liked it, so I carried it around with me when we went into town, in case there was an opportunity to read, and I ended up inserting a piece of wedding confetti r...more
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المكتبة في الليل
لــ " ألبرتو مانغويل "
دار المدى
___________________
حب المكتبات ، مثل أكثر المحبات ، ينبغي أن يكتسب بالتعلم .. ما من أحد يخطو أول مرة داخل غرفة مليئة بالكتب ، بإمكانه أن يعرف بالغريزة كيف يتصرف ، ماذا يتوقع ، ما الذي سيناله ، و ما هو المتاح ؟ .. قد يتملك المرء الرعب بسبب الفوضى واﻻتساع و الصمت والمراقبة ، والتذكير الساخر بأن الإنسان ﻻ يعرف كل شيء ، و تتملكه بقايا من أحاسيس غامرة تظل لصيقة به ، بعد أن تغدو الطقوس و التقاليد معروفة ، وتتكاشف معالم الجغرافيا ، وتصبح الأقوام المتوحشة...more
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Alberto Manguel (born 1948 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine-born writer, translator, and editor. He is the author of numerous non-fiction books such as The Dictionary of Imaginary Places (co-written with Gianni Guadalupi in 1980) and A History of Reading (1996) The Library at Night (2007) and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey: A Biography (2008), and novels such as News From a Foreign Country Came (1991)....more
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“In my fool hardy youth, when my friends were dreaming of heroic deeds in the realms of engineering and law, finance and national politics, I dreamt of becoming a librarian. ”
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66 people liked it
“We can imagine the books we'd like to read, even if they have not yet been written, and we can imagine libraries full of books we would like to possess, even if they are well beyond our reacher, because we enjoy dreaming up a library that reflects every one of our interests and every one of our foibles--a library that, in its variety and complexity, fully reflects the reader we are.”
—
66 people liked it
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