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The Book on Fire
Balthazar, book thief and bon vivant, arrives in Alexandria to steal from the famous library. But from the moment he steps off the boat, a veiled figure shadows him. Zeinab, literary prostitute and avenging ghost, will be his chaperone through the city of books. With her help, he succeeds in penetrating the underground library. But once inside, instead of ransacking it, he becomes obsessed with the youngest librarian, Shireen, who was born in the library and is herself more than half book. Their love story forms the heart of the novel. Balthazar schemes to get Shireen out of the library. But Zeinab has plans of her own . . . In sumptuous, evocative prose, The Book on Fire explores the relationships between creation and destruction, between belief and imagination, between desire and fulfillment. This new edition contains the bonus story, City of Bones, and a brand new cover. Ursula K. Le Guin said of Keith Miller 's first novel, The Book of Flying, that it was original in concept and elegant in language, and Booklist called it a beautiful and haunting modern fable that reads like exquisite poetry. This second novel amply fulfills the promise of the first.
260 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2009
14 people are currently reading
509 people want to read
About the author
Keith Miller
6 books206 followersKeith Miller (born 1969) is an American author who has written The Book of Flying, The Book on Fire, The Sins of Angels, and The Witch's Journey. Visit his website at www.millerworlds.com and his blog at www.millerworlds.blogspot.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
January 10, 2010
What a delightful start ... "Call me Balthazar. Call me silverfish, sweet dreams, the end of the rainbow. Call me dust devil,night-owl, will-o-the-wisp. Call me man in the moon. But call me Balthazar, and place a book in my hands. And what book is that, the book I reach for? ... "
... this book is to be read slowly ... a bit like drinking turkish coffee ... conjured images inhaled ... words held in the mouth and rolled on the tongued ... savoured ... again and again
... this book is to be read slowly ... a bit like drinking turkish coffee ... conjured images inhaled ... words held in the mouth and rolled on the tongued ... savoured ... again and again
May 9, 2010
Miller's second book is different from his first - it is crueler, less naive, more primal. The violence is closer to the surface, the humans are more human, the magic is tempered with more sorrow, but it retains the same mystical power over the reader as The Book of Flying. Balthazar, the morally-questionable protagonist, is less sympathetic than Pico the librarian, but no less compelling, and it can be argued that he loves books more.
This is not a book for all readers, not even all readers who loved Miller's first. It's crude in some places, rough around the edges in others, the characters aren't sympathetic, and the ending is ambiguous. But I have never seen articulated so clearly anywhere else what it means to be truly in love with books. Many books talk about booklovers, or the love of reading, but in vague, noncommittal terms. They don't explain adequately how it possesses you, how it can matter more than food or sleep or sex. It's clear that Miller is a reader in the deepest sense of the word, and no matter what other flaws this book may have, it speaks straight to like-minded hearts on that point.
This is not a book for all readers, not even all readers who loved Miller's first. It's crude in some places, rough around the edges in others, the characters aren't sympathetic, and the ending is ambiguous. But I have never seen articulated so clearly anywhere else what it means to be truly in love with books. Many books talk about booklovers, or the love of reading, but in vague, noncommittal terms. They don't explain adequately how it possesses you, how it can matter more than food or sleep or sex. It's clear that Miller is a reader in the deepest sense of the word, and no matter what other flaws this book may have, it speaks straight to like-minded hearts on that point.
March 27, 2014
An unusual book. After I stopped trying to figure out the time frame, I really enjoyed it. The setting is Alexandria. The library is still intact, but no one is ever allowed in. Balthazar and his friends are all “thieves” He is a book thief, another copies pictures, another steals “secrets” from people’s pockets. Suspend figuring out when and what is happening and just enjoy the book. It is about reading and readers who love books There is a sensuousness even eroticism about the descriptions of reading.
“The cover of a book is a portal you open at your peril… Do you love to read? …I’m talking about nestling in a pool of candlelight and cradling a book like a baby in your lap and nudging the corner upward with your thumb, the whorls snagging the grain of the paper, and hearing the soft sizzle as the page turns. Do you love to read?”
The author is also a wonderful writer. Another sentence that hooked me: …strolling along…beside one of the canals where the Nile frayed into the delta.”
“The cover of a book is a portal you open at your peril… Do you love to read? …I’m talking about nestling in a pool of candlelight and cradling a book like a baby in your lap and nudging the corner upward with your thumb, the whorls snagging the grain of the paper, and hearing the soft sizzle as the page turns. Do you love to read?”
The author is also a wonderful writer. Another sentence that hooked me: …strolling along…beside one of the canals where the Nile frayed into the delta.”
January 7, 2015
Keith Miller writes like nobody else. He writes fiction like poetry. I could read his paragraphs over and over, just for the beauty of the writing. Reading his book is an experience of the five senses. The plot is genius.
This is a book for people who love books, stories, myths. This is for people who love all kinds of books, the smell of books, the fonts of books. Only a book lover will be able to appreciate Keith Miller. I feel 99% of the population won't get all they can from this book, and I'm not even sure I'm in the 99%. It is a rare book where there are multiple words I have to look up!
Keith Miller should be more well-read, more famous. He is a gem and I cannot wait for his next book.
This is a book for people who love books, stories, myths. This is for people who love all kinds of books, the smell of books, the fonts of books. Only a book lover will be able to appreciate Keith Miller. I feel 99% of the population won't get all they can from this book, and I'm not even sure I'm in the 99%. It is a rare book where there are multiple words I have to look up!
Keith Miller should be more well-read, more famous. He is a gem and I cannot wait for his next book.
August 14, 2012
I wanted to love this book. Earlier this year I read The Book of Flying by Miller and was madly in love by the end of the first page. The language and the characters and the story had me dizzy. It was that good.
I looked him up to see if he had other books and ordered The Book on Fire after not being able to find it at the library or in stock at the bookstore. It arrived and landed at the top of my To Be Read pile while I finished up a few other books. I kept looking at it, excited that it was there and ready to dive in.
I liked how it started and settled in happily.
And then it started to drag.
And then I didn’t really care what was happening.
And then it sat unfinished while I read a few other books.
Maybe my hopes were too high. Maybe I loved The Book of Flying so much that this was bound to be a letdown.
I’m not sure why this didn’t work for me. The book is about books and loving books and what people do to feed their addiction to books. The main character is Balthazar, a book thief who follows the scent and promise of books. He has created a collection for himself that he keeps close and are only for him. Other books he gladly trades and makes a living feeding other readers’ addictions. He arrives in Alexandria to break into the famous library, but he has no plan on how to proceed. The library is unlike anything he’s ever faced. At one time it was open to all, but things have changed and it is locked to the world and no books are ever sent out. It is guarded by fierce and deadly protectors. Those foolish enough to try to break in are mercilessly killed and their bodies are left to rot on the gates as a warning to others.
Balthazar is soon tailed by a mysterious figure named Zeinab. Is she a ghost? A prostitute? A woman? He is obsessed and disgusted by her and the two feed each other’s book addictions even though Zeinab destroys what Balthazar wants.
Eventually Balthazar figures out the riddle of the library and breaks in. Overcome with the decadence of pages, words, stories, smells, shelves, inks, pictures and his forbidden presence, he nearly drowns in his success. His thievery serves him well and he is able to hide from the murderous librarians while living in the stacks.
And then he sees Shireen.
Shireen was born in the library from the books themselves and like his books, Balthazar must posses her, open her, learn her stories and memorize her lines. His addiction changes and I couldn’t tell if it was love, lust, the challenge, the forbidden nature, or friendship.
I really liked when Balthazar and Shireen first meet and reading their interactions as they try to figure out what to do with each other. They are both obsessed and afraid, and watching their relationship change was good. Unfortunately, I began to not like Balthazar at this point. At first I liked him a lot because of his obsession with books and his code of thievery. He lives in grandeur, yet poverty. The friends he joins when he arrives in Alexandria make a wonderful supporting cast and I liked watching them all swirl around each other while they fed their individual addictions. They are both connected to each other and completely alone. When he meets Shireen, however, his addiction becomes cruel and he punishes her when he cannot possess her.
Reading other reviews. this is described as a love story, but I didn’t feel it. I wanted Shireen to be stronger, and when she was, I wanted Balthazar himself to become stronger because of her. To me it felt like Balthazar was convinced he was rescuing her, but was he simply trying to steal her for himself? Even when he wallowed in withdrawal and despair, I didn’t feel any love. It was more that he was in agony because he was being denied a thing, not a person. It felt more like a child having a tantrum, not a man in love.
I did like most of the ending. Zeinab’s story is told, and then finished. Everything becomes violent and a pure destruction emerges, and yet suddenly things feel peaceful. I wanted to stay with Zeinab, but Balthazar and Shireen still had their own lives and their stories needed to be finished. While I did like their endings, I found myself wishing this was Zeinab’s story and that the other two would be an epilogue when she was done.
I wonder if this would have been a five star book for me if I had read it before The Book of Flying. I liked the darkness. I liked the cruel moments that came from the other characters because they happened in honest moments. I didn’t feel like Balthazar was honest in his desires. The other addictions are pure, but for some reason I felt like Balthazar was about possession, not about fulfillment. I can’t quite explain it, but I’m sure if you’re sympathetic to him, you will like this book more than I did.
I looked him up to see if he had other books and ordered The Book on Fire after not being able to find it at the library or in stock at the bookstore. It arrived and landed at the top of my To Be Read pile while I finished up a few other books. I kept looking at it, excited that it was there and ready to dive in.
I liked how it started and settled in happily.
And then it started to drag.
And then I didn’t really care what was happening.
And then it sat unfinished while I read a few other books.
Maybe my hopes were too high. Maybe I loved The Book of Flying so much that this was bound to be a letdown.
I’m not sure why this didn’t work for me. The book is about books and loving books and what people do to feed their addiction to books. The main character is Balthazar, a book thief who follows the scent and promise of books. He has created a collection for himself that he keeps close and are only for him. Other books he gladly trades and makes a living feeding other readers’ addictions. He arrives in Alexandria to break into the famous library, but he has no plan on how to proceed. The library is unlike anything he’s ever faced. At one time it was open to all, but things have changed and it is locked to the world and no books are ever sent out. It is guarded by fierce and deadly protectors. Those foolish enough to try to break in are mercilessly killed and their bodies are left to rot on the gates as a warning to others.
Balthazar is soon tailed by a mysterious figure named Zeinab. Is she a ghost? A prostitute? A woman? He is obsessed and disgusted by her and the two feed each other’s book addictions even though Zeinab destroys what Balthazar wants.
Eventually Balthazar figures out the riddle of the library and breaks in. Overcome with the decadence of pages, words, stories, smells, shelves, inks, pictures and his forbidden presence, he nearly drowns in his success. His thievery serves him well and he is able to hide from the murderous librarians while living in the stacks.
And then he sees Shireen.
Shireen was born in the library from the books themselves and like his books, Balthazar must posses her, open her, learn her stories and memorize her lines. His addiction changes and I couldn’t tell if it was love, lust, the challenge, the forbidden nature, or friendship.
I really liked when Balthazar and Shireen first meet and reading their interactions as they try to figure out what to do with each other. They are both obsessed and afraid, and watching their relationship change was good. Unfortunately, I began to not like Balthazar at this point. At first I liked him a lot because of his obsession with books and his code of thievery. He lives in grandeur, yet poverty. The friends he joins when he arrives in Alexandria make a wonderful supporting cast and I liked watching them all swirl around each other while they fed their individual addictions. They are both connected to each other and completely alone. When he meets Shireen, however, his addiction becomes cruel and he punishes her when he cannot possess her.
Reading other reviews. this is described as a love story, but I didn’t feel it. I wanted Shireen to be stronger, and when she was, I wanted Balthazar himself to become stronger because of her. To me it felt like Balthazar was convinced he was rescuing her, but was he simply trying to steal her for himself? Even when he wallowed in withdrawal and despair, I didn’t feel any love. It was more that he was in agony because he was being denied a thing, not a person. It felt more like a child having a tantrum, not a man in love.
I did like most of the ending. Zeinab’s story is told, and then finished. Everything becomes violent and a pure destruction emerges, and yet suddenly things feel peaceful. I wanted to stay with Zeinab, but Balthazar and Shireen still had their own lives and their stories needed to be finished. While I did like their endings, I found myself wishing this was Zeinab’s story and that the other two would be an epilogue when she was done.
I wonder if this would have been a five star book for me if I had read it before The Book of Flying. I liked the darkness. I liked the cruel moments that came from the other characters because they happened in honest moments. I didn’t feel like Balthazar was honest in his desires. The other addictions are pure, but for some reason I felt like Balthazar was about possession, not about fulfillment. I can’t quite explain it, but I’m sure if you’re sympathetic to him, you will like this book more than I did.
June 12, 2019
I have such mixed feelings! After reading The Book of Flying, I was happy to learn of this novel. Miller has a beautiful, brutal writing style that isn't afraid to wax poetic. Books are, once more, the heart of character motivation and plot. It is a genuine celebration of reading: the act, the form, the function. I will raise the same caution as with The Book of Flying in that you may grow tired of the lyrical, bleeding-heart descriptions of books, perhaps even growing tired of the word itself by the end. Now, to address specifics:
By all means, call that a philistine's review, but I'm torn between Miller's absolutely beautiful language, his heartfelt homage to books and reading, and everything else I got into. Would I recommend this? Yes, if only to rattle someone's cage and give them something different.
By all means, call that a philistine's review, but I'm torn between Miller's absolutely beautiful language, his heartfelt homage to books and reading, and everything else I got into. Would I recommend this? Yes, if only to rattle someone's cage and give them something different.
August 3, 2015
The Book on Fire by Keith Miller
The genre is fictional fantasy so don’t make the mistake I did in trying to make all the pieces fit perfectly. Balthazar, the book thief enters the fictional world Alexandria, Egypt in the early 1920’s with the intent of breaking into the most famous library in the world. The library has been closed to the public for reasons no one was really sure but it is heavily guarded by an ascetic group of women librarians wearing grey gowns with shaven heads who have been trained in the martial arts and instructed to kill any outsider that enters. With a conspiracy in place to keep the location a secret, Balthazar stumbles blindly through back alleys and finds its location. As he is looking in from the outside he meets Zeinab a literary prostitute and avenging ghost whose goal is to burn the books. She becomes Balthazar’s chaperone through the city of books and gives him instructions how to enter the library via the underworld of Alexandria. Here he secretly spies on Shireen, a young librarian who was born in the library and believes she was spawn from a book so she keeps looking for the book that is her “mother”. Balthazar recognizes a kindred spirit by the way she reads and her slumped posture. He begins leaving secret messages for her in the books she has pulled from the shelf to read. Meantime Zeinab introduces him to Kanisa Prometheus a church of demons on the loose from 2:00 am to 4:00 am while others sleep. They brake in and steal only the most valuable books their senses fine tuned to the smell of an especially valuable book. One of the most beautifully written books I have read but bat times bordering on feeling obfuscate. Reminded me of Fahrenheit 451. 4.5 stars
The genre is fictional fantasy so don’t make the mistake I did in trying to make all the pieces fit perfectly. Balthazar, the book thief enters the fictional world Alexandria, Egypt in the early 1920’s with the intent of breaking into the most famous library in the world. The library has been closed to the public for reasons no one was really sure but it is heavily guarded by an ascetic group of women librarians wearing grey gowns with shaven heads who have been trained in the martial arts and instructed to kill any outsider that enters. With a conspiracy in place to keep the location a secret, Balthazar stumbles blindly through back alleys and finds its location. As he is looking in from the outside he meets Zeinab a literary prostitute and avenging ghost whose goal is to burn the books. She becomes Balthazar’s chaperone through the city of books and gives him instructions how to enter the library via the underworld of Alexandria. Here he secretly spies on Shireen, a young librarian who was born in the library and believes she was spawn from a book so she keeps looking for the book that is her “mother”. Balthazar recognizes a kindred spirit by the way she reads and her slumped posture. He begins leaving secret messages for her in the books she has pulled from the shelf to read. Meantime Zeinab introduces him to Kanisa Prometheus a church of demons on the loose from 2:00 am to 4:00 am while others sleep. They brake in and steal only the most valuable books their senses fine tuned to the smell of an especially valuable book. One of the most beautifully written books I have read but bat times bordering on feeling obfuscate. Reminded me of Fahrenheit 451. 4.5 stars
June 29, 2021
I think this might be the most nihilistic book I’ve ever read. Balthazar, the narrator, loves books. I mean LOVES them. Like in the biblical sense. So why would he be tempted to burn all the greatest books as well as himself and the woman he loves (who is also part book)? Because everything is wonderful in its own way. That’s my takeaway, anyway.
Welcome to Alexandria, home of book lovers, an epic (but totally closed-off) library, ghosts, thieves, addicts, rich smells and textures, myriad food and drink, and so many words I had to look up in the dictionary. Balthazar arrives to steal books and ends up meeting a ghost prostitute who introduces him to her weird congregation. Their stories are included, but not necessary.
Zeinab the prostitute loves to burn books. She grew up as a princess in a palace with one very special book. Her father read to her until she became a woman. Then she was forbidden to hear the stories. So she snuck peeks at it until her father caught her and burned her and the book. She escaped to the library and became a librarian but she wanted to free the books. When she gave away a dozen through the gate, the other librarians killed her. Since then she has enjoyed burning books.
Then there is Shireen, the youngest librarian. She was born from a book in the library and has known no other home in her life. She loves everything… The books in the library, the smell of roses, lions at the zoo, the way mothers and children hold each other, and Balthazar. Because everything is so great, it’s also fine to lose it all, apparently. When she goes away, she really has no intention of coming back.
Balthazar is also smitten with books and with Shireen, but fantasizes about Shireen as a corpse and he allows his books to be destroyed. Eventually, he learns that his personal collection contains the “freed” library books. When they have been returned, Zeinab can die her permanent death. Along with Balthazar and Shireen, who don’t seem to mind. Balthazar and Shireen take a nice tram ride to a hotel in the mountains after. It’s all lovely.
I was shocked in some parts by dirty talk and descriptions of violence, but I suppose that supports the nihilism of the overall book. I’d also say my opinion of this one is nihilistic. I loved the long, detailed and colorful descriptions but they also took away from my ability to concentrate.
Welcome to Alexandria, home of book lovers, an epic (but totally closed-off) library, ghosts, thieves, addicts, rich smells and textures, myriad food and drink, and so many words I had to look up in the dictionary. Balthazar arrives to steal books and ends up meeting a ghost prostitute who introduces him to her weird congregation. Their stories are included, but not necessary.
Zeinab the prostitute loves to burn books. She grew up as a princess in a palace with one very special book. Her father read to her until she became a woman. Then she was forbidden to hear the stories. So she snuck peeks at it until her father caught her and burned her and the book. She escaped to the library and became a librarian but she wanted to free the books. When she gave away a dozen through the gate, the other librarians killed her. Since then she has enjoyed burning books.
Then there is Shireen, the youngest librarian. She was born from a book in the library and has known no other home in her life. She loves everything… The books in the library, the smell of roses, lions at the zoo, the way mothers and children hold each other, and Balthazar. Because everything is so great, it’s also fine to lose it all, apparently. When she goes away, she really has no intention of coming back.
Balthazar is also smitten with books and with Shireen, but fantasizes about Shireen as a corpse and he allows his books to be destroyed. Eventually, he learns that his personal collection contains the “freed” library books. When they have been returned, Zeinab can die her permanent death. Along with Balthazar and Shireen, who don’t seem to mind. Balthazar and Shireen take a nice tram ride to a hotel in the mountains after. It’s all lovely.
I was shocked in some parts by dirty talk and descriptions of violence, but I suppose that supports the nihilism of the overall book. I’d also say my opinion of this one is nihilistic. I loved the long, detailed and colorful descriptions but they also took away from my ability to concentrate.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2025
In a world where fewer and fewer people are reading, and a love for books is seen either as a quaint backwards antiquity or a virtue, can it ever become too much?
Keith Miller delivers again with what is probably the best book I have read all year. Like Miller's previous novel, The Book of Flying, this is a complex story that can be read as a fantasy or a literary allegory, but ends up somewhere in between, which is probably why it's not as popular as it should be.
Balthazar is a book thief who arrives in a wonderfully fleshed-out, immersive version of Alexandria where the Library is an impregnable fortress run by warrior nuns who kill any invader on first sight. Wanting to steal a book from the library for unknown reasons, he allies with a group of ne'er-do-wells including the mysterious Zeinab, a prostitute who accepts payment in the form of books, which she then burns. An obsessive personality, Balthazar's love for books is overwhelming, primal, sexual. But even this becomes challenged by both Zeinab's seduction and behavior, and his encounter with one of the librarians who creates an even darker and creepier obsession for him.
Like Miller's The Book of Flying, this is a bit of a mid-twenties coming-of-age story, but it's much darker and less relatable. Balthazar is a spectacularly unreliable narrator, far from a sympathetic character, and is a horrible human being. He deals with an inexplicable scale of obsession and has a vacuum for a moral compass. But Miller's neutrality as an author in dealing with Balthazar is quite remarkable; never are these things commented on, they just happen, and the reader is left to pick up the pieces. The plot is fast-paced, well-constructed, and has its fair share of fun twists, but the real value of this book lies in the writing. Miller's prose is a little flowery for me, but like in his previous novel it has a wonderful bounce to it, and his sensory descriptions of the city, particularly the food, are exquisite. I'm inspired to cook a few of these dishes after reading about them! The characters are maybe the one drawback - I never was convinced by the backstories and moments with several of the crew, but the book isn't really about them.
This is a novel of exquisite craftsmanship highly recommended for those who love books and despicable protagonists. Highly recommended.
Keith Miller delivers again with what is probably the best book I have read all year. Like Miller's previous novel, The Book of Flying, this is a complex story that can be read as a fantasy or a literary allegory, but ends up somewhere in between, which is probably why it's not as popular as it should be.
Balthazar is a book thief who arrives in a wonderfully fleshed-out, immersive version of Alexandria where the Library is an impregnable fortress run by warrior nuns who kill any invader on first sight. Wanting to steal a book from the library for unknown reasons, he allies with a group of ne'er-do-wells including the mysterious Zeinab, a prostitute who accepts payment in the form of books, which she then burns. An obsessive personality, Balthazar's love for books is overwhelming, primal, sexual. But even this becomes challenged by both Zeinab's seduction and behavior, and his encounter with one of the librarians who creates an even darker and creepier obsession for him.
Like Miller's The Book of Flying, this is a bit of a mid-twenties coming-of-age story, but it's much darker and less relatable. Balthazar is a spectacularly unreliable narrator, far from a sympathetic character, and is a horrible human being. He deals with an inexplicable scale of obsession and has a vacuum for a moral compass. But Miller's neutrality as an author in dealing with Balthazar is quite remarkable; never are these things commented on, they just happen, and the reader is left to pick up the pieces. The plot is fast-paced, well-constructed, and has its fair share of fun twists, but the real value of this book lies in the writing. Miller's prose is a little flowery for me, but like in his previous novel it has a wonderful bounce to it, and his sensory descriptions of the city, particularly the food, are exquisite. I'm inspired to cook a few of these dishes after reading about them! The characters are maybe the one drawback - I never was convinced by the backstories and moments with several of the crew, but the book isn't really about them.
This is a novel of exquisite craftsmanship highly recommended for those who love books and despicable protagonists. Highly recommended.
March 26, 2021
I really enjoyed reading this story. The lyricism of the prose is a treat for any reader. The story itself was enthralling and entertaining. I love that it sort of seemed to reimagine the burning of the library at Alexandria in this way. The only part that kept pulling me out of the story (and maybe that’s my issue as the reader, not critiquing the author’s choice to write this way) was the way the modern world was folded into this seemingly historically-based, fantasy world. The mentions of business suits, Audrey Hepburn and anything that seemed contemporary just pulled me out of the story. The author is extremely imaginative and I absolutely love the rest of the world- the ghosts, the book-whores, the bibliophilic world, the librarian born of books themselves. I def recommend. This book will charm you.
May 27, 2020
Not nearly as good as The Book of Flying but still a wonderful piece of fantasy by Keith Miller.
The Book on Fire delves even deeper into Mr. Miller’s love affair with the written word, to a city where books are worshipped in a grand and ancient library.
The story is somewhat lacking, unlike in TBOF, but the resplendent imagery, the beautiful poetry, and the vivid characters are all there.
A very worthy read and a good follow-up to his first amazing effort.
The Book on Fire delves even deeper into Mr. Miller’s love affair with the written word, to a city where books are worshipped in a grand and ancient library.
The story is somewhat lacking, unlike in TBOF, but the resplendent imagery, the beautiful poetry, and the vivid characters are all there.
A very worthy read and a good follow-up to his first amazing effort.
February 10, 2018
Ay, me encantó. Es súper entretenido, tiene muchos elementos que me fascinan y un estilo picaresco que involucra al lector, como una especie de guiño, que te mantiene divertido y alerta. Preciosa prosa.
February 7, 2019
An intense love for books fuels this story. You can feel it oozing from the pages. A love of books, of words, and of stories. Beyond that love, however, the story itself did not pull me in like Miller's first book. It was just a bit too undefined overall, for me.
December 3, 2021
Another great book by Keith Miller
February 16, 2023
This will probably be the best book I read this year.
February 27, 2012
A book thief lands in a fantastical version of the legendary Alexandria to steal from his ultimate library, and falls in love with a librarian working there. I'm not sure if the author loves libraries or librarians more, considering that his previous book, The Book of Flying, was along similar lines, but I have to admit it works for me. I almost feel embarrassed to say how much I enjoyed reading this book, but I can't really explain why. I was already enamored with Alexandria after reading the Durrell quartet, and this made it so much worse!
The writing is very descriptive, and I'm tempted to say overly so, except I don't feel it is. Most of the time if I pick up a book that spends half its time describing smells and food, it reads like filler, but here it serves to place the reader into his vision of Alexandria. I found myself drawn in and living in the world as I read, which doesn't happen often as an adult. (I also ended up hungry!)
There are elements of the writing and of the storytelling that are the same elements I love in Catherynne Valente's writing, and anyone knows me knows that is high praise indeed. After reading a little more about the author himself, I feel like you can see glimpses of his real life experiences tucked into this book, as far from reality as it seems.
"This is the true heart of the city, this street of cubbyholes of stacked paper. The library is of course its soul, but it is hidden."
"That's the difference between heroin and literature... The drugs you take are lonely voyages. I can share your needle but I can't share your trip. Each reading is separate, to be sure, but I can come much closer to another person's experience."
"You fall deeper into a book. The others flip through the pages, their eyes are always floating up, but you drown."
"First readings are like first kisses - you can't remember the taste, the shape of the other's lips, you have only a heady sensation of stained glass shattering."
"To read a cherished book aloud to someone who also knows the book by heart is an experience closer than any other conversation, closer than making love; the same reefs and swells crossed at the same time, the chuckles rising in tandem. You feel you're speaking into her blood."
The writing is very descriptive, and I'm tempted to say overly so, except I don't feel it is. Most of the time if I pick up a book that spends half its time describing smells and food, it reads like filler, but here it serves to place the reader into his vision of Alexandria. I found myself drawn in and living in the world as I read, which doesn't happen often as an adult. (I also ended up hungry!)
There are elements of the writing and of the storytelling that are the same elements I love in Catherynne Valente's writing, and anyone knows me knows that is high praise indeed. After reading a little more about the author himself, I feel like you can see glimpses of his real life experiences tucked into this book, as far from reality as it seems.
"This is the true heart of the city, this street of cubbyholes of stacked paper. The library is of course its soul, but it is hidden."
"That's the difference between heroin and literature... The drugs you take are lonely voyages. I can share your needle but I can't share your trip. Each reading is separate, to be sure, but I can come much closer to another person's experience."
"You fall deeper into a book. The others flip through the pages, their eyes are always floating up, but you drown."
"First readings are like first kisses - you can't remember the taste, the shape of the other's lips, you have only a heady sensation of stained glass shattering."
"To read a cherished book aloud to someone who also knows the book by heart is an experience closer than any other conversation, closer than making love; the same reefs and swells crossed at the same time, the chuckles rising in tandem. You feel you're speaking into her blood."
July 20, 2019
This book is a deep cardamom kiss. It is every daydream you've ever had of living in a library rolled into one and exploded into a vast library that could not be contained even in your thoughts.
Another reviewer complained that Miller comes from the adjective school of writing. I personally enjoy thick description* in my novels, but if you're someone who prefers the starkness of, say, John Steinbeck's writing, then this book is not for you. On the other hand, if you like authors like Francesca Lia Block, whose books are poetry to me, then this might be for you.
While the writing and description are both beautiful, there are some issues of exoticization and "man-voice". Exoticization because it's all about veils and look at these exotic women and oooo isn't it special. Miller makes it all about The Exotic East, which is pretty vomit-inducing for a sociologist like me. And then there's the problem of "man-voice". I don't have a better term for this. Put it this way: the majority of books I read are by women. This is a purposeful choice on my part (see Inga Muscio for more explanation). And it is very, very evident that this book is written by a man. For brief but unpleasant periods, the story becomes all about testicles and/or penises. I couldn't care less about male genitalia. But those parts are mostly brief and easy to skim.
The four stars are mainly because of the problem of man-voice and the exoticization. But this is a beautiful book, with descriptions so deep you can sink into them like cloud-beds. Be sure to read with a stash of almond cookies, tea, and apricots.
* Thanks Clifford Geertz! You intended that term academically, but I intend to use it whenever possible.
Another reviewer complained that Miller comes from the adjective school of writing. I personally enjoy thick description* in my novels, but if you're someone who prefers the starkness of, say, John Steinbeck's writing, then this book is not for you. On the other hand, if you like authors like Francesca Lia Block, whose books are poetry to me, then this might be for you.
While the writing and description are both beautiful, there are some issues of exoticization and "man-voice". Exoticization because it's all about veils and look at these exotic women and oooo isn't it special. Miller makes it all about The Exotic East, which is pretty vomit-inducing for a sociologist like me. And then there's the problem of "man-voice". I don't have a better term for this. Put it this way: the majority of books I read are by women. This is a purposeful choice on my part (see Inga Muscio for more explanation). And it is very, very evident that this book is written by a man. For brief but unpleasant periods, the story becomes all about testicles and/or penises. I couldn't care less about male genitalia. But those parts are mostly brief and easy to skim.
The four stars are mainly because of the problem of man-voice and the exoticization. But this is a beautiful book, with descriptions so deep you can sink into them like cloud-beds. Be sure to read with a stash of almond cookies, tea, and apricots.
* Thanks Clifford Geertz! You intended that term academically, but I intend to use it whenever possible.
October 10, 2012
I love Keith Miller's writing. He is a terrific story teller and his books enthrall me.
Balthazar is a book thief who comes to Alexandria to steal rare books from the world famous library there. Not only is he a book thief, but he is also a connoisseur of fine literature. Some of the books he steals he keeps and reads over and over, but most, he repairs and disguises and sends to his contacts, who pay him for them. They then sell them to their rich clientele.
In Alexandria he meets Zeinab, a literay prostitute of great allure. He desires her, but her price is one of the precious books he owns. How she knows what books he owns is a mystery and at first Balthazar refuses. Ultimately his attraction to her is so overwhelming that he agrees to her price for a night of pleasure with her. The next day he watches as Zeinab burns his precious book.
He and Zeinab become friends and she introduces him to a group of kind- hearted thieves who become his friends and companions.
Nobody is allowed in the library and it is heavily guarded by a group of women librarians trained in the martial arts, who will immediately kill anyone they find there. Zeinab shows Balthazar how to sneak into the library by going through the city's catacombs. Once in the library he encounters Shireen, the youngest of the librarians, and surreptitiously follows her and eventually meets and woos her and convinces her to leave the library with him.
This is an intriguing tale, beautifully written.
Miller's previous novel is The Book of Flying.
Balthazar is a book thief who comes to Alexandria to steal rare books from the world famous library there. Not only is he a book thief, but he is also a connoisseur of fine literature. Some of the books he steals he keeps and reads over and over, but most, he repairs and disguises and sends to his contacts, who pay him for them. They then sell them to their rich clientele.
In Alexandria he meets Zeinab, a literay prostitute of great allure. He desires her, but her price is one of the precious books he owns. How she knows what books he owns is a mystery and at first Balthazar refuses. Ultimately his attraction to her is so overwhelming that he agrees to her price for a night of pleasure with her. The next day he watches as Zeinab burns his precious book.
He and Zeinab become friends and she introduces him to a group of kind- hearted thieves who become his friends and companions.
Nobody is allowed in the library and it is heavily guarded by a group of women librarians trained in the martial arts, who will immediately kill anyone they find there. Zeinab shows Balthazar how to sneak into the library by going through the city's catacombs. Once in the library he encounters Shireen, the youngest of the librarians, and surreptitiously follows her and eventually meets and woos her and convinces her to leave the library with him.
This is an intriguing tale, beautifully written.
Miller's previous novel is The Book of Flying.
February 24, 2011
A true readers book. The opening chapter is nothing less than brilliant seduction then woven throughout the remarkable prose, between the lines is a treatise on the inalienable freedom of words; the whole is breathtaking, filthy, and sublime. There is a stark and stinging reality as you turn and consume each page that the beautiful moment just consumed will never again be. Again Keith Miller has created a book you long to hold back and savor but are overcome by lust and passion turning each page as it is finished, greedily devouring the text and the images and magic they produce; then the inevitable happens and the book that was just afire with life is now consumed. A true readers book.
August 19, 2013
Having read, and fallen deeply in love with, Miller's first novel, The Book of Flying, I was both excited and apprehensive when cracking the cover of this book. The excitement was well rewarded, the apprehension needless.
Book on Fire is a different beast from Book of Flying, but each are clearly creations born of Miller's careful hand and keen adoration of everything to do with books. The Book of Flying was a needle in my heart; The Book on Fire is a knife in my gut. "Flying", is the love of my life, beautiful and nearly perfect and nestled neatly in a permanent spot on my shelf of favourites. But "Fire" is her exotic and irresistibly sensual younger sister. It could never usurp its companion, but it will always haunt me.
Book on Fire is a different beast from Book of Flying, but each are clearly creations born of Miller's careful hand and keen adoration of everything to do with books. The Book of Flying was a needle in my heart; The Book on Fire is a knife in my gut. "Flying", is the love of my life, beautiful and nearly perfect and nestled neatly in a permanent spot on my shelf of favourites. But "Fire" is her exotic and irresistibly sensual younger sister. It could never usurp its companion, but it will always haunt me.
October 10, 2009
First off, I'll say that the bar was pretty high before I even opened this book. Keith Miller's first book, The Book of Flying, is probably my all-time favorite book- which is saying something for me.
The Book of Fire did not disappoint. This story was more focused but just as rich in detail. His style of writing is not always easy to read (at least for me), but the reward is well worth the effort.
If you are a lover of books this is one not to be missed!
The Book of Fire did not disappoint. This story was more focused but just as rich in detail. His style of writing is not always easy to read (at least for me), but the reward is well worth the effort.
If you are a lover of books this is one not to be missed!
February 5, 2011
I really loved The Book of Flying and was not disappointed in Keith Miller's latest book. The beginning threw me for a loop - it seemed cheesy, too earnest, flowery, old, or something. But it really set the stage for an unforgettable book: the writing is unique and I find that I remember more details about this book than most others I've read. The book thief and the library of Alexandria... it all seemed so ancient and yet so modern at the same time.
September 1, 2014
This book is magical. Beautiful. Paradise. I am usually able to move from one book to the next with no problem, but after reading this book I find myself wanting to linger. The words fall perfectly in synch with one another, the descriptions so vibrant and alive. I feel like I have constructed the Library of Alexandria in my mind based off of the book. I don't think this book is for everyone, and there are times when a paragraph is just one long run on sentence of allegorical nature.
I feel like this book changed my life.
I feel like this book changed my life.
April 1, 2010
Another fantastical tale from the author of The Book of Flying. In a magical version of Alexandria that retains its library, a book thief is haunted by ghosts and books, drawn into catacombs and love affairs, ever-pursued by page-eating fire. Miller's descriptions of books, libraries and readers is erotica for the bibliophile--poor a glass of wine and choose your favorite spot for reading before you open this one.
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August 18, 2010While I read this unique book- a book of poetic prose that I had been saving for a special time- I could not decide what I would have to say about it.
I still can't. However...
When I finished the last page, I got up without a word and struck a match. I let its flame blossom below the final words, then blew it out. Small flakes of orange and grey ash flew up and bit my arm.
This taught me which side of a flaming book I am most loyal to.
I still can't. However...
When I finished the last page, I got up without a word and struck a match. I let its flame blossom below the final words, then blew it out. Small flakes of orange and grey ash flew up and bit my arm.
This taught me which side of a flaming book I am most loyal to.
February 6, 2012
It just gets better and better. At last a perfect description of the complex and wonderous intoxication of reading and of the love of books.
A some points towards the end the story unravels a bit to much for me but it doesn´t really matter, the rest is so good and the smells not to mention the tastes of Miller´s Alexandria is alluring and lovely. I want to eat croissants at the trianon at daybreak!
A some points towards the end the story unravels a bit to much for me but it doesn´t really matter, the rest is so good and the smells not to mention the tastes of Miller´s Alexandria is alluring and lovely. I want to eat croissants at the trianon at daybreak!
September 29, 2014
I love Keith Miller's, The Book of Flying (it's actually my favorite book) and reading the description it looked like this would be something similar. I was looking forward to be brought into this Alexandrian world where books are the world and more, but sorely disappointed. There were some great ideas but the story didn't follow through. Although, I will say Miller's whimsical-esque writing was on par and the images he paints are stunning.
October 13, 2009
This book was absolutely amazing. It was like reading a long prose poem-the language was incredibly evocative and just plain luscious.
If you need a well-defined plot-I do not recommend this book-but if you love writing for its inherent poetry and if you are a bibliophile, this is the book for you.
If you need a well-defined plot-I do not recommend this book-but if you love writing for its inherent poetry and if you are a bibliophile, this is the book for you.
May 27, 2011
Only giving it a four due to the large amount of Arabic and Islamic words in the book that I did not know and couldn't be bothered to look up at every occurance. So I think a lot of the beautiful prose was lost on me. Ultimately however, his attention to detail made the novel (not story) less accessible to the general populous.
February 3, 2013
Enjoy any story that involves books, even if overly fanciful.
So many metaphors that the reader is looking at a photograph expecting to see a landscape and instead the mind’s eye is made to focus on a lover’s body. Beautiful but dizzing.
So many metaphors that the reader is looking at a photograph expecting to see a landscape and instead the mind’s eye is made to focus on a lover’s body. Beautiful but dizzing.
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