I endeavor to write 500 words or so about each book I read. Its a good exercise, and it obliges me to engage with what I am reading in some way. Most of the times it is pretty easy, and the real challenge is getting to not go to far over that amount. But every now and again I hit a book that just didn’t do anything for me.
With apologies to Kieth Houston, this was the case with ‘The Book.’
‘The Book’ give us the history of the book. Not literature, the actual physical object. It takes us from the earliest writing implements of ancient Egypt to the modern day, and it does so in pretty great detail. If you want to know this history of the book, come to this book.
Erm, was it any good? It was thorough. But it was less than enjoyable. I don’t know, I found the information to be presented in a pretty dull way. After having enjoyed Kori Stamper’s excellent Word by Word I had some pretty high expectations for this book. But there was no style here, it was just a factual account of the information. The information was interesting enough, I cared to know it, but it reminded me of doing research during my uni years.
I don’t think I am going to make my word count with this one. Are you interested in the history of how the book came together? Then yea, give this a read. Otherwise pass.
Failures in Polymathy 