The Library at Night is the captivating story of the critical role that libraries have played in our civilization. In the tradition of his national bestseller A History of Reading, and inspired by the process of creating a library at his home in France, Alberto Manguel elaborates on the theory that libraries embody the memories of individuals and whole cultures. Anecdotal and wonderous, Manguel draws on sources as diverse as his childhood bookshelf and the "complete" libraries of the Internet, and reaches from Ancient Egypt to Google. The Library at Night is a fascinating voyage through the vast knowledge of books and civilizations.
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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 perfectly well that, however much we’d like to believe the contrary, our pursuits are sadly doomed to failure.
Why then do we do it? Though I knew from the start that the question would most likely remain unanswered, the quest seemed worthwhile for its own sake. This book is the story of that quest.
—from The Library at Night |
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