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"Splendidly articulate, informative and provoking....A book to be savored and gone back to."—Baltimore Sun
On the survival and destruction of knowledge, from Alexandria to the Internet. Through the ages, libraries have not only accumulated and preserved but also shaped, inspired, and obliterated knowledge. Matthew Battles, a rare books librarian and a gifted narrator, takes us on a spirited foray from Boston to Baghdad, from classical scriptoria to medieval monasteries, from the Vatican to the British Library, from socialist reading rooms and rural home libraries to the Information Age.
He explores how libraries are built and how they are destroyed, from the decay of the great Alexandrian library to scroll burnings in ancient China to the destruction of Aztec books by the Spanish—and in our own time, the burning of libraries in Europe and Bosnia.
Encyclopedic in its breadth and novelistic in its telling, this volume will occupy a treasured place on the bookshelf next to Baker's Double Fold, Basbanes's A Gentle Madness, Manguel's A History of Reading, and Winchester's The Professor and the Madman.
Anonymous
Posted March 28, 2013
((This is just a short writing I did in the middle of class one day, not quite a story, not quite a poem...))
The monster comes for me.
I can feel it creeping to fill my limbs, demanding control.
I count the seconds down.
12...11...10...
10 more seconds before I lose control...
9...8...7...
I close my eyes and plead.
"Leave me alone..."
6...5...4...
I swallow hard as the truth settles in.
3...2...1...
There is no escape...
Anonymous
Posted March 2, 2013
Padpaw walks on the cold ground, his birth was over three moons ago. As he was makeing his way to kitkit he was thinking "will he want to play he arady seems acupied with, Thunderpaw" thunderpaw and kitkit were his two best freands, he tthot. "Hey kitkit, thunderpaw wanna play?
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Posted February 26, 2013
Where is this lemon library? Ive looked at the forth result like i was told to... and
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Posted February 26, 2013
Zella sat on her bed her soft white hair tumbling down her back. This was day that she belived would never come. Not in tjis way at least. There came a nock on the door. Most likly Selenacoming to help her put her dress on.sure enough selena entered carrying the simple black dress. She double checked with zella that she was dure that she wanred black not white. Zella asured her it wad what she wanted. Once the dress was on selena yook out a lavander ribbib that matxhed zellas eyes perfectly. She ties it around her thin waist. Saliman came in. "Ready to wlk down the aisle" he asked zella nodded barely vontaining her exitment. She and saliman exited the building. Down at the end of a long row of daisies stood viggo. Zella smiled and made the walk that would change her life for the remaining 217 years that she lived.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 27, 2013
Janet is 21 years old, her junior year in collage, and still a virgin. After a bad break-up with her boyfriend she practicaly swears off boys. She returns home for summer vacation to find out her mom is getting remarried! Janet's step-dad-to-be, Derric, is nice but not really her style. Her step-sister-to-be, Crissy, on the other hand, is toatally hot! One day ,after the wedding, Janet accidentaly sees Crissy without a top while she's getting dressed. Janet now wanted more then ever to make love with her step-sister. On a really hot day in July, Janet's mom and Derric went on a date and it was just Janet and Crissy in the house. Crissy suggested they go swimming and Janet agreed. Crissy had gotten in a car accident and broken her arm so she asked Janet to help her get into her new bakini. To be continued a library result #2
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Overview
"Splendidly articulate, informative and provoking....A book to be savored and gone back to."—Baltimore Sun
On the survival and destruction of knowledge, from Alexandria to the Internet. Through the ages, libraries have not only accumulated and preserved but also shaped, inspired, and obliterated knowledge. Matthew Battles, a rare books librarian and a gifted narrator, takes us on a spirited foray from Boston to Baghdad, from classical scriptoria to medieval monasteries, from the...