Hello cloud walkers and seekers of knowledge! Recently I read a book that I really HAD to share with you. The talk is about one of the best books I have EVER read! "Papyrus- The Invention of Books in the ancient world" by Irene Vallejo.. A huge book for those who get tired, but so short for those who are interested in the history of books. Frankly, so short that you could almost cry when it's near the ending.
And since I'm an old-school girl, you'd allow me a few words about the author…
Irene Vallejo, was born in 1979 in Saragossa. She studied Classical Philology with PHD's in both Saragossa and Florence. She writes novels, dissertations, essays and children stories as well as articles. This specific book, "Papyrus", has met a huge success worldwide and has been translated in more than 30 countries, with excellences and awards in the most significant and famous institutions. It really is, one of the rarest phenomena in the publication world, to be distinguished as a successful writer on a relatively young age. She is, what we say a born talent. And very soon, this is to be acknowledged by the reader. The uninstructed or the reader without experience, would simply find it difficult to put it out of his hands. And I'll tell you why…
The language is so well written and not at all pretentious, that you don't understand the minute it pulled you inside the story and travelled you in worlds that not even Hollywood hasn't mastered to give you yet, in such a precision and vibrancy. The arcane-reader, will swear to you that the author has memories of past lives, in all those historical periods she mentions. The specialist-reader will establish the result of her studies and will give credits to her teachers and tutors. The book-loving-reader or the bibliolust-reader, as I prefer to be referred to the bookworms, will surely fall in love with her. Vallejo is indeed a master artist in the handling and operation of the written word. I won't be weaving her enconium no more, you will find out for yourselves!
It is reasonable for the largest part in the history of books and "Papyrus's" contents to belong rightously to Greece. Through registered historical facts on archaeological substantiation, she lets her fantasy fly a little, just so, in order for us to feel that we are really there. The moment, the second that all is taking place, around the most significant issue and invention of man. The written word and the evolution of book. Greece, Egypt, Alexandria, Rome, "huntings" from the Mediterranean to the end of the world! All the biggest historical personages, all the "hunters" of the real treasure of knowledge, they don't just march, but are pacing up and down uninterrupted even in our sleep, once we read "Papyrus". That happened to me! They all came alive at once, all the stories, all the information I have gathered in my mind in all my reading years, since I was a child. They are not unfamiliar faces with their stories anymore, they are my familiars and my friends. Historical 'giants'... Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Anthony Hopkins, 2 little Hobbits, Kavafis, Martiallus, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Darius, Shakespeare, Herodotus, Ovid…
Persians. Greeks, Romans, Celts, Saxons, Iberians, Arabs…
Petroglyphs, papyrus, roles, … knowledge on stone, on wood, on silk… and as very aptly the overview of this book clues us in: "Books made of tobacco, stone, mud, reed, silk, leather, trees and in our days, out of plastic and light…!!! " and I will also add - and all the transition stories, from one material to the other, from one empire to the next, until the moment that randomly happened (nothing is random) for me to see the pre-order add of "Papyrus"! The history of the most significant invention since the beginning of Man. I could easily talk to you about the specific book for at least a week, for all that I obtained and all that made me feel! But it would be unfair… I would only ruin the surprise and even cut down a little of the excitement's ecstasy!
Therefore, I will throw it on your lap, without a warning, in the sweetest hour of your contemplation! The hour where all is possible… even time travelling…
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