Packing my Library An Elegy and Ten Digressions by Alberto Manguel

Packing my Library An Elegy and Ten Digressions by Alberto Manguel by Yale Press is the story of his immense library given away by the owner and his wife when they were still settled in France in 2015 and they decided to moving away and a celebration of this library and all  libraries of the world, not forgetting the main protagonists: books.

Alberto Manguel, best-selling author and bibliophile will soon introduce you to his immense library.
He describes it in all its magnificence.
At first he discovered shelves plenty of children's books when little, thanks to his parents. The most read and beloved classics.
Later he built book by book his library.
Each library "tells" his owner, affirms Manguel. His books, his tastes, and where the life has brought him or will bring him. Books read by reader influences his life as well. I agree.

But not only private libraries speak to us: also public ones where everyone can borrow books home.
The author confirms that he has been tempted of keeping books he borrowed home from public libraries because he fell in love for them.

Public libraries are crucial points where people find informations, read, surf the web.

A public library located in a certain city meets the exigencies of its readers and its cultural tradition offering certain literature, and each public library will "meet" along its path different motivations, tastes respect to a library of another city or country.

Manguel analyzes the advent of eBooks considering them a good instrument although he prefers an old-fashioned copy of a book because of the physical contact and same he does with dictionaries a bit "lost" at the moment because of new technologies, but when he was little a passionate instrument for discovering meanings, new words. A door into the knowledge.

Packing and unpacking his library meant when he moved somewhere a lot of help because Manguel accumulated 35.000 volumes.

Manguel treats history, celebration and later departure of the important and legendary library of Alexandria of Egypt with its main protagonists. It is still unknown while later it disappeared.

Although he "lost" his library because he decided to moving from France to an apartment on Manhattan Upper West Side Alberto Manguel received soon the offer for becoming the director of the National Library of Argentina. Born in Buenos Aires, he didn't live for a long time in Argentina but he replied enthusiastically at this offer.

This book is for all book lovers of this world.

Highly recommended.

Anna Maria Polidori