A cornucopia of 'portable magic' for all bibliophiles!
As I’d received a free copy of ‘Portable Magic’ in exchange for an honest review, I felt I should read it chapter by chapter, start to finish. However, whilst Emma Smith’s scholarly, yet very accessible, writing-style made that easy to do, even as I was reading I realised that there are sections of this fascinating history of ‘bookhood’ that I’ll want to re-read, and reflect on, in a more leisurely fashion. Within the sixteen chapters she includes so much intriguing information about the history of books, so many insightful explorations of, and reflections on, the enduring nature (over millennia!) of the hold they exert over their readers; the interactive nature of the relationship between the reader and the physical book; what makes a book a ‘classic’; free speech and censorship; the influence of books in shaping the course of history and bringing about political and societal change (to name just a few themes!) that I now feel my interactions with this wonderful book have barely begun! However, as the chapters are thematic rather than presented in an historically chronological order, I feel that this, combined with an impressively comprehensive index, makes it a book I know I’ll frequently be dipping in and out of … not only to absorb more knowledge, but for the sheer joy of appreciating, once again, the author’s eloquent and engaging use of language.
There wasn’t one chapter which failed to delight and inform me, to make me reflect on the history of the printed word and to challenge me to be more reflective about some of the factors which influence my reading experience. Her final chapter, ‘What is a Book?’, offers just one example to illustrate this. The author opens it with an admission that she had thought she ‘would stay away from this existential question … in part because the answer is usually either reasonably uncontentious or insufferably pretentious’ … as well as a pithy observation that … ‘If we don’t know by now what a book is, this book itself is a bit of a dud’! So, acknowledging that ‘the question of definitions recurs whenever books are discussed’, over the course of the seventeen and a half pages of this chapter she addresses how complex this apparently simple question is. She reflects on a range of different definitions and some of the factors which influence the frequently fierce debate engendered in the process of coming up with an answer! However, she concludes with her own definition: ‘… a book becomes a book in the hands of its readers. It is an interactive object. A book that is not handled and read is not really a book at all’. I find it hard to imagine any avid reader disagreeing with the essential truth of this reflection!
Not only is there a treasure-trove of information contained within the pages of this superb book, but the striking design of its dust-cover makes it a thing of beauty too – such an important part of the reading experience. I’m delighted to now own a copy of this epitome of ‘portable magic’ and recommend it without hesitation … it truly is a must for all bibliophiles!
There wasn’t one chapter which failed to delight and inform me, to make me reflect on the history of the printed word and to challenge me to be more reflective about some of the factors which influence my reading experience. Her final chapter, ‘What is a Book?’, offers just one example to illustrate this. The author opens it with an admission that she had thought she ‘would stay away from this existential question … in part because the answer is usually either reasonably uncontentious or insufferably pretentious’ … as well as a pithy observation that … ‘If we don’t know by now what a book is, this book itself is a bit of a dud’! So, acknowledging that ‘the question of definitions recurs whenever books are discussed’, over the course of the seventeen and a half pages of this chapter she addresses how complex this apparently simple question is. She reflects on a range of different definitions and some of the factors which influence the frequently fierce debate engendered in the process of coming up with an answer! However, she concludes with her own definition: ‘… a book becomes a book in the hands of its readers. It is an interactive object. A book that is not handled and read is not really a book at all’. I find it hard to imagine any avid reader disagreeing with the essential truth of this reflection!
Not only is there a treasure-trove of information contained within the pages of this superb book, but the striking design of its dust-cover makes it a thing of beauty too – such an important part of the reading experience. I’m delighted to now own a copy of this epitome of ‘portable magic’ and recommend it without hesitation … it truly is a must for all bibliophiles!