010 Bibliographies
It was not easy to find a book that was not just a list of books in this category but I finally did!
011.73 The Joy of Reading: A passionate guide to 189 of the world’s best authors and their works by Charles Van Doren
I finished this book about a week ago and couldn’t find time to write up a review. Anyway, here goes -
Things I Liked:
When the author says a passionate guide, he means it! Reading this book honestly felt like I was being introduced to Mr. Van Doren’s friends. He describes the life and works of the most influential authors in every time period, starting from Homer, Aesop, and Euripides, and ending with JK Rowling.
Many of the authors he picked to include were not in literature - there are mathematicians and scientists and historians who have published influential books as well, and so they are included.
Any fan of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events will recognize famous figures at least once in every chapter/time period.
Things that were kinda so-so: (not bad or unenjoyable, just... these were not Things I Liked)
Towards the end, in the chapters beginning after World War II, there is an obvious bias towards authors that Mr. Van Doren knew/knows personally. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but I do wonder if there were influential authors I’d like to read about that were left out in favor of his friends. There are also less scientists/mathematicians/historians in the later chapters.
This book is NOT meant to be read cover-to-cover, as I did. It was very interesting and enjoyable but it’s meant to be more of a reference (which is probably why it’s shelved as a bibliography).
Side note: when my father-in-law saw the book I was reading in his house, he asked me if I knew anything about the author. I didn’t, but I went to look him up afterwards. His involvement in quiz show scandals in the 1950s can be easily separated from his book-writing career as he obviously is a talented author in his own right.
Next up, I’m in middle of a book called BiblioTECH by John Palfrey, shelved as 020.2854 in my library, for the category of Library and Information Sciences.
Who do you think are the most influential authors of this century? Which had the biggest influence on you?