Product Description

While travelling in Calgary, Alberto Manguel was struck by how the novel he was reading seemed to reflect the world he was living in. An article in the daily paper would be suddenly illuminated by a passage in the novel; a long reflection would be prompted by a single word. He decided to keep a record of these moments, rereading a book a month, and formed "A Reading Diary": a volume of notes, impressions of travel, of friends, of public and private events, all elicited by his reading.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #192077 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review
"If you don't have room in your case for 12 of your own favourites, A Reading Diary would be the best substitute." OBSERVER "Inspirational and enormously entertaining." BIG ISSUE "An elegant, quaint and sensitive meditation on the nature of reading." TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT"

TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
"An elegant, quaint and sensitive meditation on the nature of reading."

About the Author
Alberto Manguel was born in Buenos Aires and has lived in Italy, England, Tahiti, Canada and France. He is a prize-winning translator and has edited ten anthologies. He has published two novels, including Stevenson Under the Palm Trees (published by Canongate). His non-fiction includes Reading Pictures and The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, among other works.

Customer Reviews

How our lives affect our interpretation of what we read...
...and vice versa.
In this book Manguel recounts his experiences of a year (2002/03) considered through reflections on books he re-reads - a different book for each month. Each book becomes relevant and newly resonant when connected with contemporary happenings. It is not hard to find links between Don Quixote and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but Manguel is never anything but subtle. Though his thoughts are often wistful and occasionally melancholy, this is a warm and tender book, full of astute observations and amusing anecdotes.
Manguel is intimidatingly well-read and it was, admittedly more enjoyable to read the chapters/months where he read books that were familiar to me, but I have been inspired to read those books that were new to me, so lovingly are they described.
I read Stevenson Under the Palm Trees by Manguel a couple of years ago and was impressed by his tight grip on the prose in that sultry and claustrophobic novella. A Reading Diary is, by contrast fresh and light but, though the temptation to ramble must have been there, the author has maintained an ability to sound succinct yet relaxed in this thoroughly enjoyable book.

Quietly enjoyable
Another book of quiet reflections from Manguel, doing what he does best, combining the personal with the critical review, to produce a finely crafted work.

Nothing to shock, and not as entertaining as his The History of Reading, but much to enjoy and savour.