Book Review: Every Book Its Reader

Nicholas Basbanes, Every Book Its Reader: the Power of the Printed Word to Stir the World. New York: Harper Collins, 2005. ISBN: 9780060593230.

 

Genre: nonfiction

Subgenre: books, reading, literacy, literary criticism

Format: hardcover

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College 

 

In this book, the author looks at books that "have made things happen." The idea for the book comes from a 1963 exhibition at the British Museum celebrating five centuries of the written word. In the book, Basbanes explores works by authors such as John Milton, Edward Gibbon, Henry James, Malcolm X, and Helen Keller. To help with this exploration, the author speaks to various scholars and experts in the field of books and reading including Harold Bloom, Elaine Pagels, and David McCullough.

 

The book is arranged in 12 chapters that somewhat follow a theme. I say somewhat because at times the conversations can take some interesting tangents. The book also includes a set of notes and a bibliography. 

 

If you are a bibliophile, you will probably enjoy the book very much. More casual readers will find a pretty broad history of books that somehow had an impact on society and/or spurred some change. The book is interesting, but it can be a bit dense at times. Often you can find a tangent here or there. As in real life, conversations may not be as focused. You do get a sense of the power of books and the written word to move people and shape society, whether for good or ill. 

 

The author does pack a lot of material, so the book starts at a lively pace, but then it slows down a bit. I felt I had to drag myself to the end. Some topics, such as Elaine Pagels on the gnostic gospels, are interesting. Other topics are less interesting, so reader's experience may vary on reading the book. 

Overall, I liked it, but I did not find it terribly memorable. While I marked a few quotes to remember, the book overall is not one that stayed with me. It was like listening to some academic lectures, but the lecturers were not always engaging. Part of the reason the book did not stick with me is the amount of material. Some topics could have been expanded a bit more, developed further; others could have been left out. I'd say quality over quantity. Serious bibliophiles and/or fans of the author may like the book better. I'd say this is one to borrow. 

3 out of 5 stars. 

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Additional reading notes: 

 

With books like this, you often end up adding other books to your TBR (to be read) list. One of the books I added to my TBR was Robert Jay Lifton's The Nazi Doctors. Basbanes mentioned it in his book because Lifton's book describes a treatise on legalized euthanasia that was influential during its time, but the treatise is no longer found in North American libraries due to its message. The treatise, Basbanes writes, exemplifies a book that "had a decided influence on the course of history, but in ways that were anything but positive, a cautionary tale for the ages" (15). The treatise was Permitting the Destruction of an Unworthy Life by Dr. Alfred Hoche and Dr Karl Binding.

Another book that I added to my TBR from reading the book by Basbanes is The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels. 

A bit of Michel De Montaigne, from his essay "On Books" (1580), which Basbanes quotes as an epigraph for Chapter 4 of his book: 

"To help my defective and treacherous memory a little-- and it is so extremely bad that I have more than once happened to pick up again, think it was new and unknown to me, a book which I had carefully read several years earlier and scribbled all over with my notes-- I have for some time now adopted the practice of adding at the end of each book (I mean of each book which I intend to read only once) the date when I finished reading it and the general judgment I drew from it, in order to show me again at least the general idea and impression I had conceived of its author when reading it" (qtd. in 70). 

I can certainly relate to that, which is why I write notes on what I read as well as review books on my blog. I am also as I can doing a bit more commonplace notes for quotes. A lot of my reviewing is just me making sure I remember what I read and what I got out of it. 

A premise of the history of reading as a field of study: 

"A basic premise each follows is the idea that it is readers, not just authors, who give meaning to texts, and that there is value in knowing how individuals through history respond to them" (117).