Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
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Book Reviews of Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader
Book Review: A kindred spirit
Summary: 5 Stars
In Anne Fadiman's collection of essays, I met a kindred spirit, a fellow addict. As someone who recently had a panic attack upon boarding a plane and discovering I'd forgotten my book, I loved this collection of essays. Fadiman grew up in an intensely literary family, where words were the subject of discussion and games. Although my own family was hardly distinguished as Fadiman's was--and still is--I remember the hush that would descend Christmas morning, as each of my siblings and I would retreat to quiet corners of our tiny house to devour the book we'd gotten as a gift that day. Fadiman tells wonderful stories of combining book collections with a spouse for the first time, the inability to ignore typos, the tactile pleasure of a new book, the joys of exploring a used bookstore. I'm always amazed when someone says they don't like to read--it's like saying you don't like to eat! If you have a friend who feels that way about books, give him or her this one--they'll love it!Book Review: Digest the subject matter, but don't swallow!
Summary: 5 Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.Fadiman teaches you how to be a beautiful bibliophile .If you are an obsessive reader, you might as well make this preoccupation an art. Categorize your books. Stroke them occasionally and even eat them if necessary. She tells you that there is as much magic in a book's form as there is in its essence. After reading this book i have promised myself never again to by a new book if i can buy it in a used book store. Used books have character that comes with age,coffee stains, and the result of great minds pondering over its intricacies. I also share her fascination with words.Her comments on plagiarism are quitw thought provoking.Isn't there an element of the romantic in doing something for its own sake?To steal words not because you have to but just because?I liked her idea of the "odd shelf" For instance i have this collection of books on the similarities between vedic ritual and fishing!One of the best books on books!Book Review: Celebrating bibliophilia
Summary: 5 Stars
Within the pages of this slender little volume are the signs of a special community that will be familiar to all book obsessives.
There is indeed more than one way to love a book. Are you a courtly lover: one who sees the physical book as sacrosanct; or a carnal lover who sees the book as a vessel for the words and ideas? Or are you, like me, sometimes one and then the other?
For bibliophiles, books remain ageless and constant even though we do not. I find myself agreeing with so many of the points made by Ms Fadiman in her delightful essays. If you love books - their physical existence and their potential promise - then this is a book that you may well enjoy. Having read this book on the recommendation of a fellow bibliophile, I am buying my own copy. I may well need to write in it. And even if I don't it is a comfort to know that I am not alone.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Book Review: Words to savor
Summary: 5 Stars
Rarely do I find a book that gives me such unadulterated pleasure as this collection of essays. What a reading experience! I chuckled over Fadiman's countless true and amusing insights, such as the division of the world into those who constantly and subconsciously proofread written material and those who do not. I delighted in Fadiman's many perfect and seemingly effortless turns-of-phrase. Fadiman manipulates the language so skillfully that she risks seeming condescending, but she never does. Rather, she comes across as a lover of words and a sincere bibliophile.
After reading a library copy of this book, I purchased my own, because I knew I would want to re-read and savor the insights on varied aspects of reading: the odd shelf in a personal library, reading aloud, plagiarism versus borrowing, marriage and the merging of books, and reading books in their settings. This book has earned an honored spot on my bookshelf.
Book Review: Rich Memories from Books by a Book Lover
Summary: 5 Stars
Book lovers, lovers of the actual books, the words that make up the stories, the look of the books on shelves, in stacks, the memories of books read- those book lovers will love this book.
Ann Fadiman starts this little book with a story about getting married, which was the easy part; and intermingling their personal libraries into one, the very hard part. How would they deal with doubles, with hardcover vs. paperback?
I connected with Ann growing up reading, always reading something, and while she read finding new words, looking up their meaning and forever more embracing them, owning them as hers. Diapason, perllan, apozemical, agathodemon, kakodemon.
She secretly corrects everything she reads; I do too! She loves good grammar, inscriptions in books, words, poetry, prose everything written.
Book lovers will delight to read this.