The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Book of the week
In 2007 when the Kindle first hit the market, bell for the death knell of physical book seemed all but about to toll. It happened to CDs and it’s starting to happen to DVDs. The digital age has transformed the way we consume almost every means of entertainment, and the assumption was the book would not be exempt from this digital revolution.
Fortunately, this assumption has been incorrect.
Physical book sales have increased in the last few years and one of their most gallant protectors, the public library, is still standing its ground, even if it’s not thriving.
Against this backdrop, Susan Orlean’s The Library Book is a celebration of the library as a cultural institution.
The premise of this investigative work revolves around the 1986 arson fire that devastated Los Angeles’s central library branch. Along with the historic building being destroyed, thousands of priceless books were lost.
While investigating the supposed perpetrator of the fire and the impact of the attack, Orlean explores the evolution of libraries from their creation to their place in modern day society, and the individuals who have helped sustain them.
I really wanted to like this book, but try as I might it just never really got under way for me. The overall message – that libraries are still an important pinnacle in our community – is one of great significance and Orlean conveys this passionately throughout. It is her handling of the subject matter that proves to be quite dry.
While the synopsis portrays the fire in the LA library as a large driving force of the narrative, more attention is given to reciting historical facts about libraries and offering insight into the roles of the people who currently work in the LA library. The historical chapters are illuminating and the insider’s view of the running of libraries demonstrates this task it is no mean feat.
Nonetheless, it is all so dry and factual in delivery, and at times gets lost in what seem like unnecessary details, that it proved quite a feat to actually finish this book.
Orlean is a skilled writer, she has approached her research well, and produced an assiduous, well-documented history of libraries. However, it is not one that can be described as thrilling. The underlying purpose of Orlean’s book is to highlight the essential signficance of libaries in a fastevolving world, but the excitement never fully materialises in the course of reading. Unfortunately, this is one library book that won’t be getting checked out again.
Review by Emma Reekie.