4.0
The City of Words
The end of ethnic nationalism Ñ building societies that promote civic nationalism with universally accepted value systems Ñ seems eminently sensible. But something is going wrong. In these 2007 Massey Lectures, Alberto Manguel takes a fresh look at the problems that come with creating new societies. Race riots in France, political murder in The Netherlands, bombings in Britain Ñ all appear to be symptoms of a multicultural experiment gone awry. Politicians and sociologists are puzzled; why is it so hard for people to live together given the grim alternatives? Is blood still more important than peaceful coexistence? InThe City of WordsManguel proposes a different approach: look at what writers have to say Ñ maybe books and stories hold secret keys to the human heart, keys that social planners canÕt find. With his trademark wit and erudition, Manguel suggests looking on the library shelf marked ÒfictionÓ for the book titledHow to Build a Better Society.
Literary CriticismCanadianSocial ScienceDiscrimination & Race Relations
RELEASED2007
PUBLISHERHouse of Anansi
LENGTH166
LANGUAGEEN
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A Canadian Argentine-born writer, translator, and editor. **The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel** *Reviewed by Peter Ackroyd, The Times May 8, 2008* There is an old superstition that books, alone in the night and the silence, whisper one to another; the library then becomes an echo chamber of words and syllables, conjuring up the great general drama of the human spirit. Libraries are legendary places. Libraries enter myth as well as history. Lost libraries, like that of Alexandria, are a reminder of the transience of human achievement and of human learning. “No place,” Samuel Jonson said, “affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes than a public library.” [Read the whole review][1] (PDF) [1]: http://www.atelieraldente.de/manguel_0h4/documents/Ackroyd%20The%20Library%20at%20Night.pdf
4.0
The City of Words
The end of ethnic nationalism Ñ building societies that promote civic nationalism with universally accepted value systems Ñ seems eminently sensible. But something is going wrong. In these 2007 Massey Lectures, Alberto Manguel takes a fresh look at the problems that come with creating new societies. Race riots in France, political murder in The Netherlands, bombings in Britain Ñ all appear to be symptoms of a multicultural experiment gone awry. Politicians and sociologists are puzzled; why is it so hard for people to live together given the grim alternatives? Is blood still more important than peaceful coexistence? InThe City of WordsManguel proposes a different approach: look at what writers have to say Ñ maybe books and stories hold secret keys to the human heart, keys that social planners canÕt find. With his trademark wit and erudition, Manguel suggests looking on the library shelf marked ÒfictionÓ for the book titledHow to Build a Better Society.
Literary CriticismCanadianSocial ScienceDiscrimination & Race Relations
RELEASED2007
PUBLISHERHouse of Anansi
LENGTH166
LANGUAGEEN
A Canadian Argentine-born writer, translator, and editor. **The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel** *Reviewed by Peter Ackroyd, The Times May 8, 2008* There is an old superstition that books, alone in the night and the silence, whisper one to another; the library then becomes an echo chamber of words and syllables, conjuring up the great general drama of the human spirit. Libraries are legendary places. Libraries enter myth as well as history. Lost libraries, like that of Alexandria, are a reminder of the transience of human achievement and of human learning. “No place,” Samuel Jonson said, “affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes than a public library.” [Read the whole review][1] (PDF) [1]: http://www.atelieraldente.de/manguel_0h4/documents/Ackroyd%20The%20Library%20at%20Night.pdf
