This study of the history of reading goes from the earliest examples of the clay tablets and cuneiform of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt via the invention of printing in the 15th... more
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This study of the history of reading goes from the earliest examples of the clay tablets and cuneiform of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt via the invention of printing in the 15th century to the birth of a mass reading public and today's digital revolution. It argues that it is the demands and expectations of the reader, acting alongside the creative will of the writer, that is the evolutionary motor of literary forms and genres. From man's first use of the written word simply as a form of reference, to the emergence of the first holy or devotional texts, and onto the development of fictions, both poetic and novelistic, this work aims to both challenge and enlighten.
Advantages: history that is accessible and entertaining, well presented Disadvantages: none except for my poor make up thanks to the woad incident
...the ancient peoples who dwelt on our shores. She saw the people of history as just that, people, and their stories have come alive for her and fired her imagination as surely as any fairytale ever did, but burning with an intensity that cannot be quenched for contained within is the element of truth. No more are the Kings and Queens and Caesars just names that run together. She knows their avarice, their determination, their triumphs, and their setbacks. This is living history that can be read as bedtime stories, or as stories to be read and enjoyed in the quiet of rainy winter afternoons.
While the tales are told with words that paint vivid pictures in the imagination, the illustrations serve to add even more interest. This edition contains beautiful illustrations from the Palace of Westminster printed on glossy paper and placed in two lots...
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Advantages: A true classic Disadvantages: Content could be broadened
...of a particular view.
• Aids to reading - this final section of the second part deals with external aids – how to use dictionaries and other research materials such as encyclopedias, commentaries, and other reference materials (this book is pre-internet, so it does not include anything on that medium).
++Approaches to Different Kinds of Reading Matter++
In this section, the authors look at critical differences between different styles of books. It is obvious to even the inexperienced reader that reading a technical manual is vastly different from reading plays, poems, or history texts. Even the most educated of people occasionally stumble when confronted with high-level material from outside fields, such as asking the social scientist to deal with mathematical and scientific texts, or asking the physicist to deal with history and psychology...
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Advantages: A good global perspective on racial history issues Disadvantages: A few research items (bibliography, footnoting) could have been better
...This book has a statement in its epilogue that is among the best I've ever seen as a match between the subject matter and the purpose of the book itself - Michael A. Gomez writes of the growth of reconnection between Africa proper and those scattered around the world, stating that, `Given the ongoing impoverishment of many in Africa and the Diaspora, such interrelationships require deeper and more practical meaning if they are to play a significant role in ending the despair. The incredible beauty and creativity of the African Diaspora, combined with its unbelievable suffering and disadvantage, are contradictions awaiting resolution.'
Gomez is a professor of history at NYU, a university that offers degree programmes in the study of the African Diaspora. Gomez remarks on the value of the interactions with people at the university...
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helpful 31.05.2005
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26.09.2008
