Notes of the bibliophile. Why books have power over us. Smith E.

In his incredibly exciting narrative, Professor Oxford, Shakespeare Emma Smith, talks about the history of books, centuries -old and amazingly interesting, not focusing on the image of “archives of wisdom and knowledge”, but on the material forms in which the books presented, And on how different goals they sometimes had to serve.

Presenting the exciting and radically new history of the book in the hands of a person, the author is looking for an answer to questions when and how she acquired power over us. Talking about the enormous role that the whole millennium played in the life of people, Smith makes an amazing discovery that not only content, but also form gives rise to a characteristic and very powerful magic of books. From a diamond sutra to a book made from the slices of cheese wrapped in cellophane, this complex artistic object has already accommodates for many centuries and expands the relationship between readers, countries, ideologies and cultures, and does it very decisively and unpredictably.

“Any book promises the reader a transformation. The expectation of changes is included in the invisible agreement between books and their readers. In this sense, all books are books on how to help yourself. If we have no pleasure or connection with any book, then we stubbornly evade the responsibilities that we must fulfill under the contract with it. ” (Emma Smith)