Aragonese writer Irene Vallejo presented this Wednesday at the Instituto Cervantes in London the English translation of ‘Infinity in a reed: The discovery of books in the ancient world’ (‘Papyrus: The Discovery of Books in the Ancient World)’, which since its publication in 2019 has become a global bestseller.
After the UK tour with a stop in Hay Festival in Walesand at the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival, the philologist and writer Aragon spoke to Cervantes about the book’s “unexpected” success.
As a literary essay, but neglecting an academic tone, Vallejo digs deeper the origins of writing, the creation of books and collections and their distribution throughout historyfrom the original libraries in Mesopotamia and Egypt, to Ancient Rome and the Italian Renaissance to the present day.
The author assures that technology is an ally for perpetuating reading: “The Internet is a refined version of the library of Alexandria, the place all known knowledge of the world was collected and disseminatedthere is no division but continuity between the ancient world and the present world”, comments the author.
The purpose of this book is “to share with my readers the reasons why I love books. Reading takes me back to my childhood when my mother used to tell stories at night, it was the happiest moment of my day,” said Vallejo at the event.
The Hodder & Stoughton publishing house has published an English translation, by Charlotte Whittle, which has been voted among the best books of the year by ‘Financial Times’, ‘The Economist’ and ‘The Mail on Sunday’.
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