[A Sip of a Book] Eternity Among the Reeds

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This work received praise from readers and critics immediately after its publication in Spain in 2019. It won several awards, including the Spanish National Essay Prize and the 'Citizen Participation Award for the Protection of Humanities,' and has been translated into more than 30 languages and distributed in over 40 countries. The author, a philologist, shares astonishing stories discovered within the vast materials he delved into to study the world of ancient books and libraries. Stories that pique curiosity include those of book hunters riding horses to collect all the books in the world and a king who sought to create an absolute and perfect library.

This story is an effort to continue the adventures of book hunters. It would be wonderful if this story becomes an impossible companion on a journey seeking lost manuscripts, unknown histories, and voices on the verge of disappearance. Perhaps those explorers were merely officials devoted to kings obsessed with grandiosity. Perhaps they were unaware of the significance of their mission or thought the task absurd. When spending nights outdoors and the campfire was dying down, they might have muttered that they were risking their lives for some madman's dream. Surely, they hoped to be assigned missions with higher chances of advancement, like suppressing riots in Nubian deserts or inspecting cargo ships on the Nile. Yet, when they found traces of all the world's books like scattered treasure pieces, they were unknowingly laying the foundation of this world. (pp. 17?18)

He came face to face with the most valuable and unique treasure chest among Darius's collection. "How valuable must the items stored here be?" he asked. Those around him mentioned money, jewels, perfumes, spices, and spoils of war. But Alexander shook his head, paused in thought, and ordered that something no one expected be kept in the chest. It was the Iliad. (p. 31)

Ptolemy must have felt lost and isolated. He did not understand the Egyptian language, was unfamiliar with the rituals, and suspected that his courtiers mocked him. However, he was someone who learned boldness from Alexander. If you do not understand a symbol, create a new one. If Egypt threatens with its long history, move the capital to Alexandria, the only city without a past. And make it the most important center in the Mediterranean. If the courtiers do not believe in the new changes, gather all philosophy and science in your land.

Ptolemy invested enormous wealth in the Library and Museum of Alexandria. (p. 44)

Forever in the Reeds | Irene Vallejo | Translated by Lee Kyung-min | 560 pages | 26,000 KRW

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