John Gaudet

While the author is a bit repetitive at times, even repeating the same phrases several times, this was generally an informative and well-written biography of papyrus, its uses, and its impact on the world, as well as a discussion of how, when, and why it was ultimately supplanted (for most purposes) by paper (with a discussion of parchment in-between). My one gripe is that the author never explains step by step how papyrus was made in sufficient detail to allow you to do it yourself (if you wanted to and had access to the plant). But that's a gripe I have with all authors who write about ancient techniques: I have yet to find one who gives you any step by step instructions, preferring summaries that leave out most of the details. As a popular biography of papyrus, it's a good book.… (altro)

The subject matter of this book is interesting: how papyrus contributed to the economy of ancient Egypt as well as the cultures of Egypt and ancient Rome, including the development of archives and libraries. It is unfortunate that the writing is terrible. I read this book as an electronic advance reading copy, but I fear the problems with it surpass anything a final edit could address. It is very repetitive, and at times it seems like the chapters that appear later in the book were written prior to the chapters that appear earlier--and neither the author nor an editor read closely for continuity and redundancy. The author's style is to use compound sentences without conjunctions, which creates a rambling narrative. Surely there is a better book (or long form magazine article) that covers this subject with more elegance? Not recommended.… (altro)

Gaudet has written a delightfully interesting and informative book that covers everything papyrus in terms of paper. He covers topics such as the ancient locations of papyrus; it's various uses; the invention and evolution of papyrus paper; the business of manufacture and distribution of papyrus sheets from Egypt, across the Mediterranean region and beyond; and it's eventual eclipse by rag paper. The numerous historical stories about archaeological discoveries and daring "rescue" attempts are well told and make this book something other than a dry rendition of the evolution of the papyrus scroll. Of course, you can't have a book about papyrus paper and not mention the numerous ancient (and not so ancient) libraries that stored them. This book compliments the author's previous book [Papyrus: The Plant that Changed the World: From Ancient Egypt to Today's Water Wars] which deals more specifically with the papyrus plant; as well as Keith Houston's book [The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time] which deals with paper and the evolution of the book, but doesn't not spend too much time on papyrus paper specifically.… (altro)