The Written World
The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, and Civilization
Published on 24. July 2018
Book
Paperback/Softback
480 pages
978-0-8129-8827-7 (ISBN)
Description
The story of literature in sixteen acts-from Homer to Harry Potter, including The Tale of Genji, Don Quixote, The Communist Manifesto, and how they shaped world history
In this groundbreaking book, Martin Puchner leads us on a remarkable journey through time and around the globe to reveal the how stories and literature have created the world we have today. Through sixteen foundational texts selected from more than four thousand years of world literature, he shows us how writing has inspired the rise and fall of empires and nations, the spark of philosophical and political ideas, and the birth of religious beliefs.
We meet Murasaki, a lady from eleventh-century Japan who wrote the first novel, The Tale of Genji, and follow the adventures of Miguel de Cervantes as he battles pirates, both seafaring and literary. We watch Goethe discover world literature in Sicily, and follow the rise in influence of The Communist Manifesto. Puchner takes us to Troy, Pergamum, and China, speaks with Nobel laureates Derek Walcott in the Caribbean and Orhan Pamuk in Istanbul, and introduces us to the wordsmiths of the oral epic Sunjata in West Africa. This delightful narrative also chronicles the inventions-writing technologies, the printing press, the book itself-that have shaped people, commerce, and history. In a book that Elaine Scarry has praised as "unique and spellbinding," Puchner shows how literature turned our planet into a written world.
Praise for The Written World
"It's with exhilaration . . . that one hails Martin Puchner's book, which asserts not merely the importance of literature but its all-importance. . . . Storytelling is as human as breathing."-The New York Times Book Review
"Puchner has a keen eye for the ironies of history. . . . His ideal is 'world literature,' a phrase he borrows from Goethe. . . . The breathtaking scope and infectious enthusiasm of this book are a tribute to that ideal."-The Sunday Times (U.K.)
"Enthralling . . . Perfect reading for a long chilly night . . . [Puchner] brings these works and their origins to vivid life."-BookPage
"Well worth a read, to find out how come we read."-Margaret Atwood, via Twitter
In this groundbreaking book, Martin Puchner leads us on a remarkable journey through time and around the globe to reveal the how stories and literature have created the world we have today. Through sixteen foundational texts selected from more than four thousand years of world literature, he shows us how writing has inspired the rise and fall of empires and nations, the spark of philosophical and political ideas, and the birth of religious beliefs.
We meet Murasaki, a lady from eleventh-century Japan who wrote the first novel, The Tale of Genji, and follow the adventures of Miguel de Cervantes as he battles pirates, both seafaring and literary. We watch Goethe discover world literature in Sicily, and follow the rise in influence of The Communist Manifesto. Puchner takes us to Troy, Pergamum, and China, speaks with Nobel laureates Derek Walcott in the Caribbean and Orhan Pamuk in Istanbul, and introduces us to the wordsmiths of the oral epic Sunjata in West Africa. This delightful narrative also chronicles the inventions-writing technologies, the printing press, the book itself-that have shaped people, commerce, and history. In a book that Elaine Scarry has praised as "unique and spellbinding," Puchner shows how literature turned our planet into a written world.
Praise for The Written World
"It's with exhilaration . . . that one hails Martin Puchner's book, which asserts not merely the importance of literature but its all-importance. . . . Storytelling is as human as breathing."-The New York Times Book Review
"Puchner has a keen eye for the ironies of history. . . . His ideal is 'world literature,' a phrase he borrows from Goethe. . . . The breathtaking scope and infectious enthusiasm of this book are a tribute to that ideal."-The Sunday Times (U.K.)
"Enthralling . . . Perfect reading for a long chilly night . . . [Puchner] brings these works and their origins to vivid life."-BookPage
"Well worth a read, to find out how come we read."-Margaret Atwood, via Twitter
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Random House USA Inc
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
COLOR PHOTO INSERT; B/W PHOTOS THROUGHOUT; MAPS
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
626 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8129-8827-7 (9780812988277)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2017
Random House
€15.99
Available for download
Person
Martin Puchner
Content
Introduction: Earthrise
Map and Timeline of the Written World
Chapter 1: Alexander’s Pillow Book
Chapter 2: King of the Universe: Of Gilgamesh and Ashurbanipal
Chapter 3: Ezra and the Creation of Holy Scripture
Chapter 4: Learning from the Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, and Jesus
Chapter 5: Murasaki and The Tale of Genji: The First Great Novel in World History
Chapter 6: One Thousand and One Nights with Scheherazade
Chapter 7: Gutenberg, Luther, and the New Public of Print
Chapter 8: The Popol Vuh and Maya Culture: A Second, Independent Literary Tradition
Chapter 9: Don Quixote and the Pirates
Chapter 10: Benjamin Franklin: Media Entrepreneur in the Republic of Letters
Chapter 11: World Literature: Goethe in Sicily
Chapter 12: Marx, Engels, Lenin, Mao: Readers of The Communist Manifesto, Unite!
Chapter 13: Akhmatova and Solzhenitsyn: Writing Against the Soviet State
Chapter 14: The Epic of Sunjata and the Wordsmiths of West Africa
Chapter 15: Postcolonial Literature: Derek Walcott, Poet of the Caribbean
Chapter 16: From Hogwarts to India
Acknowledgements
Notes
Illustration Credits
Index
Map and Timeline of the Written World
Chapter 1: Alexander’s Pillow Book
Chapter 2: King of the Universe: Of Gilgamesh and Ashurbanipal
Chapter 3: Ezra and the Creation of Holy Scripture
Chapter 4: Learning from the Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, and Jesus
Chapter 5: Murasaki and The Tale of Genji: The First Great Novel in World History
Chapter 6: One Thousand and One Nights with Scheherazade
Chapter 7: Gutenberg, Luther, and the New Public of Print
Chapter 8: The Popol Vuh and Maya Culture: A Second, Independent Literary Tradition
Chapter 9: Don Quixote and the Pirates
Chapter 10: Benjamin Franklin: Media Entrepreneur in the Republic of Letters
Chapter 11: World Literature: Goethe in Sicily
Chapter 12: Marx, Engels, Lenin, Mao: Readers of The Communist Manifesto, Unite!
Chapter 13: Akhmatova and Solzhenitsyn: Writing Against the Soviet State
Chapter 14: The Epic of Sunjata and the Wordsmiths of West Africa
Chapter 15: Postcolonial Literature: Derek Walcott, Poet of the Caribbean
Chapter 16: From Hogwarts to India
Acknowledgements
Notes
Illustration Credits
Index