The Library Book – Susan Orlean
On April 29, 1986, the Los Angeles Central Library burned and along with it more than one million books. The event was largely overshadowed by the Chernobyl disaster and remained regional knowledge in the days before social media and widely available 24-hour news channels.
Susan Orlean, the acclaimed nonfiction writer and recent LA transplant, stumbled upon this information by happenstance, after a librarian mentioned that many books still smelled like smoke. This off-hand comment birthed “The Library Book.”
A mashup of true crime, memoir and history, the story is more glossy magazine feature than stodgy tome and stands as a love letter to libraries, and the crucial role these institutions play in building healthy communities and safeguarding democracy.
With that said, readers hooked by the fire will be left disappointed as it only accounts for about 50 percent of the page count — still it’s a solid and thrilling half.
While Orlean presents a tense and heartbreaking account of the fire and its aftermath, the research she put into fire science and arson investigation — going so far as to burn her own book (Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” naturally) question whether primary arson suspect Harry Peak was guilty — was unexpected and engrossing.
The rest, well, let’s just say a lot of it felt like filler.
Writing about an event that happened 30 years prior with many of the primary players unavailable means there’s only so much ground to cover. Orlean filled the gaps with various adjacent digressions about book burning, book banning and how the modern public library system was built.
Her affection for the topic is clear, and I appreciated her spotlighting lesser known individuals — many of them women — who played a crucial role in developing the prototype for many library services. However, with the primary focus on the LA Library System, these sections felt niche, a bit editorialized and probably more meaningful to people in/from the area.
Still, if you don’t walk away from this book proud of your local library and grateful for the passion Orlean poured into this effort, then you may not be a book lover.
The audiobook was a good way to tackle this one as it did have a tendency to feel long. Orlean handled the narration and it was passable if unremarkable. While this was an informative read, I can’t say it’s one I’ll put high on my recommendations list.
Rating (story): 3.5/5 stars
Rating (narration): 2.5/5 stars
Format: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: October 29 – November 8, 2023
Multi-tasking: Good to go. There are a lot of digressions, time jumps and people but Orlean keeps things organized and easy to follow.
