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Jacqie's Reviews > The Personal Librarian
The Personal Librarian
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Thanks to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book for review.
This just wasn't the book I expected. I am a huge book lover, used to work in a book store, and have a graduate degree in history, so I was expecting to really enjoy a book about JP Morgan's personal librarian, who was responsible for developing the stunning Morgan Library in New York City (used to be the Pierpont Morgan Library). Belle de Costa Greene was also a Black woman passing as white while she was doing this amazing work.
I was hoping for details on the sorts of books acquired, how they were found, and how the library was curated. There was a bit of that, but the emphasis was more on Belle than on the books. The rare editions she secured seemed almost more like bragging rights than because of genuine love for the books themselves- at least that was what the book emphasized. Everything was for the glory of the library. Belle learned how to undercut prospective parts of the collection before they were auctioned, how to be a velvet glove covering a steel fist when it came to negotiations. These negotiations were more of the book than the research for how to choose prospective new pieces for the library. Art was a surprisingly large part of library acquisitions as well.
Belle was really a dealer in rare books and choice art more than she was a librarian- at least as I understand the word librarian. The book also spent quite a bit of time on her love life, which I didn't care about and which wasn't written in a way that made me want to root for any of the participants.
I skimmed to the end of this book because I was getting impatient with it. It was written by two authors and I've got to give Marie Benedict for co-authoring with a Black author who could speak to the difficulties of passing and who had a different, deeper understanding into Belle. However, the language felt a bit stilted to me and I felt distanced from the characters. I also didn't like the emphasis on books and art as prizes to be won instead of artifacts to treasure. I guess it just wasn't for me.
This just wasn't the book I expected. I am a huge book lover, used to work in a book store, and have a graduate degree in history, so I was expecting to really enjoy a book about JP Morgan's personal librarian, who was responsible for developing the stunning Morgan Library in New York City (used to be the Pierpont Morgan Library). Belle de Costa Greene was also a Black woman passing as white while she was doing this amazing work.
I was hoping for details on the sorts of books acquired, how they were found, and how the library was curated. There was a bit of that, but the emphasis was more on Belle than on the books. The rare editions she secured seemed almost more like bragging rights than because of genuine love for the books themselves- at least that was what the book emphasized. Everything was for the glory of the library. Belle learned how to undercut prospective parts of the collection before they were auctioned, how to be a velvet glove covering a steel fist when it came to negotiations. These negotiations were more of the book than the research for how to choose prospective new pieces for the library. Art was a surprisingly large part of library acquisitions as well.
Belle was really a dealer in rare books and choice art more than she was a librarian- at least as I understand the word librarian. The book also spent quite a bit of time on her love life, which I didn't care about and which wasn't written in a way that made me want to root for any of the participants.
I skimmed to the end of this book because I was getting impatient with it. It was written by two authors and I've got to give Marie Benedict for co-authoring with a Black author who could speak to the difficulties of passing and who had a different, deeper understanding into Belle. However, the language felt a bit stilted to me and I felt distanced from the characters. I also didn't like the emphasis on books and art as prizes to be won instead of artifacts to treasure. I guess it just wasn't for me.
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Reading Progress
March 18, 2021
– Shelved
March 18, 2021
– Shelved as:
to-read
Started Reading
June 25, 2021
– Shelved as:
didnt-finish
June 25, 2021
– Shelved as:
netgalley
June 25, 2021
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Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 86 (86 new)
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Marji
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rated it 3 stars
Jul 27, 2021 12:12PM
I'm only part way through, but I agree about the stilted language. The authors were probably trying to sound "period" but I didn't feel as if it sounded genuine.
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I totally agree with your take. I was disappointed in the historical perspective. The authors filled in a lot of unknowns to meet the expectations of readers that didn't always ring true to me.
This was historian fiction, not historical nonfiction. In fiction, authors fill in details and write a partly historical and partly fictional story. Also, the voice the author uses should be appropriate for the time period, which this was. Perhaps there is a nonfiction account of Belle Marion Greener aka Belle Da Costa Greene that would be the right genre for you and that you would enjoy.
Yes. I am aware of the genre. It's not that the details were filled in, but done so in a way that I felt was designed to please modern readers. Thus my saying it sometimes didn't ring true to me.
Thanks for this review -- I'm feeling the same way.
Yep, I tried, but this was a DNF for me. The pace, writing style and characterization (so many stereotypes!) made for a real snoozer, and I had some wonderful new releases waiting.
I couldn’t agree with you more. So disappointing.
God I wish I would have read this before getting into this book.
Im a lit major / English teacher turned librarian. I agree w all said. I feel distanced. I may put this down after 100 pages in
I agree with you; the language is stilted. Also, I hardly think a woman of her time would say, “Nothing. You know I need to do all this socializing for work, right?”
Heather wrote: "Im a lit major / English teacher turned librarian. I agree w all said. I feel distanced. I may put this down after 100 pages in"Life is too short for mediocre books!
I agree with this. Thanks for sharing.
This is exactly how I felt. It wasn’t what I was expecting and I was disappointed with the plot and writing style.
I am not quite finished with it, but I love it. It is a fascinating piece of history, and truly an excellent well written and researched story. As a librarian for almost 50 years, it was most interesting, and after reading the Vanishing Half, Belle’s life as a white person tells us much about the difficulties of being “colored” during those times. I also just finished The Paris Library by Janet Charles, also a good library novel based on historical facts.
I wanted to love this book. I am thrilled Belle existed but this book in no way did any of the characters justice. It is written like a Young Audience book.
Completely agree with you! I was hoping for much more than this.
I agree with you - got through 100 pages and just gave it up. Didn't care about her love life at all!
The fact that you skimmed to the end and didn’t hear the whole story and gave it two stars - don’t give a poor review if you didn’t read the entire book. It’s my 60 plus book this year and I gave it 5 stars - it was incredibly well written researched piece of historical fiction. Work up to this caliber. (Or,not) Not everyone can appreciate the finer books - it takes life experience, education, understanding of history, and the what those before us did - that broke barriers. So you failed to recognize the entire story. And this incredible (real) woman of color and what she did to create for one of one the most powerful man in history. You missed it… you whole damn story.
Of course there was an emphasis on Belle - the title of the book alone should have told you that.
I also agree with Kimball's comment.
I couldn’t agree more. The love story aspects were distracting and immediately turned me off.
I find the criticism curious considering it is a work of fiction about a woman - not about the PM collection or book acquisitions. Read an actual history of the library if you’d to know more about the collection. This is a fictionalized story of a singular woman. Also, if you’re familiar with the world of rare book collectors - the thrill is in the chase. This was a personal collection of rare books not a public library. The rarity of the item was and is the draw for these collectors. As far as the attention to her love life - this seems to be a completely reasonable topic when telling the story of a person’s life, especially a woman at the turn of the century who bucked tradition and never married. She had such a vibrant career and was so influential at a time when women were hardly in the workforce at this level.
I appreciate the criticism helpful. Yes books are of value for the reader, we need to celebrate that and keep financial aspects of limits.
Totally agree with Kimball. The book is about Belle, not her collections, and just like a book challenge, the entire book needs to be read before it can be critiqued. I thought this was a fascinating read that inspires me to read more about the life of this amazing woman.
It was Belle’s story.. she was a woman…she would have had a love life! It was HER story! It was not about the collections of books, manuscripts, etc. but the story of a woman passing as white and the fear that her true identity would be discovered! That must have been such a strain on her to living a facade…I thought the authors really captured what she must have felt through the years.
The story is about Belle, not books. It says so in the title.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Why are some of you personally attacking someone’s review of this book?
To everyone attacking the reviewer for passing judgement before finishing the book: If you have to force yourself to finish a book, it really doesn't matter if it improves, it's never going to be a 5 star book.
If you can't force yourself to finish it, it's never going to be a 5 star book.
It's a good thing these reviews are all subjective and you don't have to choose offense at someone disliking a book you enjoyed.
That said, I did finish the book and I only rated it three stars for the same reasons this reviewer rated it two. I get that people loved it, but we are not those people. It doesn't make our opinions any less valid.
Hm. For some reason,Goodreads didn't notify me of most of these comments and I haven't glanced at this review again for quite a while. I don't have too much more to say except that if you don't like this review the best way to counter it is to write a good review of your own. I laid out my expectations and why I didn't like the book. This is a personal review on Goodreads and I'm not obligated to follow anyone else's expectations for a review, just to say what I thought of the book and why. For those who felt that Belle's romantic relationships should have been a big part of the story: you mentioned the title. The title emphasized Belle's professional identity. Wouldn't it be great if women could have books written about them that emphasize their work? Women have a difficult enough time having their work be valued. I love reading about personal relationships as much as the next person, but isn't much of the remarkable story of this woman about what she achieved in her work? That said, I'm not interested in changing anybody else's mind. If other people felt about the book as I did and recognize their thoughts here, I'm glad you did!
So sad that you couldn’t see the beauty in this book.
Monica wrote: "So sad that you couldn’t see the beauty in this book."What, if any, response are you expecting/wanting from this comment?
I agreed with the reviewer. The book is not well written especially since she chose such an interesting person to chronicle. I felt like somebody was pounding a hammer into my head with all of the comments about Belle passing as white. Yes, this was an important factor in this woman’s life. I felt that the writers did not do a good job of weaving this element into the story. The book read like a dime store paperback and it never lived up to it’s potential.
Yes I had to stop listening to the audio version of this book. It was quiet stilted in style and didn’t flow very well. It made Belle sound prissy rather than confident and educated. I gave up on the book so I don’t usually give a rating of a book I didn’t finish. It seemed a chore to listen to it.
Carol, you’ve said it so well.
I agree with the reviewer as well. Stilted- I just finished it and now I am reading reviews and this word “stilted” seems appropriate. I read the whole book hoping to ease into love with it. I felt like every possible social conflict was shoved into this book and done so very poorly. I felt like Belle was used by the authors; she feels like the background to an agenda by the authors and I think that is sad. Because yes, Belle is presented as a victim 80% of the time, and her “fictional” character does come off arrogant and stilted, and then naive and shocked. I just have to believe personally that Belle was a much stronger and aware woman than these authors chose to describe. I think Belle was probably a “badass” woman but this book does not give her that and does not do her justice. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
Its title is The Personal Librarian. Not the Morgan Library. And please do not talk about Belle “playing the victim 80 percent of the time”. Do you have any knowledge of a black woman posing as white in the early 1900s? This was a dangerous undertaking. Please check your biases.
Barbara, if you will re-read Erica’s comment you’ll see that she wrote “presented as a victim” - not “playing the victim.” Two very different things.
The author's notes referenced an actual biography of hers that may provide some of those details you were craving.
I do agree with your review and this is the second book I read by Benedict and both felt very static with no emotion and showcased naive women in how they behaved in their romantic life.
I’m in the middle of this book. Do I really have to finish it? I guess so since it’s my book club selection. I must say it’s better than Melatonin for a good nights sleep! Boring, strained, and so limited in scope. Why did they write this in first person narrative in the style of a personal diary? There was little reflection, emotion, and especially there was no conversation. It reminded me of being stuck on an overseas flight with an ego driven chatterbox! Please, don’t make me finish, please!
A fascinating historical figure but it’s so hard to connect with her because of the writing style — we’re told about what is happening vs shown through action and dialogue. May read the bio of Belle by Heidi Ardizzone.
I noticed Belle and her female friends seemed to hang out at public houses drinking a lot. I “googled” it. Proper ladies weren’t accepted in these establishments in the early 1900’s just as I thought. Did she really get an abortion? I have lots of questions about this book.
"Stilted". Exactly! I was reaching for what it was about the writing. It reminded me of the in-character voice-overs we see in museum dioramas/historical films. I wondered also if the obvious friendship that evolved between the co-authors made for less critical editing...! Loved the evident mutual respect & friendship that evolved (based on the afterwords) but perhaps a slightly distanced or even competitive working relationship might have served the chemistry of the story better. Thanks for your review.
It felt so stilted to me as well! I even used that word in my review. I felt very distanced from the narrator.
I can’t get past the trite descriptions of rebellious hair and somber skirts. I want to like it and read it but instead I get irritated.
I could have skipped the bodice ripping parts. I enjoyed the book
In deciding whether to read this I stopped a few pages in due to the trite writing style. A book club member recommended it to me but there’s better books out there. And while the subject was the librarian and the focus becomes the money hustle and the racism the librarian faced, it sounds like I would also be disappointed in getting too little about the books which is what I’d come for. Seems like current publishing either picks books about people and their struggles or about the invention of the graphite pencil or salt cod, and little in between.
I’m half way through this book and im struggling ! If it weren’t our book group choice there is no way I would finish it. I went to look at the reviews and was stunned by the accolades. But I found this thread and boy, do I agree ! Stilted, dry, distant, trite! The question I always ask myself after reading a book is, would I recommend it ! Sadly, no! The subject matter is interesting, the execution was not.
I think you were missing the point of the book. There is a biography of Belle da Costa Greene which I'm sure has more of the detail you expected. As historical fiction, this book is meant to "reveal" the mysterious personal life of a very unusual and little-known woman who accomplished the near impossible. The language takes on the more flowery expression of the late Victorian era.
