Papyrus

«Papyrus» — this is an intriguing historical and cultural excursion into the world of books. The author tells about the emergence and development of writing, how books were created, disseminated, and preserved in different eras, their role in human civilization,... and the eternal struggle for the preservation of knowledge.

There is no traditional plotline in the book. It is a mosaic tapestry in which the history of ancient civilizations intertwines with modern themes and Irene Vallejo's personal memories, shifting from one to another without a strict chronological order. Thus, in one of the chapters, in two and a half pages, the author's reflections whimsically connect the theme of tattoos, Anna Akhmatova's poem «Requiem», Herodotus' historical works, and Christopher Nolan's film «Memento».

The focus of the work is the fate of the book as a phenomenon: its birth, development, struggle for survival, and influence on humanity and the individual. The author meticulously traces 30 centuries of the book's history, narrating how the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome preserved knowledge and why the book, in the form we know it, has come such a long way.