Papyrus

«Papyrus» — this is an engaging historical and cultural excursion into the world of books. The author talks about the emergence and development of writing, how books were created, spread, and preserved throughout 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 canvas where the history of ancient civilizations intertwines with modern themes and personal memories of Irene Vallejo, transitioning from one to another without a strict chronological order. Thus, in one of the chapters, the author's reflections whimsically connect the theme of tattoos, Anna Akhmatova's poem «Requiem», the historical works of Herodotus, and the film «Memento» by Christopher Nolan within two and a half pages.

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 history of the book, narrating how ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome preserved knowledge and why the book, in the form we know it, has gone such a long way.