The Great Invention: A History of the World in Nine Mysterious ScriptsSilvia Ferrara, Translated by Todd Portnowitz
Farrar, Straus & Giroux (March 2022)

“As long as there are emotions, there will be written letters…living letters.”

The title attracted my attention but I had no idea what to expect when I began to read this book, written by Silvia Ferrara and translated by Todd Portnowitz.  How could this be “a history of the world”? To what does “nine mysterious scripts” refer? The Contents consist of six sections. No revelations there, either.

And then, Hello!

In what perhaps serves as a preface or prologue, I come upon “This book recounts the invention of writing.” With regard to the headnote, “Ante Litteram,” it means an expression or term that describes something which existed before the phrase itself was introduced or became common.” Aha!

Albeit it tentatively, I conclude that Ferrara has written a book about the invention or creation of writing before it became known or recognized as writing. This history is presented in the form of a narrative, in fact an odyssey, that began in the ancient world and will continue so long as the human race does.

As Ferrara explains, “This book recounts an unchartered journey, one filled with past flashes of brilliance, present-day scientific research, and the faint, fleeting echo of writing’s future.”

Indeed, “We ourselves are the protagonists — our brains, our ability to communicate and interact with the life that surrounds us.”

Scholars generally agree that the earliest form of writing appeared almost 5,500 years ago in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). Early pictorial signs were gradually substituted by a complex system of characters representing the sounds of Sumerian (the language of Sumer in Southern Mesopotamia) and other languages. No matter where it is born throughout the world, each newborn child becomes a member of the cast of characters. It hears language and begins to understand some of the words and begins to understand their meaning even before it can speak it.

Over time, some children learn to recognize words, phrases, and then sentences before being able to read them. Only then will they be able to associate specific words with non-verbal communications (e.g. body language and tone of voice). And only then will they begin to formulate ideas in terms of relationships such as cause and effect. And only then will they begin to understand how to express feelings verbally.

I really enjoyed reading and then re-reading this book. That said, no brief commentary such as mine can possibly do full justice to the information and insights provided but I hope I have at least succeeded in indicating why I think so highly of it. I now plan to re-trace the same “journey” that Ferrara has begun to chart. When doing so, I will again be reminded of this passage in T. S. Elliot’s Four Quartets (Chapter 2, “Little Gidding”):

“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all of our exploring
Will be to arrive at where we started
And know the place for the first time.”

These are among Silvia Ferrara’s concluding thoughts: “Think again of the images from forty thousand years ago. The Pelolithicsymbols in caves. We can still see them. They’re still there. The evidence of someone’s emotions, perhaps some who wished to be remembered forever. As long as there are emotions, there will be written letters.

Living letters.”