The Book of Babel: Words and the Way We See Things
by Nigel Lewis | Nonfiction | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0670830801 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 0670830801 Global Overview for this book
Registered by woosang of Campbelltown, New South Wales Australia on 8/6/2005
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 2 by woosang at Starbucks in Civic, Australian Capital Territory Australia on Saturday, August 6, 2005
Released 18 yrs ago (8/8/2005 UTC) at Starbucks in Civic, Australian Capital Territory Australia
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
At Canberra August Meeting
At Canberra August Meeting
Journal Entry 3 by Calissa from Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia on Monday, August 8, 2005
A special thanks to Woosang for saving this one for me. As a writer, I'm looking very much forward to reading it!
Journal Entry 4 by Calissa from Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia on Monday, August 31, 2009
Apologies to woosang for having taken so long to get to reading this book.
Woosang did a good job of summing up what the book is about. It is essentially a book on etymology. It is divided into two parts. In the first part, the author talks about the origin and relationship of particular words by grouping them into different metaphorical categories. For example, he touches on a number of different words that are related to pigs. The conceits he uses are a bit laboured and the writing a bit dry. This is balanced out somewhat by the short sections which make it much easier to read in small bites, provided you can remember what the conceit of the chapter was supposed to be.
The second section is a lexicon, something that approaches a dictionary. However, instead of giving the meaning of the word the reader is provided with some interesting examples of how this word is translated into other languages. This probably should have been explained in an introduction to the lexicon. When I first started reading it, I thought that the author was going to give the etymological history of the word in English--how we arrived at the word we use. It took me a couple of entries before I understood what he was doing.
Overall, the structure could have been improved and it wasn't as personable to read as other books on language I've encountered, such as David Crystal's By Hook or By Crook. You need to have an interest in the subject matter.
Woosang did a good job of summing up what the book is about. It is essentially a book on etymology. It is divided into two parts. In the first part, the author talks about the origin and relationship of particular words by grouping them into different metaphorical categories. For example, he touches on a number of different words that are related to pigs. The conceits he uses are a bit laboured and the writing a bit dry. This is balanced out somewhat by the short sections which make it much easier to read in small bites, provided you can remember what the conceit of the chapter was supposed to be.
The second section is a lexicon, something that approaches a dictionary. However, instead of giving the meaning of the word the reader is provided with some interesting examples of how this word is translated into other languages. This probably should have been explained in an introduction to the lexicon. When I first started reading it, I thought that the author was going to give the etymological history of the word in English--how we arrived at the word we use. It took me a couple of entries before I understood what he was doing.
Overall, the structure could have been improved and it wasn't as personable to read as other books on language I've encountered, such as David Crystal's By Hook or By Crook. You need to have an interest in the subject matter.
Journal Entry 5 by Calissa from Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia on Monday, August 31, 2009
After checking with Woosang, I have decided to make this part of my permanent collection. My review probably wasn't all that kind, but the book did have some interesting information that could be useful to me in the future.
Journal Entry 6 by Calissa at Little Free Library, Bradley St in Woden, Australian Capital Territory Australia on Monday, September 16, 2019
Released 4 yrs ago (9/17/2019 UTC) at Little Free Library, Bradley St in Woden, Australian Capital Territory Australia
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Since this book has spent long enough gathering dust on my shelves, I thought it was time to set it free. Left at the Little Free Library by San Churros.