Mother Tongue: The English Language
2 journalers for this copy...
This is a hard book to review - it's enormously fun to read, full of engaging, mysterious and hilarious nuggets about English and other languages. If you're the sort of person who loves name etymology websites, wonders about the many contradictions of English and enjoys wordplay, then you'll love it.
The problem is that it's frequently flat-out wrong. You don't have to look far online for knowledgable reviewers pointing out its many specific inaccuracies, and it's frustrating to make this discovery after reading and - you think - learning from the book.
What it does do well is highlight the iceberg nature of language - there is so much history, culture and contradiction beneath the surface that we're aware of as we speak, read and write every day.
My advice? Skim it to spark conversation, but use the bibliography and Google around for more accurate sources if you want to read more deeply into this compelling subject.
The problem is that it's frequently flat-out wrong. You don't have to look far online for knowledgable reviewers pointing out its many specific inaccuracies, and it's frustrating to make this discovery after reading and - you think - learning from the book.
What it does do well is highlight the iceberg nature of language - there is so much history, culture and contradiction beneath the surface that we're aware of as we speak, read and write every day.
My advice? Skim it to spark conversation, but use the bibliography and Google around for more accurate sources if you want to read more deeply into this compelling subject.
Journal Entry 2 by InvisibleAng at The John Hewitt Bar in Belfast, Co. Antrim United Kingdom on Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Released 12 yrs ago (4/10/2012 UTC) at The John Hewitt Bar in Belfast, Co. Antrim United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
To be released at tonight's Belfast BookCrossers meet-up. We're usually in the snug, to the right as you go into the pub, and any books not picked up during the evening are left on the windowsill...
Thank you for picking up this book, and I hope you enjoy it. You have not only found yourself a book, but a whole community of book-lovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large.
I hope you will make a journal entry letting me know that this book has found a good home with you. You can do this anonymously if you wish. When you finish the book, please visit here again and share what you thought about the book.
Feel free to read and keep the book, or pass it on to a friend, or even set it free 'in the wild' for someone else to find like you did.
If you register you will be alerted by email each time someone makes another journal entry. It's completely confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no-one is ever given your email address), totally free, and spam-free.
If you do decide to join BookCrossing, please tell them that InvisibleAng sent you.
I hope you enjoy the BookCrossing experience!
Thank you for picking up this book, and I hope you enjoy it. You have not only found yourself a book, but a whole community of book-lovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large.
I hope you will make a journal entry letting me know that this book has found a good home with you. You can do this anonymously if you wish. When you finish the book, please visit here again and share what you thought about the book.
Feel free to read and keep the book, or pass it on to a friend, or even set it free 'in the wild' for someone else to find like you did.
If you register you will be alerted by email each time someone makes another journal entry. It's completely confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no-one is ever given your email address), totally free, and spam-free.
If you do decide to join BookCrossing, please tell them that InvisibleAng sent you.
I hope you enjoy the BookCrossing experience!
Despite Ang's review I'm keen to read this book...
Enjoying it so far, while at the 2012 BC Convention in Dublin....
Must have changed my mind about releasing it in Dublin, but now, keeping it a while longer...
