The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way
Bill Bryson
This book bills itself as a funny general introduction to the history, and some of the resulting peculiarities, of the English language, and it serves this purpose well for the uninitiated, though those with any sort of background in the subject won't find much new information here. After beginning with some brief musings on the state of English in the modern world, and its rising importance, providing a good setup for what is essentially a series of quasi-linked essays about different facets of the language, including its ancient and recent history as well as some of its salient features. Though the history is brief and feels at times a bit rushed and jumbled, it flows logically enough and carries some of Bryson's trademark humor; most importantly, it provides sufficient background information without getting too technical, allowing him to make relevant observations later without alienating readers early on. Unfortunately, however, this lucid and entertaining, if brisk and a bit shallow, history is followed by a mix of wry observations and lists of illustrative terms that is far too greatly weighted to the latter. I enjoy a few good puns and appreciate examples as much as the next person, but Bryson devotes too much space to these, joyful though they are, and they make the text so unreadable that even I skimmed paragraphs filled with italics. The occasional lists are appreciated as a change of pace, but Bryson is sadly unable to weave these sufficiently into the narrative to capture, and much less hold, readers' wandering attention; after all, this isn't meant to be a textbook, rather an overview for general readers. To make matters worse, there is a surprising lack of consistency within the text, ranging from a change between parenthetical citations and footnotes (bafflingly split between the first chapters and the final few) and in the repetition of examples, to the point where the book's final section so closely echoes the first as to make it hardly worth reading. This is sloppy writing but, worse, sloppy editing, and at times can be so frustrating as to overshadow the book's clarity and, indeed, its fun. Chapters on wordplay and, yes, swearing are appreciated even though they seem a bit like an afterthought, and help highlight some of the fun of language, maintaining the book's lighthearted feeling and keeping it from feeling too much like a textbook. Likewise, the book holds up well 20 years after its publication, with the main problems coming from omissions impossible to foresee; it is indeed quite fun to note that Bryson's criticism of George Bush would be equally well applied to his son, who made the same nuclear/nu-ku-ler mistake the author himself cites earlier in the text. Bryson's clear delight in the contradictory, the absurd, and the British shines through here as in much of his other work, and The Mother Tongue is, despite its stumbles, a solid and entertaining introduction to the English language and its many charms and absurdities.
Grade: A-
This book bills itself as a funny general introduction to the history, and some of the resulting peculiarities, of the English language, and it serves this purpose well for the uninitiated, though those with any sort of background in the subject won't find much new information here. After beginning with some brief musings on the state of English in the modern world, and its rising importance, providing a good setup for what is essentially a series of quasi-linked essays about different facets of the language, including its ancient and recent history as well as some of its salient features. Though the history is brief and feels at times a bit rushed and jumbled, it flows logically enough and carries some of Bryson's trademark humor; most importantly, it provides sufficient background information without getting too technical, allowing him to make relevant observations later without alienating readers early on. Unfortunately, however, this lucid and entertaining, if brisk and a bit shallow, history is followed by a mix of wry observations and lists of illustrative terms that is far too greatly weighted to the latter. I enjoy a few good puns and appreciate examples as much as the next person, but Bryson devotes too much space to these, joyful though they are, and they make the text so unreadable that even I skimmed paragraphs filled with italics. The occasional lists are appreciated as a change of pace, but Bryson is sadly unable to weave these sufficiently into the narrative to capture, and much less hold, readers' wandering attention; after all, this isn't meant to be a textbook, rather an overview for general readers. To make matters worse, there is a surprising lack of consistency within the text, ranging from a change between parenthetical citations and footnotes (bafflingly split between the first chapters and the final few) and in the repetition of examples, to the point where the book's final section so closely echoes the first as to make it hardly worth reading. This is sloppy writing but, worse, sloppy editing, and at times can be so frustrating as to overshadow the book's clarity and, indeed, its fun. Chapters on wordplay and, yes, swearing are appreciated even though they seem a bit like an afterthought, and help highlight some of the fun of language, maintaining the book's lighthearted feeling and keeping it from feeling too much like a textbook. Likewise, the book holds up well 20 years after its publication, with the main problems coming from omissions impossible to foresee; it is indeed quite fun to note that Bryson's criticism of George Bush would be equally well applied to his son, who made the same nuclear/nu-ku-ler mistake the author himself cites earlier in the text. Bryson's clear delight in the contradictory, the absurd, and the British shines through here as in much of his other work, and The Mother Tongue is, despite its stumbles, a solid and entertaining introduction to the English language and its many charms and absurdities.
Grade: A-
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