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Title: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language by David Crystal ISBN: 0-521-53033-4 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.88 (8 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Anglocentric
Comment: I have truly enjoyed reading this book, and recommend it highly to anyone interested in learning about the English language. It is easy to read, clear, and authoritative. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is that Mr. Crystal seems to hold the subtly snobbish attitude toward American literature and language still prevalent among the educated class in Britain. He gives due credit to Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster, Edgar Allen Poe, and H.L. Mencken, but dismisses Mark Twain as being simply a humorist with vaguely racist tendencies, and fails to even mention Hawthorne, Melville, or Longfellow, the leaders of the 19th century American Renaissance, who succeeded in creating a distinctive American literature, separate from the English tradition. He also fails to mention Stephen Crane and Ernest Hemingway, but includes Burton Raffles, Peter Sellers (twice), and John Le Carre.
At the same time, I sometimes have the feeling that we Americans have merely borrowed the English language, and don't understand it, love it, and use it the way the English do. For us, English is handy tool, but if something better came along we would abandon it without a second thought, whereas the English will always speak English. And Hawthorne, Melville, and Longfellow may be more widely read in the UK these days than they are in their own country. Mr. Crystal obviously loves the English language, and writes about it with lucidity and affection. So my complaint is a back-handed compliment, in a way, and I would not discourage anyone from buying and reading this book from cover to cover.
Rating: 5
Summary: Erudition + Hipness = Darn Good Book
Comment: A lengthy, comprehensive, and interestingly detailed look at the evolution and current state of the English language. Such terms and concepts such as Hyponymic Hierarchies, Hypernyms, and semantic changes are given in laymen terms and explained with real-life examples. There is tons and tons of factual information presented, based upon applied linguistic research and the historical growth and transformations of the English language, from its' origins to Old, Middle, and New. There are many charts, colorful pictures, and graphs to present this information. Crystal provides one of the rare mixes of erudition and hipness that is appreciated.
One of the hundreds of interesting tid-bits here are, for example, Top Ten First Names dating from the year 1700.
This book doesn't have to be read front to back, and one can dart to and from different areas that one wants to ingest. Helpful for folks into history, applied linguistics, the English language, TEFL, and those who want to know why we speak the way we do today.
Rating: 5
Summary: Snappy yet Voluminous
Comment: David Crystal impresses me with his combination of elegant erudition, intellectual open-mindedness, and conciseness. In writing this book, he imposed a harsh constraint upon his writing: every topic had to fit into a two-page spread. The result is insidiously like potato chips: it's such an easy read, you can't help but reading "just one more spread".
The breadth of knowledge that he brings to bear on the subject is astounding; his bibiography reads like a catalog of Western intellectual history. Time and again, I found myself marking a point with a note to delve into the matter more deeply.
Intellectual integrity is another impressive component of his writing. He cheerfully acknowledges difficult issues and treats linguistic variation with respect, yet never descends into cover-your-ass academic frippery. The effect is to provoke deeper contemplation in the mind of the reader; language truly is endlessly complex!
A confession is in order here: I did find the last few score pages rather tedious. Perhaps it was merely the fatigue arising from my breathless rush through the first 400 pages; more likely the subject matter does not suit my tastes. But in a grand parade of ideas of this size, I cannot complain if a few floats or marching bands fail to excite me; there's more than enough here to keep anybody dazzled.
The greatest tribute to this book that I can offer is the revelation that I have been too reluctant to shelve this book in my library; it remains on my desk, bedstand, or next to the computer, ready for a quick re-read of some random topic.
Betcha can't read just one spread!
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Title: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language by David Crystal ISBN: 0521559677 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1997 List Price(USD): $33.00 |
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Title: The Oxford Companion to the English Language (Oxford Companion to English Literature) by Tom McArthur ISBN: 019214183X Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 1992 List Price(USD): $75.00 |
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Title: English As a Global Language by David Crystal ISBN: 0521530326 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Story of English, New and Revised Edition by Robert McCrum, William Cran, Robert MacNeil ISBN: 0140154051 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1993 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The English Language: A Historical Introduction (Canto Book) by Charles Barber ISBN: 0521785707 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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