Customer Reviews

Miracle of Language

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

And I happen to know this book is the "favorite child" of this much-published author. I read it with just as much, if not more pleasure than Anguished English and Get Thee to a Punnery, some of Richard's more famous works. Don't expect the usual mad romp through the English language; this book is more literary than light literature.

If you want to improve your writing, you will profit by reading the chapter on the beauty of using short words. The examples of student writings that employ only single syllable words are dazzling.

If you teach English, you might enjoy using some of the student writing examples in your classes to inspire your own students. In fact if you are an English teacher or just a lover of the English language, I don't see how you can be without this book. It is a treasure.

Although Richard Lederer may be best known for his delightful word play, he is also an eminent authority on English. In _The Miracle of Language_ he writes somewhat more seriously about this language that he loves, inspiring in us a deeper appreciation of our system of communication that we often take for granted.

The chapter titled "In Praise of English" makes us grateful that ours is a language that puts so many words at our disposal -- remarkable for their sheer number as well as for their variety. Because English has so freely adopted words from other languages, we often have many choices about how we will express an idea -- whether we will use short words derived from Anglo-Saxon, for example, or more luxurious words derived from French.

Although Lederer's subject matter is serious, his style never becomes ponderous. His short chapters and lively prose keep the reader engaged. And occasionally he cannot resist playing, as in the chapter titled "The Case for Short Words," where for four paragraphs he restricts himself to one-syllable words.

Of special interest are the chapters about literary giants -- William Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, T. S. Eliot, and George Orwell -- and the contributions they have made not only to our literature but also to our language. For example, Shakespeare is credited with the first use of over 1,700 words, nearly eight percent of the different words that he used in his writing. In addition, his plays include many phrases that have become titles of novels and many others that have been repeated so often that they have become clichés.

Lederer also includes many inspiring quotations about English and entries from the ground-breaking dictionaries of Samuel Johnson and Ambrose Bierce. (Can you imagine undertaking the formidable task of writing the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language?)

Lederer champions letter writing, poetry writing, libraries, reading, the effective use of English. Particularly poignant is the example of mistranslation of one word that led to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Lederer fondly portrays English as a thriving, evolving entity. By instilling appreciation for the legacy we have received, he inspires us to safeguard its future.

This serious book about our language,English, the lingua franca of the world, afforded me more laughs than many a so-called comic book. Lederer is truly a master of English, a magister and advocate. I have several other books by him, and have enjoyed each one tremendously. I always have great trouble setting The Miracle of Language down once I open it. I'm always tempted to go through it once more in one sitting. As a writer, editor, and teacher, I refer to it constantly. Now, if only I knew how to get in touch with Lederer ---

Richard Lederer makes the English language so much fun. This is my favorite book of his-- who knew that Shakespeare had made up so many of the words we use every day? I thought it was so great, I sent a copy to my English teacher from high school, who also loved it.

My daughter brought home a copy of this book, and during her visit, we talked about it and language in general. The author is brilliant and funny. We ended up reading more of his books, and books about language all through the summer. With her in Texas, and me in central PA, we've had many discussions about local speech. It's been a fun addition to our relationship.

I picked up a hardcover copy of this book on a bookstore remainder table more than 10 years ago. When I got home, I discovered it was autographed by the author!

The true delight, however, came in the reading of it. I have a large collection of books but this is by far one of my non-fiction favorites. I pull it down every couple of years and reread it just for the sheer joy of the experience.

Can't recommend it enough.

The Miracle of Language is a classic. The author explain in a simple way the history of our language. The Lederer's magical mystery tour through what we all too often take for granted: our own mother tongue.

Certainly, you will enjoy this reading.

The title of this book says the "MIRACLE OF LANGUAGE", yet there is little discussion of the origins, the psychology, the evolutionary aspects of language. Instead it is a sometimes witty treatise on English in all its glory. If he wanted to write such a book it should have been called "THE FUN OF ENGLISH" or something to that effect.

The text is HUGE and spread out - a lot like those self-help books that one can zip through in about half an hour. Some of the topics were interesting but by and large this was a tale of modern English.

Useless. A waste of money. So overly dramatic, it's like reading a love story that never ends, without any complete characters. Just wish it had gotten straight to the point and gave instructions on how to use language to bring words and writing craft to life. If I didn't pay next to nothing for it, I would've sent it back. But for a penny, I'll keep it and let it take up shelf space. I hate I wasted the shipping and handling costs.

Being a "language-freak" myself, I was very pleased to find that books such as Mr Lederer's even exist. Being a Luxembourg national,I speak and write 4 languages (English, French, German and Luxemburgish, even if the latter doesn't quite count for a "real" language) and have some knowledge of Spanish and Italian. What disappointed me in Mr Lederer's book is that hardly are you really getting into it, up comes page 11, line 16, and the "meterologist" hits you...You try to ignore the missing "o", and read on to page 50, when in line 27 the French word "à droit" creeps in, making me get up at 4.30 in the morning just to check and make sure (this guy can't be wrong...) that there is an "e" missing at the end.... Sorry, Mr Lederer, for being like that, but if you're going to write such wonderful books, maybe better double-check the spelling?