Customer Reviews

The Oxford Dictionary of Allusions

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While this book has many interesting tidbits of information that may make their way into writing, they are most definitely not allusions. At best they are simply literary REFERENCES and therefore this book provides little beyond what you would find in a typical encyclopedia entry about the keyword. Who was Ahab, Frodo, Medusa, etc. Where is hell, olympus, or Narnia. What was manna and so on. Unfortunately, the examples follow the same pattern. Whereas an allusion is indirect and subtle, the examples in this book are direct and explicit references to the keywords (ie "He was crazy like Ahab," instead of something like a subtle quotation from Moby Dick suggesting the character of Ahab). I got this book mainly for the examples in order to see the different ways allusions have been used, but all the examples are simply examples of literary references, not allusions.

The day the Oxford Dictionary of Allusions arrived, I unwrapped it, poured a cup of coffee, and took it and my cup of coffee out to the patio where I opened it randomly. The first entry I saw was Worzel Gummidge. Now, I can use that. I am working on a character sketch of a locally known celeb of sorts, and have been searching for just the right word... the picture to put in the reader's mind. And there it is. Perfect. Never heard of it before.
Another entry that caught my eye as I flipped through the pages was Mrs. Malaprop. I have been teased for years. "Turn off the cat and put out the light", I said once when the family was going out the door. Nobody ever told me I was making malapropisms. I love our language, but sometimes it gets stale, repetitious . We become lazy, use the same old expressions, and forget the countless colorful idioms that can dance in our imaginations.
You cannot put this book down. You will find old favorite words you've forgotten and many new ones you may never have known. Your heart will be happier, your conversations more inspiring.
I'm going to get another cup of coffee and go back to painting the Forth Bridge. If you want to know what that means, buy this book and look it up.

The Oxford Dictionary of Allusions is limited in content. I would have preferred something more complete.