Customer Reviews

The Pedant's Revolt: Why Most Things You Think Are Right Are Wrong

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

 

 

In recent years it seems that books about language and trivia have become the purveyance of female British authors. There was Lynne Truss and her wonderful "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" and more recently "Rules, Britannia", by Toni Summers Hargis. Added to that we now have a cousin of those books by Andrea Barham called "The Pedant's Revolt", a short offering debunking popular myths. If you have a couple of hours it's not a bad read.

The word "pedant", as described on the back cover of Barham's book, is "a person who is excessively concerned with minor details and rules, or with displaying academic learning". It's a curious word to use in the book's title as I'm not quite sure how precisely it connects to the contents, but there are some myths of interest....."Lizzie Borden murdered her parents", "chocolate triggers migraines", "hair can turn white overnight", an so on. What Truss's and Hargis's books had (which Barham's book lacks) is humor. There's not much here and it probably would have helped her dry writing style, although one of my favorite entries is the description of JFK's 1963 "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech......did he really say, "I am a jelly doughnut"?

"The Pedant's Revolt" is a good book to take to the beach. You'll undoubtedly pick up some new tidbits of information.

In The Pedant's Revolt, Ms. Barham wants to explain to us why most things we think are right are wrong. The problem is, many of the wrongs righted here are things a person of average education should know already. Do most people really think Harpo Marx was really mute? Or that George Washington really admitted to chopping down a cherry tree as a boy? Or that Conan Doyle has Holmes say "Elementary, my dear Watson."? In fact, I was surprised at how many of the things she mentions here I actually teach to my high school students: that no educated person in Columbus' time believed that the earth was flat, that "wherefore art thou, Romeo" is not about wondering where he is, that Lincoln was not an abolitionist, that "it's" means "it is", for a few examples. I could go on, but I hope I've made my point.

And then there's the problem of splitting hairs. Some of Ms. Barham's corrections seem to really be putting a fine point on things. After quoting Paul in Acts of the Apostles quoting Jesus as saying "It is more blessed to give than to receive" she says there is no reference to Jesus actually saying this in the Bible (though Acts is part of the Bible). She points out that in Hamlet the quote is "The lady doth protest too much, methinks" instead of "Methinks the lady doth protest too much". True, but worth an entry?

To be fair, I did learn some things I did not know before. I didn't know, for example, that for safety sake, most cowboys in the old west only loaded five bullets in their six shooters. I didn't know that Lizzie Borden (or nursery rhyme fame) was acquitted of the famous murder. I didn't know that milk is actually not good for cats. These are all things I am happy to know now.

In fact, this book is a short one and not without some pleasures. The fact that I've put so much thought into so many of the entries--even the ones I know--shows that there is quite a lot of interest here. Certainly, it would be a good corrective to people that actually believe some of these things. Though, somehow, I don't think these are people who are reading books anyway. But the next time someone tries to claim that Nero fiddled while Rome burned, it's nice to know the truth of the matter is right here.