The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

Author: Simon Winchester

----------------------------
This is the fascinating true account of the crafting of the Oxford English Dictionary, and the lives of the two men who most influenced it.

James Murray, an esteemed linguistic scholar from Scotland and the instigator of the dictionary's creation, sought the help of an American named William Chester Minor for thirty years until his death. The brilliant Minor sent Murray original definitions, citations, corrections, and polishing touches on thousands of words throughout his lifetime, and gained the respect of many English scholars and researchers in the process. After many years apart, without ever having met the mysterious contributor, Murray decided to pay Minor a visit - only then discovering that the man was contained for life in an insane asylum.

The historical events leading up to this shocking realization are well-researched and include reproductions of passages from unearthed journals and hospital accounts to support the story, as well as the author's editorial musings on the cause of Minor's madness. One neat feature is a dictionary entry included at the beginning of each chapter, taken directly from the original OED. The extracts tie in with the content of the chapter - for example, chapter 3, titled "The Madness of War," discusses William Minor's early stirrings of insanity, so the paragraph entry included is "Lunatic." It gives a scholarly flavor to the murder-mystery feel of the story, keeping specific events in perspective of the greater context of the monumental first English dictionary, seven decades in the making.

Equal parts a riveting true story of a madman, an insightful picture of war, an engaging historical narrative, a murder mystery, and a detailed account of what was to be one of the most colossal projects of the 19th century, Professor is worth a read by anyone.

The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America

Author: Bill Bryson (The Mother Tongue, A Short History of Nearly Everything)

Synopsis: Nonfictional. The author returns to the States after several years away as a writer in England, and compiles his observations about small-town life.

-------------------------------------------------
"I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to."

Everything you need to know about this book is contained in these first two lines: It makes fun of small towns, mercilessly but good-naturedly. The author has firsthand experience with what he's discussing. Des Moines is a crummy place to grow up.

The writing is delightful, usually falling into one of three categories - Bryson's childhood experiences in the Midwest, present-day detailed narration on areas in which he stops to explore, and (most commonly) general cracks about the nuances of everyday life in a place that no one wants to live except the people who already live there. Not merely a joke book, this reads sometimes almost as a vacation/tourist guide, covering museums and historical landmarks no matter how trite they seem to outsiders (or is that the point?). If the reader is not from a small town, or is for some reason not already enjoying the book, perhaps they can identify with the intermittent flashbacks of the author's vacationing youth with his droll, travelphilic and knowledge-hungry father, from whom he clearly gets much of his traveling [mannerisms] and spirit whether or not he wants to admit it.

Admittedly, most of the small-town jokes have been done before, but Bryson successfully revives them with freshness and wit. I was thrilled to reach the section on Ohio, my home state, and realize not only that everything he says is true, but also (surprisingly) that they are digs I hadn't heard before - or at least not from his particular standpoint. Whether or not you chalk it up to his foreign station, he does a good job with a subject that has potential to be worn out.

Like any of Bryson's books, The Lost Continent is heartily amusing and chuckle-inducing, as well as effectively researched and absolutely true.... Or maybe the reader can judge that last part for themselves.

DO READ IF: you live in a small town in America and make fun of it at every opportunity (prepare to be entertained).

DO NOT READ IF: you live in a small town in America and love it (prepare to be offended).

A Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man

Author: Joseph Heller

Edition: Scribner

Difficulty: see third paragraph below.

------------------------------------------------------
From the author of Catch-22 (which admittedly, I never finished) comes a book of quite different stock.

The story takes us through the problems of an elderly acclaimed author named Eugene Pota (whose life mirrors Heller's), particularly his newfound and nearly debilitating case of writer's block, and his struggle to retain respect and relevancy in a modern world. While there are some interesting aspects of his situation to consider, they're not much fun to read about. The telling signs of weariness in the author lend a depressing air to the narration - even the title itself, a play on James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, seems a little cheap.

While I'm not very familiar with Heller's writing style, I'm not impressed from this example alone. Laden with a superfluous amount of adjectives, most of which are unnecessary and require the average reader to look up for comprehension, it's clumsy to wade through and I found my attention wandering often. Clearly the author is intelligent and has a large vocabulary, but too much of this at once is tedious for both the eyes and the brain; in the end it feels like how a stew with too many flavorful ingredients might taste.

Perhaps Portrait appeals to an older demographic than myself. Perhaps it's also more engaging specifically to writers interested in the progression of their work. (I suppose if one likes realist fiction, they could argue that the author is a compelling writer - no doubt what he details is legitimate.) But it comes off to me as an empty story that only makes the reader as tired and uninspired as its protagonist.

---------------------------------------------------------


DO READ IF: you're a fan of Catch-22..... (I guess...)

DO NOT READ IF: you have anything better to do.

The Wayward Bus

Author: John Steinbeck

Edition: Bantam, the classic first-edition printing of most of Steinbeck's novels. (This particular copy was published in 1957, and judging by the cover price of 35 cents, I imagine it's probably out of print.)

Synopsis: A small-frame novelette examining the personalities and hidden motives of a group of bus passengers and how they interact, with unexpected results.

Length: quite manageable, at just over 100 pages.

Difficulty: easy

----------------------------------------------------------
"It was a small bus, an old bus. It traveled the back roads through the lush California countryside. Is driver was a man of the land -- lusty, warm, uninhibited.
"On the bus were a girl who danced at stag parties, a traveling salesman out strictly for laughs, a boy with the sweet sap of young manhood urgent in him, a college girl who had studied her body more than her books."

These words taken from the back cover hardly do the book credit. In fact, they're pretty unfair, because there's a lot more to the story.

However, one of the central themes is that of a young girl and her beauty. She views it as a curse at times, and also a blessing as she manipulates people -- especially men -- accordingly. With each chapter we see how she uses her looks to influence people, and how the attitudes of the other passengers in the bus shift as a result of her presence.

The first half of the novel introduces and develops the characters. There are the Chicoys, a down-to-earth Mexican couple; Pimples, the shy, lustful hired hand; three restless and attractive young women; as well as a light-hearted salesman, a jaded pessimist, and a sickly elderly man. In typical Steinbeck fashion, everything begins innocently enough, but soon the tension builds as everyone's personalities come to light. The second half of the book, which easily could have been scripted into a one-act play, pictures the characters all coming together for a long journey on a bus -- a space far too enclosing to avoid the threatening conflict that was already brewing from the outset.

The lone chapter devoted to Alice's story (Chapter 11) is remarkable. An intense look at a struggling alcoholic woman and her mental demise, it could stand alone as a gripping character study. I was hooked from the first page to the last. Watch also for the symbolism of the fly -- some of the most incredible imagery I've seen from this author.

The Wayward Bus is an obscure gem that any Steinbeck lover should read.

The Mother Tongue: English & How it Got That Way

Author: Bill Bryson (The Lost Continent, Shakespeare, A Walk in the Woods)

Length: A hefty 245 pages, but this book isn't the sort that needs to be read all at once.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Having recently read both Shakespeare and A Walk in the Woods, I thought I'd continue on my Bill Bryson streak and try something else. I've always had an interest in linguistics, and considering I'm about fifteen years behind on this book, it seemed like a good time to pick it up.

Bryson books are always a perfect blend of light-reading entertainment and his classic English-influenced dry humor, with interesting nuggets of information tucked in here and there. After finishing The Mother Tongue, I dazzled my family for weeks with such gems as, "Did you know that there are 50 different words for 'snow' in Eskimo?" I also learned a few choice expletives in Japanese and Norwegian.

The book is equal parts historical study, informational resource, and amusing easy-read. One great additional aspect of The Mother Tongue is that it studies not so much the intricacies of the English language itself (although there is a great deal of that), but English in comparison to other languages of the world -- that is, what sets it apart.

The author, who is American but lived in England for 20 years, is speaking from a very interesting perspective. As a result, we get a large chunk of lecture on the differences between American English, British English, and Australian English, as well as the variance within the British Isles, always peppered with Bryson's dry wit.

Whether you decide to take A Mother Tongue seriously, or tote it in your beach bag as a vacation read, you will not be disappointed. A guilty pleasure for the intelligent person, I highly recommend this book to anyone who speaks English... or doesn't.

----------------------------------------------------------------

DO READ IF: you consider yourself smart but not pretentious.

DO NOT READ IF: you are looking for a straight-jacketed dissertation on linguistics.

Sanditon: Jane Austen's Last Novel Completed

Author: Jane Austen and "Another Lady"

Edition: Scribner Paperback (Simon & Schuster)

Synopsis: Sensible Charlotte takes a summer trip to the newly-fashionable seaside resort of Sanditon, meets interesting new people, and comes to terms with her newfound feelings of love toward the surprising and irresistible Sidney Parker.

Length: 312 pages, but the don't be fooled...

Difficulty: ...like all of Austen's novels, the language is dense. Her writing takes concentration, and makes for poor beach reading, but focus is enjoyably necessary to experience the full effect.

--------------------------------------------------------------

In my book (no pun intended), Sanditon will remain an Austen favorite for many years to come.

Which is ironic, because Jane Austen didn't even write it.

Well, at least not most of it. Begun in 1817, the year of Austen's death, she completed only 11 chapters of Sanditon before her untimely death from Addison's disease at the age of 41. Remaining as only a fragment cherished to her readers for decades (more on this history can be found in the afterword), an English novelist took it upon herself in the early 1970s to finish what Austen started. The result is, in my opinion, more than satisfactory.

The author insists on keeping herself completely anonymous in all aspects of the work, using only the titles "The Author" and, as noted on the cover, "Another Lady." One can only assume that this is done out of deepest respect for Austen. She (if it is indeed a female author) follows up the novel with a brief afterword, titled "An Apology from the Collaborator," where she expounds on the history behind Austen's fragmented seventh novel, explains her writing method and problems of continuity, and according to the title, offers this final sentence:

"[Austen's] language, her integrity and her painstaking methods of work -- that terrifyingly accurate and meticulous technique.... None of these things can be faithfully copied. And for their deficiencies in this seventh novel, I do apologise."

However, there is little to "apologise" for. "Another Lady" stays straight as an arrow according to the first author's supposed intent. In true Austen fashion, the book is paradoxically simple in plot -- the typical 19th-century worries of unmarried young people -- but complex in rich language and interweaving storylines. Austen does take a minor unexpected turn from the domestic to the industrial, with the main plot point being Mr. Parker's (brother to the male protagonist) intent on turning the unknown town of Sanditon into a fashionable seaside resort.

While it is unfortunate that Austen had the time to give only a profile sketch of her characters, "Another Lady" develops them beautifully. It must be noted that by the end of the novel, the two leads of Charlotte and Sidney stand out as a couple of the roundest and most interesting persons to ever appear of Austen's works. The mystery author adds only three characters that are not present in Austen's eleven introductory chapters, and they have relatively few appearances (in fact, Clara Brereton's cousin Elizabeth has no spoken lines and serves only as an "offstage" character to help along the storyline). In addition, she borrows Austen's customary tone of dry humor with a hint of sarcasm, and employs it skillfully.

I won't give a lengthier synopsis; it's too detailed to attempt to paraphrase here. Any Austen aficionado will have the pleasure of discovering it for themselves, having a good idea of what to expect but eventually reaching the new additions of a job very well done. Captivating, entertaining, humorous and ultimately heartwarming (I usually hate that word), this book deserves a place on every Jane Austen lover's shelf.... even if nearly 75% of it is not technically Austen.

----------------------------------------------------------

DO READ IF: you can't get enough of Jane Austen and/or have ever been disappointed that she finished only six novels before her death.

DO NOT READ IF: you're an Austen neophyte (try Emma instead) and/or you have never enjoyed Jane Austen for any reason whatsoever.

The Stranger

Author: Albert Camus

Edition: Vintage International, translated from the French by Matthew Ward

Synopsis: An indifferent character spends a weekend on the beach, and is suddenly and unwittingly involved in a murder.

Length: Relatively brief at 123 pages. A feel much like the shorter works of Steinbeck (The Red Pony, Of Mice and Men).

Difficulty: The language takes descriptive tangents at times, but is otherwise basic and easy to follow.

------------------------------------------------------------------


I devoured this book in one sitting.

I didn't think I was going to at first. To tell the truth, I almost lost interest a few chapters into the story. It just seemed to move so slowly. The dry writing style is strange as well, using very plain, choppy phrases:

"The caretaker turned the switch and I was blinded by the sudden flash of light. He suggested I go to the dining hall for dinner. But I wasn't hungry. Then he offered to bring me a cup of coffee with milk. I like milk in my coffee, so I said yes, and he came back a few minutes later with a tray. I drank the coffee. Then I felt like having a smoke. But I hesitated.... I thought about it, it didn't matter. I offered the caretaker a cigarette and we smoked." [p. 8]

I was intrigued; it's simply too distinctive for something to have been lost in translation. I could tell that by doing this the author was working towards something, I just didn't know what. And my instincts soon proved to be right. The stagnant motion helps form the narrator's devil-may-care attitude, and successfully contrasts the rest of the book. I won't go into more detail here, but I will say that it eventually leads up to a quite significant occurrence at the end of Part One, which propels the story with sudden momentum into Part Two.

There is a very definitive split between the two halves -- in fact, once you begin Part Two you might not be able to put the book down. While the basic writing style does not change, staying true to the way the rather languid protagonist-narrator's mind functions, events begin to move at a more rapid pace. Over the next few chapters something horrifying unfolds, and a creeping sense of disbelief and dread gathers. By the time I set the book down after finishing, I felt a depressing, shocked confusion, as if the author had reached inside my brain and twisted something around. Sort of like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest meets A Clockwork Orange.

Much more than a simple murder mystery, this artfully-crafted book is well worth the hour or two it takes to experience it, and the way the story develops will leave you with a haunting and slightly terrifying thrill.

DO READ IF: you're in the mood for a relatively quick but worthwhile read.

DO NOT READ IF: you don't have the patience to wait through 50+ pages for any significant advance in the plot (though as mentioned before, in this case it's worth the wait).