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).