My 'discovery' of this book is a perfect example for the argument of using a continuity of style on book covers.  A year or two ago, I bought and read You're Saying it Wrong, book about commonly mispronounced words, and loved it (I've been saying Turmeric and Van Gogh wrong all. my. life.)  I recognised the similar cover on this, the authors' newest, and immediately snatched it up.

 

I should really rate this 4.5 stars, because in retrospect, I can recall several typographical and at least 1 grammatical error in the text, which seems especially egregious in a book about grammar.  But I suppose perfection is an unreasonable expectation even for a grammar book.  Actually, I don't believe that, but I am too lazy to adjust my rating.

 

Other than that, it's an excellent reference for word pairs that are often confused with each other, including the obvious affect/effect as well as some I'd never thought about before but were obvious when I saw them, like trooper/trouper, flair/flare and flout/flaunt. Also included are words/terms that are just used wrong, like epicentre and ambivalent.  

 

Scattered throughout the list are a few spreads that cover when to use who/whom, the correct usage of lay/lie (I found their explanation for this the most useful I've ever read), and a general guide for latin and greek plurality: when to use 'i', 'a', 'ae', and 's'.  This one sort of cleared up a running debate MT and I have had concerning the plural of 'platypus' - while we both favoured 'platypi' on aesthetic grounds (it sounds better than 'platypuses', which is what the local sanctuary has settled on), it would seem logical to follow the same rule used for 'octopus', which is 'octopodes'.  I find this a happy compromise (MT is stubbornly sticking to the incorrect but more melodious platypi).

 

Each entry includes an example of the incorrect usage, the etymological history of the word/words, and most of the time, examples of correct usage for each word as well as basic definitions of each (nb: the author's state upfront that this is based on the North American dialect of English).  It's well written, not dry, and informative.  It will be a handy reference in the future when I'm unsure which word to use.

 

I feel like I've just finished a flipping marathon.

 

If, like me, you enjoy slightly more than a smattering of classical music but are utterly ignorant of who came first and who wrote what where and when, this is an extraordinarily entertaining and sometimes silly (it's Fry) way to go about educating yourself.  But be warned: Fry packs an absolute boatload of information into the 304 pages he has to work with.  I had been enjoying this book at night, right before going to sleep, but once I entered the era of Beethoven and Mozart, I actually started having trouble sleeping afterwards; my mind just kept reeling through all the information and I was 'continuing to read' after I was asleep (if you think Fry is silly, you should hear the nonsense I was 'reading' in my sleep).  I finally just threw myself into the final third all day today so I could finish the bloody thing and get a decent night's sleep.  

 

I'd have gone the whole 5 star hog but this is a very UK-centric book; lots and lots of very British cultural references, quite a few of which I'm certain went right over my head in spite of having a husband weaned on the Australian BBC feed, so if you wouldn't consider yourself moderately versed in UK popular culture and/or cockney slang (thank god for MT) then you might find the writing irritating at times.  All in all though, in spite of the more-screwed-up-than-usual sleeping patterns, I thoroughly enjoyed the read and the education.

 

But I'm totally using this for my A Hard Book square in the Summer Book Bingo.  And I'm dragging MT to the Melbourne Symphony's performance of Beethoven's Fifth next weekend.  That'll teach him to help me translate the cockney.  ;-)

Did you know that adjectives in the English language have to be listed in a certain order to be correct?  Specifically, they need to be ordered opinion-size-age-shape-color-origin-material-purpose.  So you can have a beautiful small vintage round cream Italian marble sewing table, but try to rearrange the order of those adjectives and you'll have chaos.

 

Furthermore, did you know that when you repeat a word with a different vowel it's always in the order of I A O?  So you can say "pish-posh!" and you'd sound archaic but understandable, but try saying "posh pish!" and people will think you drank your lunch.  Try it with any similar phrase: hip-hop, pitter-patter, jibber-jabber, tip-top, bish-bash-bosh; they all follow the same vowel order.

 

I knew neither of these and they were just in one chapter (chapter 8 - Hyperbaton).  The Elements of Eloquence covers the figures of rhetoric; those rules, for lack of a better word, that make writing memorable, impactful, beautiful or unforgettable.  Shakespeare used most of them as did most (all?) of the writers of merit throughout history.

 

Forsyth devotes one chapter to each of the figures and includes examples from great literature and poetry, great song lyrics and political speeches current and historical.  He does it all clearly and with a dry humour that makes even the dullest of the figures interesting to read about.  I don't think I've ever learned so much about my own language in all my schooling combined.  He even described meters (the writing kind, i.e. iambic pentameter) in a way that not only made sense but I'll remember too.  English teachers should use this as a reference, if not an actual text book.  

 

If you have any interest in the English language I can't recommend this book highly enough.  It's well-written, entertaining, well-researched, foot-noted and funny.  I can't wait to read the other two books he's written that are sitting in my pile.

I ran across Picturing America while cataloging government publications issued by The National Endowment for the Humanities. I was frequently delighted as I read this book about famous works of American art that express something about the American experience. 

You see, my powers of observation suck. I miss things that are right smack in front of my face, let alone detail and nuance. Picturing America was a real discovery, a real treasure box full of pieces of art accompanied by modest but insightful text that pointed out both the large and the small in these pictures. As I worked my way through this book, I began to study the pieces first to see what they were trying to say, and what they were saying just to me. The book showed me how to read art, and I was genuinely excited by what each turn off the page brought.

Picturing America - National Endowment f... I ran across Picturing America while cataloging government publications issued by The National Endowment for the Humanities. I was frequently delighted as I read this book about famous works of American art that express something about the American experience.

You see, my powers of observation suck. I miss things that are right smack in front of my face, let alone detail and nuance. Picturing America was a real discovery, a real treasure box full of pieces of art accompanied by modest but insightful text that pointed out both the large and the small in these pictures. As I worked my way through this book, I began to study the pieces first to see what they were trying to say, and what they were saying just to me. The book showed me how to read art, and I was genuinely excited by what each turn off the page brought.