"Mother Tongue" (book review)

This is another Bill Bryson.

I confess here and now that I am absolutely hooked on this author - he can do no wrong.

This particular tome traces the history and geography and science and madness of the English language - a language which is probably the most global language there is.

As Bryson reveals, those of us born into the language are very lucky - we are not too puzzled by the lack of rules, consistency or rationality that abound in English.

Have pity on those for whom English is a second or third language - particularly those whose languages bear little resemblance to English...what a nightmare it must be to navigate the pronunciation of all those "ough" words!

Bryson discusses this, along with the most bizarre collection of surnames, pub names, brand names and church names (St Andrew's By the Wardrobe, anyone??).

These chapters, and the chapters on swearing and the creation of the great dictionaries, are spell-binding, entertaining, and, as usual, highly authoritative.

And as usual, I finished the book feeling I had genuinely learnt some new things, been entertained, and had my appetite whetted for even more Bryson (next read from this author will be the Brief History of Nearly Everything, after Lord of the Rings, which merely FEELS like the brief history of nearly everything).

Very highly recommended!!!