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The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English

by: Henry Hitchings

April 03, 2008
Has a comprehensive bibliography for future research, and two sets of indicies so can be used as a text book. However you can also read it as a story book. I was surprised just how fascinating the history and development of the concepts behind each of the words described turned out to be.

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The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English

by: Henry Hitchings

April 02, 2009
Has a comprehensive bibliography for future research, and two sets of indicies so can be used as a text book. However you can also read it as a story book. I was surprised just how fascinating the history and development of the concepts behind each of the words described turned out to be.

Average Rating:

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How to Really Talk About Books You Haven't Read

by: Henry Hitchings

October 02, 2008
Being a keen reader I gallumphed through this very readable book. It seems, though, that it's aimed more at those people whose actual, day-in day-out commitment to the glories of literature is fractionally, but tellingly lower than they would like people to think. Its full of intelligent precis and amusing factoids - and advice on how best to put them to effect. I think my brother's going to get this for Christmas!

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Dr.Johnson's Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story of the Book That Defined the World

by: Henry Hitchings

April 10, 2006
I did find the book entertaining but the author made some outrageous comments - declared as fact, which he later contradicted. For example the author states: "He made a bad marriage, to a woman twenty years his senior;..." (p.5) however on (p27) he writes: "Johnson consistently maintained that 'it was a love marriage upon both sides'. We have no concrete reason to doubt him,..." He also writes: "On 15 April 1755 the first great dictionary of English was published." (p.1) however on (p.48) he writes "We should be clear that there were English dictionaries before Johnson."
These are a few faults which the book itself highlights, but anybody with a knowledge of Johnson will be aware of many more false statements. I may be overly pedantic, ... Read More:

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Pride and Prejudice (Collector's Library)

by: Jane Austen

September 01, 2003
wow!....Mr Darcy's brilliant! i mean......wow!
Sorry i really love Mr Darcy he's just fantastic!

Anyway even though every one know the story and there's no shocking ending to the story, pride and prejudice is my favourite book of all time. The way the suspense is built up and the climax in the last letter's amazing, and Mr Darcy is defiantly the classic romantic male figure of all time!!!

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Persuasion (Collector's Library)

by: Jane Austen

February 01, 2004
Everybody loves Jane Austen and I cannot say I am any different. I know it sounds archetypal but she's my favourite writer ever. And Persuasion is, in my opinion, her best novel. Not that I don't like the others, but Anne is a more original heroine. More mature than the others and without some of their most annoying qualities.She is not self-important like Emma, or too good like Fanny Price.Only Elizabeth Bennet and her sister are as lovable as she is. And Captain Wentworth is a very attractive hero too. And as for secondary characters, Anne's father and sisters, especially Mary, are superb comic representations. Besides this is a story full of hope, one that tells us there are second chances.I have lost count of how many times I have read Persuasion, but ... Read More:

Average Rating:

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The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English

by: Henry Hitchings

September 16, 2008
Everybody loves Jane Austen and I cannot say I am any different. I know it sounds archetypal but she's my favourite writer ever. And Persuasion is, in my opinion, her best novel. Not that I don't like the others, but Anne is a more original heroine. More mature than the others and without some of their most annoying qualities.She is not self-important like Emma, or too good like Fanny Price.Only Elizabeth Bennet and her sister are as lovable as she is. And Captain Wentworth is a very attractive hero too. And as for secondary characters, Anne's father and sisters, especially Mary, are superb comic representations. Besides this is a story full of hope, one that tells us there are second chances.I have lost count of how many times I have read Persuasion, but ... Read More:

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Gulliver's Travels (Collector's Library)

by: Jonathan Swift

August 01, 2004
Everybody loves Jane Austen and I cannot say I am any different. I know it sounds archetypal but she's my favourite writer ever. And Persuasion is, in my opinion, her best novel. Not that I don't like the others, but Anne is a more original heroine. More mature than the others and without some of their most annoying qualities.She is not self-important like Emma, or too good like Fanny Price.Only Elizabeth Bennet and her sister are as lovable as she is. And Captain Wentworth is a very attractive hero too. And as for secondary characters, Anne's father and sisters, especially Mary, are superb comic representations. Besides this is a story full of hope, one that tells us there are second chances.I have lost count of how many times I have read Persuasion, but ... Read More:

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Vanity Fair (Collector's Library)

by: William Makepeace Thackeray

September 01, 2006
Greed, gold-digging and deception sit at the heart of "Vanity Fair." It's no joke that it's subtitled "a novel without a hero" -- William Makepeace Thackeray mercilessly skewered the pretentions and flaws of the upper class all throughout it. The result is a gloriously witty social satire.

It opens with two young women departing from a ladies' academy: dull, sweet Amelia (rich) and fiery sharp-witted Rebecca (poor). Becky Sharp is a relentless social climber, and her first effort to rise "above her station" is by trying to get Amelia's brother to marry her -- an effort thwarted by Amelia's fiancee. So instead she gets married to another family's second son, Rawdon Crawley.

Unfortunately, both young couples quickly get disinherited and ... Read More:

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Dr. Johnson's Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story of the Book That Defined the World

by: Henry Hitchings

April 11, 2005
I did find the book entertaining but the author made some outrageous comments - declared as fact, which he later contradicted. For example the author states: "He made a bad marriage, to a woman twenty years his senior;..." (p.5) however on (p27) he writes: "Johnson consistently maintained that 'it was a love marriage upon both sides'. We have no concrete reason to doubt him,..." He also writes: "On 15 April 1755 the first great dictionary of English was published." (p.1) however on (p.48) he writes "We should be clear that there were English dictionaries before Johnson."
These are a few faults which the book itself highlights, but anybody with a knowledge of Johnson will be aware of many more false statements. I may be overly pedantic, but this lack of consistency ... Read More: