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12+ Works 1,632 Membros 40 Críticas 2 Favorited

About the Author

Includes the name: Henry Hitchings

Obras por Henry Hitchings

Associated Works

Pride and Prejudice (1813) — Posfácio, algumas edições80,091 exemplares
Sense and Sensibility (1811)algumas edições37,892 exemplares
Persuasion (1817) — Posfácio, algumas edições28,519 exemplares

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Críticas

Well arranged and mixes biography of Johnson himself with a "biography" of sorts, of the great dictionary
 
Assinalado
cspiwak | 16 outras críticas | Mar 6, 2024 |
To my surprise, this was a relatively dense work of scholarship, and not the popular history I'd expected, given its publisher (Holt, a fine press, but not the kind of university or academic press that normally publishes this sort of book), and the general appearance of the book, blurbs and all. In fact, I couldn't help but wonder, especially given the author's clear reliance on the Oxford English Dictionary, if this wasn't more the province of the Oxford University Press.

In any case, Henry Hitchings offers his prospective reader a kind of travelers' history of the accretion of the English language. War, revolution, peace, trade, exploration--all of these are points of contact for English speakers with the rest of the world, and it is these contacts that have shaped and will, as Mr. Hitchings notes in his conclusion, continue to shape the English language. Mr. Hitchings, in my estimation, is a competent scholar and an elegant stylist. Both of his attributes, therefore, make for a dense but generous and readable book.… (mais)
 
Assinalado
Mark_Feltskog | 8 outras críticas | Dec 23, 2023 |
_The Language Wars_ is a wide-ranging discussion of perceptions of English usage. Hitchings strenuously attempts to mediate between the prescriptivist and descriptivist camps, implying that those who take strong positions are usually proven wrong by history.

I especially appreciate his explanations of how usage "rules" were developed and defended by the high priests of grammar. What we think of as iron-clad grammar rules can often prove a barrier to clarity and understanding;"correct" pronoun antecedent agreement, for example, sometimes leads to confusing sentences. As an English teacher, this will lead me to be less dogmatic and more flexible with my students' writing and speaking. Ultimately, the standards should be:

1. Is your use of language intelligible?
2. Is your use of language the best way to express your ideas?
3. Does your use of language reflect meaningful, complex, higher-order thinking?
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
jonbrammer | 2 outras críticas | Jul 1, 2023 |
Short essays by various authors including Andrey Kurkov, Iain Sinclair, and others, about their experiences with bookshops around the world. I was particularly taken to Saša Stanišić's piece; comparing books to drug addictions. Yiyun Li, describing the part of a Chinese bookstore with "No Foreigners Allowed" having pirated copies of books behind the curtain, and a hate letter to a (Danish?) bookseller who treated the author (Dorthe Nors) with disrespect. Fun, but pointless book.
 
Assinalado
AChild | 6 outras críticas | Jan 15, 2023 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
12
Also by
3
Membros
1,632
Popularidade
#15,744
Avaliação
½ 4.3
Críticas
40
ISBN
38
Línguas
1
Marcado como favorito
2

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