Vivian CookBesprekingen

The irony is in the title itself.

I didn't find this book as entertaining or informative as I had hoped. It is a collection of lists and examples that seem to be just stuff the author has amassed and decided to throw together. It certainly gives reasons why nobody can spell - our language is nuts! But I didn't really learn anything new, and I'm not even sure some of the information is accurate (for example, the author seems to think the word "fracas" has a silent "s" - maybe that's a British thing).

This is a strange book and I'm not sure how well it travels outside the specific region for which it appears to have been written (southern England). There are some fascinating history lessons on English spelling but many of the more modern examples don't make sense outside of specific dialects. For example: our and awe aren't homophones where I live. They aren't even close! There are also some examples of "American" example which may been regionally correct but aren't nationally correct. Here are some examples: dialog, glamour, catalog. In my neck of the woods, they are spelled: dialogue, glamor, catalogue (except in LIS which goes for the catalog option). Then there is the weird spelling of hiccup (hiccough in the book). I've NEVER seen it spelled hiccough and even found a couple examples from the BBC website of the hiccup spelling. In conclusion, I think this book would have been stronger if it had just stayed with one dialect and its history of spelling rules.

The subtitle is actually somewhat misleading here, since it's not actually about why nobody can spell, but rather just a series of anecdotes and quizzes about spelling in general. This is not a book you just sit down and read all at once, but rather something you pick up from time to time and read a few pages. Much of the volume consists of examples of nonstandard (or plain old incorrect) spelling, from lists of band names to photos of business logos. My favorite parts were the ones that dealt with the evolution of language; some of the humor essays on spelling were pretty amusing as well. I suppose if you're obsessed with proper spelling you might enjoy this one, but honestly I'm not surprised I was able to get it for all of a dollar at Borders. It's just a bit too niche for me.

I enjoyed this book thoroughly: my spelling is shockingly bad - which caused a few problems when I worked as a cataloguer in the library! However, it has improved in leaps and bounds since I started working for a newspaper and although I still can't spell, I am now thoroughly irritated by people who spell even worse than I do.

There are tests in this books and exercises and all sorts of interesting ways in which one can gague one's level as a speller. Mine was pretty absymal by the way - although I got cemetery and accommodate correct I was stymied by broccoli. Which really should have a double "l"...

This book will make the ideal gift for a subeditor, a teacher or anyone else who has to suffer through the unnecessary spelling errors perpetrated by the likes of me, but is an interesting, informative and entertaining read for just about anybody - except it would seem for my fellow reviewers on libarything who were surprisingly unimpressed.½

I’m not really sure what the purpose of the book is supposed to be. I thought it was somewhat of a rant against bad spellers, but it isn’t, really. It’s a mixed bag of things cobbled together into a hodge podge of semi-related things—tests that see how well you can spell, blurbs about the evolution of the English language and how some words evolved over time, a review of some of the rules and fallacies of spelling, including the “i before e except after c” rule (which doesn’t hold much water, by the way) and various and sundry other things. There were photos of stupid spelling mistakes in newspapers (but they weren’t very good ones) and lists of differences between English English and American English, quotations from various famous people about spelling, lists of ways our modern culture has bastardized the language further with things like internet acronyms, texting language, etc.

It was very poorly organized without a clear mission that I could glean. I love words and bits about their origins and the evolution of the language, but these bits weren’t even that well-done. (Oh yes; there was a section about hyphenated words too. LOL) I think the author wrote it just because he was pissed off that people think he’s a woman because his name is Vivian. I dunno! I wouldn’t really recommend the book. It took me about an hour to read through it and I was decidedly unimpressed.½

Spotty. Some good information on the English language. Fun insights into word origins and resultant spelling. But, a lot of lists that are just too long to be interesting, and began to seem pretty repititious about halfway through. Best if left by on a side-table to be picked up and browsed once in awhile, but there are better books about words than this to leave on the side table.

Having said that, it would be a good reference to keep in the library, except that it has no table of contents nor index that would allow you to find that interesting discussion of the origins of some spelling convention.

Also, can be confusing to the American reader, in that references to spelling and pronunciation that are particulary England English are not always noted, so that some of the information would seem to make no sense until you hear the words with an ear towards how it's pronounced on BBC-America..½

Interesting and readable treatment of the English writing system; includes well-reasoned explanations for the state of English spelling and documents the contributions of technology to English writing.

Tries to be alot of things to alot of people and ends up not being much of anything to anyone - found myself skipping sections. Interesting in parts but not enough to make me want to read it again - will be disposing of soon.

I suspect this was an attempt to get in on the interest generated by Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss. It disappoints. I also wonder if the irony of the first review here was intended ("A humourous look at spelling and gramar.")

I shall stand by my 2 star rating - I didn't enjoy the book.

A humourous look at spelling and gramar.

FIND IT AT: 421.52 COO