Cannonball Read 12

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Because language has suffered enough…

Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language by Don Watson

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When I first read the example ‘The competition policy reforms further improve the performance of government business enterprises through a program of regulation review, enhanced prices oversight, application of competitive neutrality principles and procedures for structural reform of public monopolies,’ on p65 of Death Sentence, I didn’t quite get the author’s point. I mean, I understood what it meant. But the next example of language spelled out exactly why a person like me needed to read this book. ‘Language is a key issue of access […]

“A Table of Alphabetical Hard Words”: Our First English Dictionary

The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson

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Quite a bit has changed since this book was written; language has changed, attitudes towards language have changed, and culture overall has changed. Some pieces from this book have not aged well; it’s rather dismissive of some languages and cultures (weirdly judgmental over Japanese writing, for example) while being aggressively defensive of others. There is also little-to-no attention paid  to the many additions given to English by marginalized communities; I was surprised to come across very little about the contributions of people of color have […]

Go wash your mouth out

Vulgar Tongues: An Alternative History of English Slang by Max Decharne

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As someone with a rather vulgar tongue myself, I love the ever-evolving language of slang and so this book was a delight, trawling through its history – how different terms were born, how they have evolved over time (some starting off respectable and becoming vulgar, and vice versa), how slang travels, and the different groups from which these words came. Often indeed very vulgar, derogatory, offensive and so on, slang also shows off best our creativity, imagination and wit, although obviously the perception of whether […]

“Sci-fi about language”: a heady entry in a favorite subgenre

Embassytown by China Miéville

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I have a niche interest in “sci-fi books about language” (give me all your recommendations!) and so this one came my way. China Miéville is a pretty highbrow author, and this is a pretty literary SF book. It is pretty focused on its own theoretical linguistics and the xenology behind language. It doesn’t go so much for major character development or plot, but it’s not annoying in the way that it can be when a fictional structure is just a lazy device to deliver a […]

Old Friend, New Style

A Parade of Elephants by Kevin Henkes

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The thing about recent Kevin Henkes books is that I do not see the illustration styles of Chrysanthemum, Owen or Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse anymore. What I have come to know as his style is gone. Therefore, I do not say, “THAT is a Kevin Henkes book” and I am no longer drawn to them. However, this is in the style of the more recent books, so if you prefer that, this is perfectly a representation of his style. I picked up A Parade of […]



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