The Mother Tongue, by Bill Bryson

The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson

I took four books with me for the trip to the Orient. The other three were not so memorable, but the Bryson book is a keeper. The back-cover states that, "with dazzling wit and astonishing insight, bestselling author Bill Bryson brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience, and sheer fun of the English language." The book is all of those things. It was a particularly absorbing read for me because I have a general interest in languages, both of the natural kind and of the formal kind (such as programming languages). As a student of English, I've wondered often about many of the idiosyncrasies of the language; and I was relieved to learn that English words really are difficult to spell, and English pronunciations highly irregular. How Bryson managed to turn such a dry topic into something both humorous and informative is a true testament of his skills as a writer.