With everything going on in our lives - and the world at large - it can be difficult to find the time to read for pleasure. Given the level of discourse here at Brushfires - a source of pride for your humble host - I imagine there a more than a few readers here. So, what sorts of things do you read? When is your favorite time to read? What are you reading right now?
I am currently reading "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" which is a hilarious book about punctuation. No, you read that right, a funny book about apostrophes, commas, etc. Being more than a bit of a grammar nerd, this book appeals to me in many different ways. If you know the difference between "its" and "it's", and enjoy humorous writing, I highly recommend this book.
76 comments:
2666 really is as good as the reviews said. The perspective on the U.S. is worth the price of admission alone.
I've always liked books on rhetoric, figures of speech, grammar or punctuation, etc. One of the best is Exercises in Style, Raymond Queneau (New Directions, Barbara Wright tr.). Love that book.
I am currently reading "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" which is a hilarious book about punctuation.
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I think that a comma should have preceded "which", and you could have simply deleted "which is".
________
No, you read that right, a funny book about apostrophes, commas, etc.
____
There should have probably been at least three items in the series before the use of the "etc."
______
Being more than a bit of a grammar nerd, this book appeals to me in many different ways.
_____
The introductory clause is misplaced. The book is not more than a bit of a grammar nerd.
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If you know the difference between "its" and "it's", and enjoy humorous writing, I highly recommend this book.
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I do not abide by high grammatical standards when I blog. That I do not proofread my blog entries allows me to maintain the illusions that I do not spend excessive time blogging and that blogging is not important to me.
It will be easy to find embarrassing errors in my blog entries.
I am reading Ahmed Rashid's *Descent into Chaos", Juan Cole's blog and the *New York Times* coverage on Pakistan.
_____________
Teacher, if I go back and make your corrections, can I delete your post. That would save me a lot of embarras...embarass...humiliation.
Dang, hoist on my own petard!!! (Kinda itches...)
As long as you give me the option of deleting an embarrassing post, too. And then please erase this post as it contains a fragment.
I wonder how both grammar and vocabulary are changing under the epochal impact of the internet.
David Crystal is quoted in this BBC article from 2001:
'"So far we have been communicating in speech, writing and with sign language. But the internet is neither speech nor writing. It has aspects of both and represents a new form."
E-mail, he says, is not merely a faster way of sending letters. It is "brand new - a dialogue between two or more people happening instantly. There is no example from human history of anything like this happening before".
Crystal believes that it will affect the way in which people communicate and may eventually lead to entirely new forms of communication.
"The opportunities are immense," he says.
On-line chat, he adds, is also an "entirely new" type of communication.
"There has never been a case where a person could pay equal attention to what thirty people are saying all at the same time.
Speed
"People who use chat-rooms a lot can already conduct two or three conversations simultaneously. That is completely unprecedented."
The web itself, Crystal says, is a "new form".
"If you look at a page in a book, go away and then return to it will still be the same. A web page can change - there are all sorts of possibilities" .'
David Crystal has actually written a book on the effects of the internet on language. I am wondering whether he has charted favorable and enriching innovations in acceptable syntactical structures.
I'm currently reading the collected works of Hartal, Oct.28th, 2009, 10:00 A.M.-11:59 A.M.
WV-dentstor: don't let him drive your car!
Oct.28th, 2009?
I couldn't wait for it
Orwell, as usual. In this case, "Coming Up For Air."
WV: waxis - the mode of conveyance when you're on your way to get a Brazillian.
I think that would be boyzillion for you, wt.
Grammar? Who needs it?. Simplify, I say. Like Latin. Now there's a language. And, as long as I have an ounce of Spanish blood in me, I will never concede to the insanity of the English language!!!!!
Gina: *shudder* Res ipsa loquitur ;)
I stopped reading for now.
My subscription to JUGS just ran out.
I am impressed by the pro-drop options in Spanish as it may sometimes be misleading to represent explicitly a subject as having initiated an action.
xoot, I heard that was one long mother of a book.
I'm afraid I never heard of Exercises in Style; did you ever read John Simon's Paradigms Lost?
I can't abide mistakes in my writing, whether it's on blogs, in briefs and memoranda, or in personal correspondence. Within the usual conventions of any particular form, I'm unable to stop myself from fixing typos, spelling errors, and grammatical mistakes in my writing, virtually contemporaneously. On those relatively infrequent occasions when I do find a mistake in my written output, I am greatly embarrassed.
I think this habit of simultaneous writing and editing comes from acquiring the habit of composing all of my papers in college on the typewriter lo those many years ago, and then working with an early Wang word processor (terminals operating off a mainframe) as a legal writer/editor out of law school.
wv: nessi
(synchronicity, too)
Gina, I will say this: Studying Latin in high school gave me a much better understanding of the rules (as opposed to the exceptions) of English grammar. And Latin declensions gave me a greater appreciation for the simplicity of English noun cases.
wv: dilly
While the language of the working class is often expressive, and goes from example to example and from illustration to parable, the middle class may be tempted by a faulty hyper-correctiveness and proliferation of signs of grammatical control not in order to foster engaged and lively conversation but to demonstrate cultural and social superiority over jsut those proles with dreams of upward class mobility. There may well be a connection between grammar and class.
WT - I had a Twilight Zone moment last night. After reading your post about what you're reading, I opened up my book and Lynne Truss references the exact same work by Orwell. Synchronicity, indeed!
Last night's chapter was on the colon and semi-colon; it was quite riveting stuff!
I love that book, FH. It's hilarious.
Right now I'm on my second read of "Gone with the Wind." It's going REALLY slow. It also went really slow the first time.
I plan on getting in a review of all the Harry Potter books before the next movie comes out (but that's not until July, so I have some time).
I also want to read The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollen. I just need to find it...
QED, no one.
People tell me all the time that I am not working class because I have a B.A. from a good university and show it, verbally. I tell them the real indicator is orthodontia. Crooked teeth, working class. Of course, I smile.
I came across an interesting book on a remainder table at Moe's a few years ago. Clear and Simple as the Truth. It is not a style "manual"; more a style analysis.
JMF: That is a bit strange. It's Groupthink in action, I tell ya... ;-)
I have to agree with no one. For some people, speaking/writing perfect English is an indicator of class. And, they love to use as a weapon in the superiority wars. As if the rest of the world judges class by that one standard. Well, the Queen and her court can kiss my ass. I haven't a drop of English blood in me and It's not something I give a rat's ass about learning. Maybe it comes from having a certain bloodline and perfectly straight teeth and a Roman nose.
In other words, you don't need good grammar or punctuation to feel superior.
Well, my teeth are not THAT crooked, Gina. I have seen actors with worse.
It sounds, Gina, as if what really bothers you is upward social (if not economic) mobility of the lower classes. We git edge a cated and pretty soon we think we are just as cool as you thoroughbreds, even if we do not live on ranches. How dare we?
Is this author reactionary?
"Many languages lack a vocabulary suitable for higher and technical education. Applying this conclusion about languages to the language of social groups living in lexically conservative peripheral areas, remote from the dominant central dialect of English, it becomes clear why education cannot be carried on exclusively in the lexis of these groups to any great degree." David Corson, The Lexical Bar 23 (1985).
That author, Corson, seems to be saying that sophisticated language skills are essential for learning other skills. There is not enough context to be sure, but I believe the focus on "English" is topical, not political. In other words, I do not believe that small quotation could be part of a larger argument against bi-lingual education. The author is not reactionary.
Apparently Corson has updated and revised that earlier work under the new title Using English Words (1995). Personally, I never heard of him, but the field is full of different perspectives on language, perhaps because language can be very idiosyncratic for each person.
That quote could be seen as a bit of linguistic imperialism, definitely. If the language in question is that 'limited,' perhaps it's speakers communicate via other methods (gestures, signs, smells, etc.,) which wouldn't necessarily preclude higher education. Corson seems a bit culturally challenged...
wv: ganole - dessert at Gina's ranch! :)
I'm sort of surprised that Strunk and White's Elements of Style hasn't yet been mentioned.
Okay, the last book I read was the Phil Norman bio of John Lennon. Very interesting. It's always good to remember that our heroes are human.
dsg -- 2666 is 900 pp, or so, but worth the time, I think.
Queneau's Exercises in Style is, I guess, a work of literature about rhetoric and style. I think anyone who loves to read would find the book delightful.
Strunk & White's fine. You ever read Richard Wydick's Plain English for Lawyers? Pretty good book. Used to be a legend about a summer associate in the 80s, at a big SF firm, who went in feeling strong (top 10% at an Ivy League law school). He submitted his first research memo and got it back the next day in an envelope, along with a copy of Wydick's book.
Oh, sorry -- I haven't read Paradigms Lost. Looks like that should go on the reading list . . . .
My reading list is getting longer....
Re-reading JMF's original post, she also asks 'when is your favorite time to read?' I'd have to say anytime it is totally quiet 'round heah. Which is rare, but crucial for thought (see Kurt Vonnegut, jr.: "Harrison Bergeron.")
Lefty, thanks for what seems to be an extraordinary book recommendation.
May I also recommend this old piece by Bertolt Brecht:
http://tiny.cc/t6Uqq
ahhh, favorite time to read - good catch WT.
In the bath, in bed before I go to sleep, on the couch, anytime I'm in the clutches of a good book, outside, in a coffee shop, at the gym (magazines are better there).
Anytime is a good time, but especially if it's rainy and cold outside so I don't feel guilty about not going out.
:)
After I graduated it was a couple of years before I could lose the habit of closely analyzing anything I read. I read a lot of non-fiction at that point, but I've loosened up considerably since then and I really enjoy reading most things now. Not so much non-fiction, although I've been trying to work my way through the Gospel of Mary (of Magdeline) and the Gospel of Judas. It's a bit too heavy with all the other stuff I've got going on in my mind right now.
ML: It seems like you're reading a few things at once! That might slow you down...I'm too linear-minded to do that, but I admire someone who can. :)
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By the way, when I said, "Orwell, as usual," above, I meant I've read all his books at least twice, yet I still go back to them for some reason. There's many others on my list...
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The deleted posts were mine. I'm not fond of typos, either... ;-)
wv: gonato (the new name for Guantanamo Bay)
It sounds, Gina, as if what really bothers you is upward social (if not economic) mobility of the lower classes. We git edge a cated and pretty soon we think we are just as cool as you thoroughbreds, even if we do not live on ranches. How dare we?
No, what bothers me is that the English somehow think they invented the idea of class and use knowledge of their language to judge the rest of the world...at least pretentious Americans do, anyway. Ones that need to prove something to who know's who. I mean, come on. How old is the written English lanuguage? The earliest written manuscripts were from 1150! And how long have other cultures been writing?????
Class and superiority, indeed. Idiots. The rest of us simply couldn't care less.
Well, as my background is Irish and Scandinavian, I take no offense at your claim to Cicero's legacy and Shakespeare's inferiority, Gina.
I see the Chronicle today finally got around to publishing an obit for Jim Houston. NYT had a nice piece last week, the day after he died. One of the few novelists (Nunn also comes to mind) who really wrote about surfing well. Of course, he wrote about a lot of other things, too.
Of course, I meant "written well about surfing," or "good stuff about surfing," or something like that. (Smile, FH.)
I'm whinnying and stomping my foot in gratitude for you not taking offense at the truth, Zoot.
I find Shakespeare about as much fun to read as The Holy Bible. Give me a good art or garden book with lots of big pictures to 'read' and I'm a happy camper.
And dsg. What type of man did we determine won't wear his wedding ring?
" One of the few novelists (Nunn also comes to mind) who really wrote about surfing well." I think a book about surfing badly would be better reading...
Sorry, couldn't resist...
I'm listening to a Steven King audio book. Good stuff to fall asleep to. I've had a thing for years, where I yell a lot as I fall off. Figured I might as well have something to scream about. Mickey and Zeke are used to it. They make popcorn and watch the show....
Also reading "A Death in Venice" again... and always have my Donleavy etiquette book at hand ( it's OK to fart in elevators, BTW. And fair to deny you did it ( with a "not me" gesture)... as J.P. puts it: fair minded farters will understand...
Gina, are you referring to anyone in particular?
who, moi?
Oh, no one in particular...just rat bastards in general.
wv: ablui. Gesundheit.
Gina - LOL!
NRLB and other appointments.
http://tiny.cc/CQCVu
Crisis conditions in Pakistan and for US/NATO troops. Important analysis by Ahmed Rashid but it seems that he is underestimating the popular support in Pakistan for the Taleban (BBC transliteration which sounds correct to me).
http://tiny.cc/hmZhm
There is no moderate Taleban. So should say Hillary Clinton. Loudly and often.
http://tiny.cc/5NKST
A Taleban-controlled Pakistan would keep relations with India at the brink and give al Qaeda the territory and sophistication that it needs to fight to an apocalytical end. The instability of Afghanistan and Pakistan results from Bush's exclusive focus on Iraq and abandonment of the reconstruction of Afghanistan and the war against the Taleban. To the three or five trillion dollars wasted in that occupation we must now add the gravest geopolitical instability in a nuclear hotspot.
The occupation of Iraq did not produce catastrophe alone; the Chicago School of economics played a crucial role.
Leading Keynesian thinker Robert Skidelsky makes the argument.
_ http://tiny.cc/W4prC
apocalypsocal endings are so sad. I just don't want to stop dancing!
And now the Chicago School economists are to blame? bs. It's the Austrians. They made sure the great depression would be really depresssing, and they're doing even worse things to the rest of us now. What's his name Krugman says so!
wv: barker. Ha!
Krugman argues against the Austrians on the grounds that depressions are not necessary painful adjustments for the distortions caused by faulty monetary policy. Skidelsky is arguing against the Chicago school of economics for the faith in the power of unregulated markets to dissipate the risks from default. Not quite sure that the arguments are incompatible.
Would you kindly let us know the other aliases you are using?
Rashly dismissing Skidelsky's argument as bs reminds me of xootsuit's style. So it seems that qua has been hijacked by xootsuit for now
Moroever, to the extent that Hayek connects the Austrians and the Chicago school of economics, I am not quite sure that you are making much sense by trying to put the blame on the latter rather than former.
http://tinyurl.com/dbqmqr
hartal, would you please FOAD?
wv: beavis
There's a lesson here. Am I the only one quick enough to learn it?
Once again, hartal, you have missed the mark. I skewer you when I want to, while the rest of these bloggers are busy having fun. You have no idea.
Of course you need to hide behind this name, qua.
there is an Austrian school of economics. Then there is an Austrian banking industry and the loans that it has made to Eastern Europe. Skidelsky argues against the Austrian school of economics that the root of this crisis was only in lax Fed policy. Krugman argues against the Austrian school that depression periods of adjustment must be accepted once there has been political manipulation of the money supply.
Your iniital reply makes little sense and no contact at all with what Skidelsky is saying. He argues that the more important cause of this crisis than lax Fed policy was the dergulation of the financial markets during the formation of the bubble and that the Chicago School of ecnomics which is tied via Hayek to the Austrian school of ecnomics rationalized that dergulation.
You are deluded if you think you are skewering me or Skidelsky. You are in way over your head.
You are getting the Austrian banking industry mixed up with the Austrian school of economics, and you are not saying anything clearly.
Put a little time in your thought so that you can stop making a fool of yourself.
One gets the feeling that Hartal will talk just to hear his brains rattle around in his head. That image alone is worth a laugh...maybe he even bores us to tears just to make sure no one actually reads his nonsensical stuff.
I keep getting this image of a very intense person-- arms gesticulating wildly about, books and magazines scattered around his apartment for quick references--talking and arguing to himself and his imaginary enemies in a dusty and distorted mirror. And then running back and forth to his computer to his various blogs to write it all down.
My nonsensical stuff? I provided links. Are Ahmed Rashid (who seems to be consulting at West Point, and is a world authority on the Taleban), MJ Akbar (leading Indian editorialist) and Robert Skidelsky (the famous biographer of Keynes) considered to be nonsensical sources? That's news to me.
Oh Gina, don't click on my links. They may or may not prove interesting to YC, dsg, lefty, WT, FH and even XS. The articles are not easily found, so that's why I shared them.
But what about the Austrian school of bodybuilding?
Well, Hartal, you've made comments about me or things relating to me that were so off base that, yes, your writing does appear nonsensical to me.
GWTW a book about the antebellum south? Me a racist? My mother a Klanswoman?
You throw crap around and wait to see if it sticks. You don't fight fair. And when people call you on it, you get all insulted and cold cock 'em. Not too nice at all. Gotta be kinda crazy to live life that way.
I can't speak for the others because I don't read most of your posts.
Let me apologize, then, Gina. I should not have jumped to the conclusion that the older woman in that picture was your mother rather than an aunt. But the family resemblance was unmistakable.
Hey, what about that Arlen Specter, huh? Last rat to leave the sinking ship, remember to pull up the ladder. I gotta million of 'em.
Will Specter now swing back behind the card check bill? He'll need union support in the upcoming election.
Also, do you think the Obama admin. can arm-twist D. Feinstein back into line behind the bill? The imbroglio about her odd intervention last year on behalf of the FDIC just after her husband swung a deal with that corp. looks rather ugly.
Will still vote against EFCA itself but for cloture--that would be the best guess, right? Interested to see what's being said at talking point memo, huffington post, nytimes, etc. Anyone yet checked?
Another question is whether President Obama will make compromises on EFCA to get a few extra Senate votes that he does not need to get EFCA passed. The needless compromises that he made on the budget suggest that he'll give away too much in the name of consensus building. But then Solis will then have his ear, and his NRLB choices suggests that he may not compromise too much.
Radio station KPIG, of course, has a rather vexed interest in the swine flu emanating from Mexico, Mexico. The station's news commentator did some research and claims that patient zero is a little kid in the state of Veracruz who happens to live downstream from a gigantic, filthy, industrial-sized U.S./Mexico hog farm. The commentator claims hog farmers have relocated south of the border to avoid the regulations in the U.S. designed to clean up their horrible operations.
Just to get back on topic, anybody else admire Newton Thornburg's novel Cutter and Bone? Excellent book. The very cold villain happens to be a very rich and successful hog farmer.
Specter's public statement says he will still oppose the card check bill. But it would be harder for him not to vote to allow the bill to go to the floor.
Speaking of hog farms, I used to work for a lawyer whose mom's family made a ton of money in hog farming locally. If he had wanted to do their legal work, he would have made a ton of money, too, but he didn't want to get involved with that work because many of the members of that side of the family were snakes. Every once in a while we would do some of the more benign work for the family; one time, at the request of one of his aunts, I set up a corporation sole. The aunt was not one of the snakes, but her son was; she owned some vacant land near HMB that she didn't pay much attention to, and he dug up huge amounts of dirt to sell as fill without her permission, leaving a massive hole.
swine flu
http://tiny.cc/j88Nq
dsg may remember that I raised the question of the consequences on children from deportation of illegal immigrants. The New York Times reported on just this question several weeks after our sharp dispute
http://tiny.cc/BPzPQ
*
Pakistan backed the Taleban to have influence in Afghanistan but now Pakistan may be Talebanized. Richard Nixon created the Southern Strategy to ensure victory for the Republican Party but now, as the defection of Specter shows, the Republican Party has become a a regional party of the South. There must be a specific name for this kind of unintended consequence in politics.
*
Gina, the headwear fits politically and intellectually.
http://tinyurl.com/cvp3qq
hartal, our discussion was in the context of illegal immigrants leaving voluntarily due to lack of unemployment benefits, not family separations caused by immigration raids.
wv: philsted
Xoot: thank you for the wonderful Wolves... ;)
wv: turead (now THAT'S ontopic!)
You are right, dsgonzale6, about the content of our previous discussion and the irrelevance of the NYT article to that discussion.
hartal, FWIW, I thought the article was interesting. The immigration raid scenario is very troubling for people concerned about the humane treatment of individuals in our system.
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