Reviews for Modern Lexicography: An Introduction

The average rating for Modern Lexicography: An Introduction based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-08-08 00:00:00 Kimberly Phillips Hitchings' book is as much a promotion of Johnson's dictionary, as a piece of literature to read, as it is a biography of Dr. Johnson. It does both well. Of particular interest to me. I had forgotten about the significance and culture of the coffee house during Johnson's time. The reminder of this bit of history makes the running gag in Pynchon's "Mason & Dixon" about coffee houses being everywhere that the English were that much funnier. In his great buddy novel Pynchon shows Mason and Dixon served coffee by a Mr. Star buck in the American colonies when they arrive to survey the Mason Dixon Line. There is quite a bit of food and drink humor and I thought he was only referring to our current obsession with coffee. As I say, I had forgotten about a similar craze actually occurring during the era of M & D and therefore of Dr. J as well.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-01-23 00:00:00 Eric Laborde We know that it's possible to write entertainingly about the process of writing a dictionary -- Simon Winchester has done it twice. Henry Hitchings doesn't have the knack. The word that comes to mind that best describes this book is "plodding". The copy I bought was remaindered at $3.88. I can't say I was surprised. A dull, pedestrian, aimless book. Though I dare say the scholarship was accurate. Hitchings has recently come out with another book: "The Secret Life of Words". According to The New Yorker , "Hitchings offers a rich array of anecdotes and extracts, but the absence of a strong over-all argument deprives his account of momentum". If you're looking for a present for the word addict on your holiday gift list, "Alphabet Juice", by Roy Blount Junior, looks to be a better bet (based on the first chapter, which I read in the New York Times).