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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Very well researched, humorous, and written in a pleasant and fluid prose; yet, surprisingly, I found it difficult to read. Maybe the Twitter post origins of the author's efforts, with their inevitable episodic nature, bled through to the present book form, and one is required to go through the pages in jumps and snippets, which I did, and it helped. In the end, I'm glad I have this book on my shelf for future reference, and I am equally glad I finally finished it.
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
Well, that was delightful. I had studied Old English long ago in grad school, and this was a reminder of its charms and its connections to modern English. There were words I hadn't come across--including quite a few "hapaxes," or words that appear only once in all of the relatively little Old English surviving in manuscripts--or words for which I didn't know the full context. The author provides lots of interesting Anglo-Saxon cultural history, too. A fun way to dip back into my favorite historical era. Perfectly readable for the general public, no prerequisites!
informative
medium-paced
Language is how we encode the world, and this book gives you the cipher
An entertaining tour of Old English, with both genuine scholarship and true wit. The writer is funny, insightful, and dextrous with language. Even though it is, at heart, simply a list of words, it hangs together as a solid read.
An entertaining tour of Old English, with both genuine scholarship and true wit. The writer is funny, insightful, and dextrous with language. Even though it is, at heart, simply a list of words, it hangs together as a solid read.
funny
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
funny
informative
fast-paced
A delightful, informative and at times even humorous look at Old English. This was a really fun exploration of the roots of modern English and Scots.
informative
medium-paced
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A fantastically fun read. It's like a little treasury you can dip into or treat yourself and devour the whole thing in one go.
informative
fast-paced