Posted by Racer on July 29, 2004, at 12:23:53
I'm on a bit of a philosophy of linguistics kick this week. My mother, in an attempt to help dispell the fog of ignorance from my mind, bought me both "Going Nucular" by Geoffrey Nunberg, and "Metaphors We Live By" by George Lakoff -- we were actually looking for "Moral Politics" and I wanted "Women, Fire and Dangerous Things" by the same author, but no joy.
I've started Going Nucular, which I'm *loving* -- great essays, and I love good essays. Nunberg isn't one of what I think William Safire describes as "Gotcha Grammarians", he's exploring the meaning behind the changes to the use of language. And he expresses himself so well, perhaps because he is a linguist.
It's also been good for me psychologically. While I usually express the analytical side of myself, I'm primarily intuitive, but I distrust my intuition enough that I try to back it up with analysis. What I'm finding in reading this book is that a lot of what I've intuited about the use of language is included in the essays in this book, and he has drawn conclusions very similar to my own. That external validation is so comforting to me right now, especially since it comes after such sustained pressure from the Therapists From Hell telling me that everything I try to express is WRONG in some absolute sense. It's a little like playing with children's blocks: it's as though I can put the little pieces in the essays that agree with me together, to help build a foundation of believing myself again.
But aside from my own psychopathology and how it relates to this book, I can and will and do recommend Going Nucular to anyone who has an interest in reading good essays in general, and in the meanings contained in language usage in particular. He's an engaging writer, and his focus is on understanding the messages contained within the words he analyses, rather than criticizing the words used to contain them. Just captivating.
Anyone else read any of the essays?
poster:Racer
thread:372043
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/books/20040616/msgs/372043.html