25/04/2022
Welcome back to Word Harmony Proofreading. It has been a long time since I have posted anything and I do hope everyone is well and safe. I would like to share information about the online digital magazine that Rita Merienne has created and is now into its 9th Issue. Well done Rita Merienne. It is called The Carer's Champion https://www.ritamerienne.com/the-carers-champion-2/
I invite you all to check it out. I was invited to be part of this magazine by writing book reviews ~ Harmony in Words and I will share with you my very first book review for The Carer's Champion and over the next few weeks will post all the book reviews that have been published. Take care.
HARMONY IN WORDS BOOK REVIEW
By Word Harmony Proofreading and Editing Enterprise
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
I originally chose this book purely for the title, I simply thought to myself this is going to be a good read. Secondly, once I discovered that Pip Williams is a local Adelaide author, I was even more keen to read this book. I was not disappointed at all!
If you have a love of words and their origin you will thoroughly enjoy this story.
The story in itself is fascinating ~ beginning in 1886 and delving into lives of the people responsible for the creation of the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Whilst this may, initially, sound boring, I can assure you that the way Pip Williams describes the characters, especially Esme, brings life to the characters with that special talent of visualising them right in front of you as you read each page. Reading through this wonderful book you can imagine young Esme in her old worldly dress, crouched under her father’s desk at the Scriptorium.
There was a certain process for each word that was added to the dictionary ~ and as the story unfolds it becomes clear that there is a certain degree of discrimination that unfolds throughout the story. As during this era most decisions were made by men, in this case a team of male lexicographers which omitted certain words relating to female experiences. Esme soon realised this and started her own collection of Lost Words.
What I really enjoyed reading is the Acknowledgements along with the Timelines of The Oxford English Dictionary to explain the whole story ~ it is not just a novel it is a true and accurate account of what occurred.
This book is a wonderful observation of life in the 19th Century and how life was and what it is at this present moment. As we are now in the 21st year of the 21st Century I wonder what the next Oxford Dictionary will look like, with all the new terminologies that are being created by the high technical world we live in ~ as Pip Williams writes “The Dictionary, like the English language, is a work in progress.”
I hope you get the opportunity to read this inspiring delight and enjoy it as much as I did.
Good reading
