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Title: The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.)
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Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
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| The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) by Harper Perennial "A word lovers dream" | | This book was simply marvelous, if you are into the story of the origins of the Oxford English Dictionary, this is a book that captures the makings and includes the story of two gentlemen who's lives inevitably come together in bizzare but wonderful order of circumstances, if you Love words and their origins, you will be astounded by this book! | | The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) by Harper Perennial The Fine Line Between Genius and Insanity | Perhaps no where is that more in evidence, than in this story, the story of a man, Dr. Minor, confined to an insane asylum, becoming one of the leading contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary.
His story, the story of Dr. Murray, editor of the OED, how they got together and how the dictionary was compiled and edited makes for fascinating, marvelous reading. An intriguing, fascinating story well told, well written. Surprises, twists and concerns every few pages.
The book does deserve criticism for its sometimes long and laborous detail about putting the dictionary together, but as a story, the story of the two men, Murray and Minor, it is a worthwhile and fascinating read.
Winchester tells the story well, with an eye for detail, then and now, and with an empathetic if not sympathetic perspective for the humanity and the odd twists and turns involved. Good read. Buy it. Read it. | | The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) by Harper Perennial The professor and the madman saved from a maudlin ending | It is an understatement to say that the main character of this book had an unfortunate life. Driven by madness, this man lost his career as a surgeon after committing murder. The story could have ended there, but Dr. W.C. Minor ended up making a major contribution to the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Although the story of Minor is sad, in a way this contribution offers some redemption. A story about the creation of a dictionary could very easily become dull and that was my expectation, but the author, Simon Winchester, brought the subject to life through the characters he writes about. His descriptions of the actual process of constructing the dictionary were weak, but fortunately this was not the main point of the story and so did not detract from it. Winchester has a talent for bringing this type of story to life as he demonstrated in The Map That Changed The World, a story about geologist William Smith. I am confident enough now in Winchester's ability that I look forward to reading his other book about the OED, The Meaning Of Everything. Overall, I enjoyed The Professor And The Madman and would recommend it to those readers who have a fondness for the English language.
| | The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) by Harper Perennial Good, interesting read. | Interesting story about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, and one of its most prolific 'authors.'
There's not a great deal of depth here, but this is a well written book that makes a great companion to the OED itself. | | The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) by Harper Perennial Words make me crazy. | | This is an absorbing story of, as the title states, the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. You'll gain an appreciation for dictionaries and the people who have labored to produce them for us. You'll also get a stranger-than-fiction depiction of the life of a man whose prolific contributions to the OED were essential to its creation. This is great non-fiction writing and would probably appeal to those who like the works of Erik Larsen. | | The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) by Harper Perennial Product Description | The Professor and the Madman, masterfully researched and eloquently written, is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary -- and literary history. The compilation of the OED began in 1857, it was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray, discovered that one man, Dr. W. C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand. When the committee insisted on honoring him, a shocking truth came to light: Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more. | | The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) by Harper Perennial Amazon.com | | When the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary put out a call during the late 19th century pleading for "men of letters" to provide help with their mammoth undertaking, hundreds of responses came forth. Some helpers, like Dr. W.C. Minor, provided literally thousands of entries to the editors. But Minor, an American expatriate in England and a Civil War veteran, was actually a certified lunatic who turned in his dictionary entries from the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum. Simon Winchester has produced a mesmerizing coda to the deeply troubled Minor's life, a life that in one sense began with the senseless murder of an innocent British brewery worker that the deluded Minor believed was an assassin sent by one of his numerous "enemies." Winchester also paints a rich portrait of the OED's leading light, Professor James Murray, who spent more than 40 years of his life on a project he would not see completed in his lifetime. Winchester traces the origins of the drive to create a "Big Dictionary" down through Murray and far back into the past; the result is a fascinating compact history of the English language (albeit admittedly more interesting to linguistics enthusiasts than historians or true crime buffs). That Murray and Minor, whose lives took such wildly disparate turns yet were united in their fierce love of language, were able to view one another as peers and foster a warm friendship is just one of the delicately turned subplots of this compelling book. --Tjames Madison | | The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) by Harper Perennial Amazon.com Audiobook Review | | The compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary, 70 years in the making, was an intellectually heroic feat with a twist worthy of the greatest mystery fiction: one of its most valuable contributors was a criminally insane American physician, locked up in an English asylum for murder. British stage actor Simon Jones leads us through this uncommon meeting of minds (the other belonging to self-educated dictionary editor James Murray) at full gallop. Ultimately, it's hard to say which is more remarkable: the facts of this amazingly well-researched story, or the sound of author Simon Winchester's erudite prose. Jones's reading smoothly transports listeners to the 19th century, reminding us why so many brilliant people obsessively set out to catalogue the English language. This unabridged version contains an interview between Winchester and John Simpson, editor of the Oxford dictionary. (Running time: 6.5 hours, 6 cassettes) --Lou Schuler |
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