There was a guy who triple-posted a highly negative review on a book that I liked quite a bit. So I ended up writing this counter review. Maybe this book isn’t perfect, but I think it’s an well written introduction to the subject.
This book is an incredibly fun read and does not take itself too seriously. If you want to read a book about the English language, and you don’t want one that is too scholarly, this is it.
There are plenty of really scholarly works out there – many of them are unreadable. And in fact, one of the things this book points out repeatedly is how various theories come in and out of fashion. In linguistics, it seems a lot of the oral history of our words are based off of ideas that are hard to prove. I have no doubt there are mistakes in the book some of which the angry reviewer has noted, but I trust that he has tried to be as accurate at possible.
Instead of trying to write a definitive work, I think Bill Bryson set out to write a mirror for us to have a laugh at ourselves and our wonderful language. He’s not a linguist – but he’s not a hack either. He is exploring this language and seeing how it stands in this world – among other languages and in its point in history (1989) relative to its lengthy past.
I find the book a great read. If you’re gonna write a dissertation or looking for a definitive work (or a book that takes Esperanto seriously), this isn’t it. But if you want to have an enjoyable read chuckling at our idiosyncrasies and learning a little bit more at how we got here, I think you’ll have a great time!