Susie Dent

I thought that this novel was super, but then it does seem to encompass a range of subjects very close to my heart.

As one would expect from Susie Dent, the book is strewn throughout with glorious brief apostrophes giving a potted history of the development of a word (some unusual, but also for many commonly used in daily speech). These are beautifully informative, without ever seeming intrusive. The story is also full of Shakespearean allusions, which pulls it deeply into one of my show more particularly cherished areas, and is set in and around Oxford, so all the principal locations were familiar to me and evoked a lot of fond memories.

The story combines a mystery with a sort of academic treasure hunt. The main protagonists work in the Clarendon English Dictionary (obviously representing the Oxford English Dictionary with which Susie Dent has been so long associated). Their work entails considering potential new entries to the dictionary, or additions to existing definitions, many of which are flagged up to them by keen members of the public.

Among the regular flow of correspondence that they have to manage comes a letter from someone calling themselves ‘Chorus’, offering cryptic hints about a mystery connected with the Dictionary. Further investigation suggests that it may relate to the disappearance a decade previously of the sister of one of the team, who had also herself worked on the Dictionary. Further messages ensue, and the mystery deepens.

What struck me most notably about this book was the deftness with which Dent manages the story. This is, I believe, her first novel, but she delivers a complex plot and very plausible and empathetic characters with the nonchalance of a novelist of long-established standing.

I think that this will be a strong contender for my favourite novel of the year, and I am already confident that I will be re-reading it before long. show less

A captivating read: the writing style made the scenery and characters deeply vivid. While the lexicography workings were very much a fascinating aspect of the story, I couldn't easily interpret the chapter headings as related to the plot. This wasn't a negative for me, however. I thoroughly enjoyed the genre ~ a 'Linguistic Mystery' ~ my first of this sort of story.

The author's characterizations were delightfully idiosyncratic with never a cardboard, two dimensional feel to the people in show more this complex narrative. While it became evident to me at some point who the real culprit was regarding the sought-after lost book which was related to the missing sister (Charlie), this realization didn't ruin the story. Some final reveals caught me by surprise, though.

Like some other reviewers, I am not a fan of the wrap up "confessions by the villain" development . Some of the final explanations at the end of the last chapter could well have been adroitly hinted at more strongly well before this dénouement. Despite these caveats, Susie Dent's novel is a warm-hearted win for me especially in terms of the 3 main characters (Martha, Alex, and Safi). Something about these women appealed to me so very much. This prompted my 4½-star rating. show less

If you’re interested enough in the English language to be spending your time reading a review of this book, you already know everything I’d normally put in the lead paragraph: that any language changes over time; that English – far from being an exception – is a premier example; and that writers and speakers of English are exuberant inventors, promiscuous borrowers, and shameless repurposers of words. Suffice it to say, then, that Larpers and Shroomers is a testament to all of that: show more A study of a language in the process of becoming, and a snapshot of what it looked like at a particular moment in time.

Larpers and Shroomers is one in a short-lived series of such annual snapshots, collectively titled (after the first one) “The Language Report.” It inventories new words and expressions from the worlds of computers, advertising, politics, teenage slang, and other fertile areas – documenting their meanings and the nuances attached to them, tracing their emergence, and inventorying their inventors (if known) and early adopters. Published by Oxford University Press -- the people who brought you the Oxford English Dictionary – it’s intended (and reads) as a serious attempt to document the evolution of English. Bright is, in effect, an anthropologist loose among British (and, to a lesser extent, American) users of English: Observing and recording, building a richly detailed mosaic of observations one carefully placed fact at a time.

The serious intent of the project doesn’t, however, mean that the execution is dull. Far from it. The cover design of the book is whimsical, the writing accessible, and the humor – present throughout the short chapters – subtle but abundant. Larpers and Shroomers is neither prescriptive (like William Safire’s On Language and its many sequels), nor interpretive (like Geoffrey Nunberg’s Going Nucular), but it offers similar pleasures to readers who’re fascinating by the richness and diversity of English. If you’re in that category, give Bright a try . . . and know that there are four more volumes where this one came from. show less

A mystery set in Oxford, centered around the Clarendon English Dictionary (CED) and its editors, particularly Martha Thornhill, whose older sister Charlie disappeared years ago, while she was working on her PhD. Most people think Charlie ran away, but when the CED begins receiving cryptic letters, and individuals connected to Charlie begin receiving postcards with quotations, Martha and her staff dig into the case with determination - and in coordination with detective Oliver Caldwell.

A show more team of amateur detective lexicographers means a delightfully rich vocabulary; each chapter begins with a word and its definition (e.g. "aumbry, noun (thirteenth century): a repository for books; an archive" p. 317).

Quotes

"Is a hard truth better than a comforting lie?" (Gabriel to Martha, 48)

The world will pause over a pretty mystery, but hide from an ugly truth. (Chorus, 80)

Anger and grief didn't care for whole sentences. (87)

The meaning of ritual, someone once said, is to remember something that must not be forgotten. (97)

'sonder': the realisation that other people have rich and complicated lives that we will never know. (155)

"It's dangerous to build your sense of self on on the adoration of others." (Gemma to Martha, 201)

'manual' for the Latin word for 'hand', and 'digits' because people counted on their fingers. (246)

She should have better words, she thought, she of all people. But she loved words as individuals...Fitting them together to create something meaningful took a different skill altogether. (329) show less