Robert MacNeil (1931–2024)

Predominately a history of the English language, as the title promises, it also offers a fine selection of world history and provided me with some great tips on literature to pursue. I count myself lucky to have found and read a copy of the first edition from the mid-1980s. Later editions are of course more up-to-date (mine has never heard of the Internet), but only my original features the large number of colour photos and maps, etc. I found it very engaging in small doses: I'd read a show more chapter, read something else, then return. Sometimes it is clear this was published as a tie-in to a televised version, when there's a profile of a person, place or event that is really a digression but must have lent something visual to the program.

Chapter One of the first edition describes the 'current' state of English in the world, now a thirty-year-old snapshot. This is the chapter that was most in need of updating as it predates the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, etc. It amounts to a pep rally and contains some hubris: the argument that "my language gobbled up and absorbed elements of yours, while yours is infected with influence from mine" is entirely circular and a game of adjectives. It was interesting however to read about the use of English outside of traditionally English-speaking countries, and the context of that use.

Chapter Two is a very good overview of the successive waves of early influence on development of the language: Celts, Anglo Saxons, Christianity, Vikings and the French Normans. Essentially serves as an early history of England. Chaucer is introduced as the first major artist of Middle English after it evolved from Old English. I learned some interesting facts about common surname origins.

Chapter Three puts focus on the Elizabethan age, a golden age for English as it featured Shakespeare and the first English settlements in America. American English received a lot of early influence from other languages: French, native American, and especially Spanish.

Chapter Four corrected my naive misconception that Scots was its own language rather than a dialect. Tucked into this chapter is the story of the first English dictionaries. There's interesting contrast between Scots voluntarily giving way to standard English and what happened in the prior chapter, when English refused to give way to Norman French.

Chapter Five was the Irish story, a sadder one where the native language Irish Gaelic was overcome by English, and not because the Irish wished for it. The good news was that Irish brought much positive influence to English and this melding provided for heralded writers such as Keats and Joyce. Interesting to read about Newfoundland being a lasting haven for Irish Gaelic; I'd known their speech was unique in Canada but not made this connection.

Chapter Six addresses the influence of African languages on English, via pidgin/creole tongues. It follows the thesis that black English influenced white culture, but presents this as controversial in the American south. It was accomplished in large part through music. What I can't get past is the horrible choice of frontispiece - where it should be Frederick Douglas, James Baldwin, or some other heralded writer as was done for previous chapters and those to come, in the first edition we get the propagation of a racist caricature.

Chapter Seven taught me that Noah Webster is largely to blame for the nuisance differences in British/American English. There's an interesting section on Canadian English I didn't entirely agree with, or perhaps it's just that old. The California gold rush lent itself to the surprising uniformity to American English during that country's rapid westward expansion.

Chapter Eight explores the cockney speech of east London, England and how this may have contributed to the modern English spoken in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Chapter Nine is a study of what new languages might possibly be born from English and how this could happen, taking examples from Jamaica, Sierra Leone, India and Singapore.

The epilogue is a nice wrap-up, highlighting modern journalists who continue to decry the manipulation and mutation of the language as they lay claim to some pure standard, in contrast with the book's thesis that language must evolve if it is to survive and no single clear standard for English really exists or can be objectively ranked superior. If I come across a later edition I think I would like to read this portion to see what different summation it makes in light of the electronic communications revolution, during which the medium has evolved even faster than the message. show less

This book is a complete surprise. Its title is at once misleading and accurate: one might easily expect Burden of Desire to be third-rate lightweight romantic escapism for a predominantly female readership. The only reason I read it was that I was urged to do so by a friend whose judgement I trust.

It is, in fact, an historical novel of depth, complexity and insight, which starts from a single event – the explosion of a munitions ship in Halifax harbour, Nova Scotia, in 1917 – and traces show more the aftershock of that disaster through the lives of three main protagonists, a woman and two men. In examining the psychology of the sexual repression and liberation of a post-Victorian era, it provides a detailed, almost clinical analysis of – yes, you’ve guessed it – the burden of desire.

It is above all a study of conflict: the Freudian tension between sexual repression and liberation, certainly, but also the conflict between the entrenched hierarchical certainties of the past and the fluid uncertainties and passionate experimentalism of the present.

The main arena for this conflict is in the characters of the three protagonists. Julia Robertson, unfulfilled wife of a soldier absent for two years, is stifled by the attitudes and expectations of family and society. Peter Wentworth, Anglican clergyman, is repressed on the one hand by theology and church hierarchy, and oppressed on the other by his own inadequate marriage and by the social and financial ambition of his in-laws. Stewart MacPherson, psychologist and student of Freud, does daily battle with medical, military and political authorities who refuse to acknowledge issues of mental health. These three are forced to confront a challenging agenda, ranging from personal loyalty and honesty to the meaning of courage, honour, duty and heroism.

In the wake of the three main characters, and alongside the baggage-train of their families, friends and neighbours, the city of Halifax - or rather, the aspirational middle-class element of Halifax - is a player in the drama in its own right. The social ambition; the strident patriotism and jingoism of a colonial city at war at the behest of its ruling power; the uneasy relationship with the less refined Canadian hinterland and the uneasier relationship with Canada’s brash, energetic young neighbour to the south – all these factors create an environment of mental turmoil, an emotional and societal powder-keg ripe for detonation by a far lesser spark than an exploding munitions ship.

Burden of Desire is a demanding read, as one would expect from a writer of MacNeil’s intellectual calibre. One would not want to spend forever in this atmosphere of unbridled Freudian sexual self-awareness, but it is a thoroughly satisfying read with a credible conclusion.

In fiction, my fifth star is normally reserved for the kind of prose that sinks deep into the mind for the sheer beauty and majesty of the language. MacNeil is a supremely competent writer, but the language of Burden of Desire stops just short of this kind of inspired linguistic craftsmanship. show less

I read "The Voyage" in two days. This is one of those books that causes you to creep off into a corner to read, hoping your family won't come looking for you. I thoroughly enjoyed every page. Four elements combine to make this book memorable: wonderfully complex characters, exotic settings, fascinating details about sailing, and an insider's view of Canadian politics from the 1970's through the early 1990's.

The novel moves between the "present," six months after Desert Storm (October 1991) show more and the past, focusing on the years between 1971 and 1981. David and Francesca meet in British Guyana in 1971, beginning an affair that spans 10 years. Ten years after their last meeting, David's career may be ruined because a sailboat has been found floating off the coast of Sweden from which Francesca is missing. In her luggage is an envelope addressed to David at the Canadian Consulate in Helsinki, where he hasn't worked in years. The resulting publicity may ruin David's career. The story is told by David and Francesca, and with the alternating narratives, the reader eventually hears some of the same stories from the perspectives of both storytellers. When they meet, Francesca is a beautiful, bored 20-year-old looking for a way out of Guyana. David is twelve years older, already an up-and-coming career diplomat, with a wife and two small daughters. Their relationship seems doomed from the beginning, but what a ride!

We first meet Francesca as a 40-year-old former model who is about to charter a sailboat in Finland and sail it single-handedly through the Aaland Islands. She is bold and daring, attempting a dangerous feat, sailing alone for the first time. She finds that she is exhilerated by her abilty to push herself mentally and physically throughout the voyage. When we retrace her life back through the previous twenty years, it is wonderful to see the way she has changed. In fact, the most amazing aspect of the book is the way MacNeil handles the maturation and evolution of Francesca. For the first ten years we know her, she is not a very admirable person. She is madly in love with David, but she knows he is married. She marries someone else, has two children that she basically abandons to their Italian father, and descends into a nomadic, pill-popping lifestyle. It is telling, however, that she finally settles in Helsinki, where she spent an idyllic two weeks with David ten years earlier. Francesca has been profoundly influenced by a Finnish weaver named Kaarina, who has recently died. She meets Kaarina through David and Kaarina changes her life. I enjoyed David as a character also, but Francesca is the one I remember most vividly. Francesca's story -- her voyage -- is important.

I described this book as beautifully evocative because Mr. MacNeil writes so wonderfully about varied landscapes -- from the tropics to Scandinavia. The book made me want to take off traveling tomorrow -- see the world. David and Francesca spend quite a bit of time in bed, but although steamy, the descriptions of the sex scenes are subtle and beautiful, not explicit. Best of all, I haven't sailed in many years, but Mr. MacNeil exactly captures the exhileration of sailing.

Last, but not least, I enjoyed the twenty-year overview of Canadian politics. I was fascinated to learn about the tension between "External Affairs," which must be like the State Department in the United States, and the prime ministers, Trudeau and Mulroney. David provides a unique peek into the world of diplomacy and Canadian politics. show less

I am not a linguist, but I was raised by one. As a result of hearing different languages and different language dialects throughout my life, I have a love of listening to the various dialects of America (and other countries), which is why I picked up this book. I loved the way it was written, both with an educational tone and with a certain humor.

Being the average, curious American had an advantage when reading through the pages, since the topics covered were widespread. They would have to show more be, since the book is meant to be a companion to the PBS show and is not very long. I would imagine that serious linguists who are looking for a very deep look into American dialects in general or for something on specific American dialects probably won't find new information here, while those wanting to casually dip into the subject will find themselves happily reading to the end.

I will happily hold out this book to anyone who is curious about American English because I think that a better understanding of language and dialect help us better understand the cultures we aren't always exposed to and bring us to a deeper understanding of those around us. Maybe some day there will be a time when a well educated man won't have to lose his southern accent to be accepted as one of the top in his field. Until then, we can pass around the knowledge within these pages and help people understand the links between dialect and our automatic responses to language itself. show less