Two More Book Reviews

Swapping Lives

I've been listening to audio books in my car lately -- I'm finding that music for some reason isn't doing it for me. It's all too...relatable. But I can get lost in a book while I'm driving to work or running errands and it's nice not to think all that much while I'm listening. Except for following traffic regulations and all that of course.

From AudioFile: An old story--two women exchanging lives for a month--has suddenly caught fire this year, in fiction and film, and is here superbly ignited by the incomparable Rosalyn Landor [the reader]. She develops the two main characters into believable, full-bodied women: Amber, the discontented, wealthy Connecticut suburban wife and mother, and Vicky, the British magazine editor who craves love and a mate. Green takes a long time to develop her plot, but Landor keeps the pace going. Her vocal characterizations easily travel "across the Pond," from those of the soft-spoken American wife and mom to the sometimes brittle and authoritative English career woman. The outcome is no surprise--the swappers discover that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

This was just average chick lit about two women who swap lives hoping to see that maybe all they dream for isn't exactly what they want or need. I probably would have stopped reading had I picked up Jane Green's paper and ink version, but I liked the Landor's voice and it was a nice escape from life these last few weeks. The book itself had a lot of "keeping up with the Joneses" on the American side, which got old after a while, especially because I can't fathom having that much disposable income to spend on purses and decorating and whatnot. I could relate a little bit more to the English gal, who really craved the husband and family. Shocking, I know.

My Rating: a theoretical 4 out of 10 for the paper version; an actual 6 out of 10 for the audio. Of course the grass isn't greener on the other side. Or is it?

The Mother Tongue

From Amazon: Who would have thought that a book about English would be so entertaining? Certainly not this grammar-allergic reviewer, but The Mother Tongue pulls it off admirably. Bill Bryson--a zealot--is the right man for the job. Who else could rhapsodize about "the colorless murmur of the schwa" with a straight face? It is his unflagging enthusiasm, seeping from between every sentence, that carries the book.

I borrowed Bill Bryson's the Mother Tongue from my friend Carolyn last week, and found that I really enjoyed it. I did read that it contains a bunch of inaccuracies (including that Eskimos have a hundred words for snow, which was apparently debunked at some point), but honestly, I really didn't care. What I took away from it was that so many of the rules that we (or, well, me) as grammarians hold are completely arbitrary. Many if not all of them evolved from different languages and most of them make no logical sense (why can we impede something but not expede it? Who decided we can't end sentences with prepositions?). It was a little sloppy in places: a lot of the book seemed to be a mishmash of examples that were loosely connected. But still. It was really funny and it made me rethink how strict I am with the rules of grammar.  

"From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put." -- Winston Churchill (Okay, this isn't actually from the book, but I thought it illustrated Bryson's point wonderfully.)

My Rating: 7 out of 10 for being so much fun despite its inaccuracies. Heck, there was even a chapter on swearing. You just can't beat that.