Call number
Genres
Publication
New York : Broadway Books, 2003.
Pages
xiii; 395
Description
A fun, lively, and learned excursion into the alphabet--and cultural history. Letters are tangible language. Joining together in endless combinations to actually show speech, letters convey our messages and tell our stories. While we encounter these tiny shapes hundreds of times a day, we take for granted the long, fascinating history behind one of the most fundamental of human inventions: the alphabet. The heart of the book is the 26 fact-filled "biographies" of letters A through Z, each one identifying the letter's particular significance for modern readers, tracing its development from ancient forms, and discussing its noteworthy role in literature and other media. We learn, for example, why the letter X has a sinister and sexual aura, how B came to signify second best, why the word "mother" in many languages starts with M, and what is the story of O. Packed with information and lavishly illustrated, Letter Perfect is accessible, entertaining, and essential to the appreciation of our own language.… (more)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2003
Physical description
xiii, 395 p.; 8.7 inches
ISBN
0676974872 / 9780676974874
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User reviews
LibraryThing member klarusu
I must admit I didn't finish this (a rare occurrence for me) and I had no desire to keep it for later so I Mooched it on. That has to give you an insight into the standard. I'm very interested in language and linguistics and there are some great books out there ... this isn't one of them, I'm
Whatever level of interest you have in reading about language, there is someone out there who does it better than Sacks. Try David Crystal if you want general interest pitched at a non-expert level, for cultural anecdotes try Bill Bryson, for deeper, more heavily linguistic treatments try Steven Pinker but for heaven's sake don't buy this!
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afraid. The premise is an interesting one - the history of the alphabet, both from the perspective of modern usage and of the ancient history of the formation of the actual alphabet. It is dealt with, letter by letter, in individual chapters. The chapters are made up of the modern history of the usage of and implied meaning behind each letter. Its ancient history is covered in boxes contained in the chapter. So far, so good ... or not, as the case may be! It suffers from being an incredibly dull treatment of what is an incredibly interesting subject. It is poorly written, there's no flair (just because it's non-fiction, doesn't mean it shouldn't have flair!). Keeping the ancient and the modern separate just doesn't work and you get no sense of the cohesive history of the alphabet, it doesn't flow. The sections dealing with the modern examples of usage are shallow and more of a finger-dip into pop-culture than any serious treatment of the theme. What's worse is that, as each letter is afforded its own chapter, you just know that after 'A', there are another 25 tortuous experiences to go. I tried to finish it, I really did (it even resided on the shelf in the bathroom for a couple of years because each chapter was the right size to cater for one bath's worth of reading - and let's face it, I really didn't care if I dropped it in) but I still failed to get past C.Whatever level of interest you have in reading about language, there is someone out there who does it better than Sacks. Try David Crystal if you want general interest pitched at a non-expert level, for cultural anecdotes try Bill Bryson, for deeper, more heavily linguistic treatments try Steven Pinker but for heaven's sake don't buy this!
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LibraryThing member PhoenixTerran
This was a very intriguing book about, well, the alphabet. The English alphabet to be exact. The first part of the book deals with the alphabet's history in general. Following are twenty-six chapters, each devoted to a single letter of the alphabet. In alphabetic order, nonetheless. (Never would've
Experiments in Reading
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guessed that now, would you?) Throughout the book are "mini-articles" and tangents, although not always conveniently placed. Annoyingly enough, the graphics would often seem pixellated. The book is filled with wonderful tidbits of history and modern usage as well as absolutely horrendous puns, wordplays, and jokes. Sometimes he seems to be stretching a little in his interpretations, and occasionally introduces subjects and ideas without really exploring them, but overall it was a very interesting book and pleasant to read.Experiments in Reading
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LibraryThing member herschelian
The title says it all, this book is the 'biography' of the alphabet. The author takes each letter in turn and gives its history and special properties.I bought this book because I spent some years wrestling with Chinese characters while attempting to learn Mandarin. I have immense admiration of our
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alphabet which with a minimum of symbols can be used to compose millions of words in hundreds of languages,it is easy to learn and infinitly flexible. I am profoundly grateful that I was born into a society which uses it. Having said that, I found the book dry and heavy in style, though the content cannot be faulted Show Less
LibraryThing member tronella
Which is basically a history of the alphabet, and how it got to its current form from the original alphabet, which was derived from Egyptian hieroglyphics in about 2000BC. Full of interesting facts for me to go on about at people! Hurrah! :)
Also it has stuff about fonts, and about how capital
"Only one major modern alphabetic script stands outside this historical family: the 28-symbol Hangul system of Korea, invented from scratch in the mid-1400s A.D."
So there you are!
Also it has stuff about fonts, and about how capital
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letters and lower-case letters came about, and how the invention of printing affected letter shape and spellings, and how the other alphabets/writing systems are related and when they branched off and so on."Only one major modern alphabetic script stands outside this historical family: the 28-symbol Hangul system of Korea, invented from scratch in the mid-1400s A.D."
So there you are!
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LibraryThing member kaelirenee
This book examines the history of the alphabet that we all know and love...and by the third chapter I could finally read it without getting the ABC song stuck in my head. Sacks examines the evolution of each letter, its relationship to the other letters, its placement in the alphabet, and pop
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culture images of the letters. Furthermore, pronunciation shifts and language influences to pronunciation are excellently explained. Sacks presents plenty of examples of how to pronounce certain letter sounds-so much that I think my husband is now afraid I'll be reading aloud. He also gives an entertaining introduction to linguistics-again, causing me to contort my mouth every few lines to examine the difference between voiced and unvoiced sounds, letter pairs, fricatives, sibilants, and all those other wonderful ways we make our language and accents. This is beyond a beginner’s book on language (but not much beyond); having a basic understanding of world history, word origins, and foreign languages is the best way to truly enjoy this book. It is not a difficult or boring read, however. I was entertained the entire time I was reading. The only reason it took me more than a week to finish it is that I kept reading parts of it aloud to my husband because of how much I kept learning. Show Less
LibraryThing member nmaloney
I enjoyed this book which covers the history of each of or letters, in alphabetical order, of course. Well written, though there is a lot of repetition here. Gives insight into how smallest elements of our language has changed through history. Includes much about the sounds that the letter
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symbolize, showing the relatedness of Indo-European Languages. I recommend it, with a warning that the author repeats information frequently. Show Less
LibraryThing member jorgearanda
A fascinating look at the history of our alphabet. Sacks is entertaining and engaging, and his topic is deeper and more satisfying than it'd seem to be at first glance.
The book grows repetitive and tired by its last third, and it annoyingly omits language-specific letters and symbols (from Spanish,
The book grows repetitive and tired by its last third, and it annoyingly omits language-specific letters and symbols (from Spanish,
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Czech, Swedish, and others) to favour the 26-letter set used in English, but it's still definitely worth reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
Yes it is an interesting look at each letter of the alphabet. It looks at how they changed and shifted over the years and the hows and whys of their usage in different languages.
As an occasional calligrapher though, I did find it lacking in that while he mentions letter shift and changes he really
As is to be expected it is Amero-centric but still is intreresting and a springboard for further research.
As an occasional calligrapher though, I did find it lacking in that while he mentions letter shift and changes he really
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doesn't reflect the materials used with letter shifts. I also had to smile when I noticed him discussing how i as j was often used at the beginning and end of words and I would lay odds that it was because it pleased the calligrapher.As is to be expected it is Amero-centric but still is intreresting and a springboard for further research.
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LibraryThing member TheAmpersand
An entertaining and informative, if somewhat methodical, trip through the alphabet that traces the historical development of the twenty-six letters that we all know and love. Sacks is good at helping helping readers consider language from a molecular perspective, encouraging us to reexamine the
The author seems to sense that he faces a challenge in keeping his reader's attention through twenty-six letters, most of which developed in tandem and consequently have fairly similar histories. While this book is also geared towards readers who wish to investigate the development of just one or two letters, Sacks also works, usually successfully, to vary his telling of the alphabet's development. His tone is often simultaneously learned and humorous, a welcome mix that counteracts his material's tendency to seem too familiar over the course of an entire book. "The Alphabet's" repetition might even be said to have some advantages. It impresses upon the reader the winding path through various cultures that the alphabet has taken to reach us, from the Semitic to the Greek, Roman, and the Medieval to the present day. Sacks is also insightful about the cultural history and artistic potential of each letter and knows enough fascinating trivia about each to, well, fill an entire book. Inevitably, "The Alphabet" becomes a bit of a slog as you reach the end, but this book is recommended both to the curious and to those who seek a more complete understanding of the letters that so many of us take for granted.
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relationship between sound and symbol in ways that most of us probably haven't done since we learned the letters for the first time. I must admit, it'd been a while since I considered how many sounds the letter "e" accounts for, or the close relationship between the "f" and the "v." Reading "The Alphabet" reminded me that proper pronunciation depends on dozens of subtle movements of the mouth and throat that have long since become automatic for most of us. Similarly, most Westerners are so used to the alphabet that it seems unimaginable that literate humans once lived without it. Sacks's book reminds us that the alphabet is not a natural feature of our planet but a tool, one of the most consequential, adaptable, and flat-out marvelous tools ever produced by the human mind. In showing how our twenty-six letters evolved, and how different languages evolved slightly different alphabets to suit their particular needs, Sacks makes us aware of exactly how much we owe the ancient Semites who first came up with the idea of an easily reproducible and endlessly mutable alphabet. The author seems to sense that he faces a challenge in keeping his reader's attention through twenty-six letters, most of which developed in tandem and consequently have fairly similar histories. While this book is also geared towards readers who wish to investigate the development of just one or two letters, Sacks also works, usually successfully, to vary his telling of the alphabet's development. His tone is often simultaneously learned and humorous, a welcome mix that counteracts his material's tendency to seem too familiar over the course of an entire book. "The Alphabet's" repetition might even be said to have some advantages. It impresses upon the reader the winding path through various cultures that the alphabet has taken to reach us, from the Semitic to the Greek, Roman, and the Medieval to the present day. Sacks is also insightful about the cultural history and artistic potential of each letter and knows enough fascinating trivia about each to, well, fill an entire book. Inevitably, "The Alphabet" becomes a bit of a slog as you reach the end, but this book is recommended both to the curious and to those who seek a more complete understanding of the letters that so many of us take for granted.
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LibraryThing member hailelib
An interesting book on the history of the alphabet. However it does show signs of its origin as 26 essays that appeared weekly as a newspaper column. Each essay is a short self-contained history of a letter of the alphabet with interesting sidebars interspersed through the book. When read one or
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two at a time they are fine but if read one after another the chapters become a bit repetitive. Still, a good introduction to the beginnings and the changes that have occurred in our alphabet. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
Such a wonderful book of the history of the alphabet. It is both fun to read, and very informative. Strangely, I think this is one of the most concise history of the world - it really shows how the ancient world functioned. From trading to Territory wars. Each time a new group was exposed to the
I also enjoyed the stories of each letter - Author Sacks not only explores the history of each letter - but also the meaning of it, in both past and future. For example, why in most languages "ma" and "da" mean mother and father - or why is X a mystery? and what about English vs American Spellings? This is all answered.
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alphabet - it took it and the alphabet was changed to work with the new language. I am also quite amazed at how little time has passed between the very first alphabet users to the current day. This book emphasizes the alphabets continuity - and that many of the letters can be traced back to the first inscription found is completely amazing.I also enjoyed the stories of each letter - Author Sacks not only explores the history of each letter - but also the meaning of it, in both past and future. For example, why in most languages "ma" and "da" mean mother and father - or why is X a mystery? and what about English vs American Spellings? This is all answered.
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LibraryThing member raizel
I found his explanation of the origin of the first alphabet---from a subset of Egyptian hieroglyphics by Semitic mercenaries in Egypt---based on recent archeological finds---fascinating. I don't know enough about this subject to know how accepted this theory is. This is all shown In a "sidebar"
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which lasts for several pages and interrupts the text and is itself interrupted by illustrations and their descriptions. There is a nice chart showing how many alphabets derive from this original one. I must admit I did not read most of the chapters about the individual letters of the Roman alphabet since I was more interested in learning about the concept of an alphabet. Show Less
LibraryThing member Dilip-Kumar
A wealth of information on the origin and evolution of the western alphabet(s). Tends to get a bit heavy and laboured, as it goes letter by letter, rather than in broad historical sweeps. Mostly deals with western scripts based on Roman and Greek forebears. Very useful tabulation of the pre-Roman
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alphabet systems like ancient Phoenician, Judaic, etc. Show Less
LibraryThing member kslade
Really fascinating book on how the individual characters of our current alphabet came to be. Many go clear back before the Phoenicians and then developed through the Greek and Roman alphabets. They used to all have meanings too. The "A" is an upside down "ox head" for instance.