Since this well to do prisoner was allowed an extensive library and wide ranging access to books, it is interesting how the influence of class extended into the Victorian prison system. 3.5 stars. As someone who teaches about research, I am actually quite intrigued by the history of how great reference works like the Oxford English Dictionary were put together, but I suspect that the author is making more out of the story of the primary editor and one contributor, a story that doesn't quite fill a book yet he makes it do so. But the writing was all fluffy excited repetitious drama, full of egoistic awe of one's own flair for "understanding" what these people must have felt and thought. ? (I did admire the way the author paid respect to the victim.). All this was unknown to Professor Murray and his work with Dr. Minor continued for 35 years until he decided to travel to the address from which Minor's correspondence came to finally meet him. Artificial Intelligence In Creative Writing : A Curse Or A Blessing For Authors? People tend to juxtapose the idea of reading the dictionary with other activities as a means of underscoring how incredibly uninteresting and undesirable those other activities are. Professor James Murray was one of the primary editors of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Professor Murray, as he had never met him beforehand. Winchester built up this great mystery about Dr. Minor, the reclusive contributor to Prof. Murray's editorial efforts, culminating in the exciting revelation about Minor's circumstances, then. How lucky we are that now as readers, writers we can just look up a word, find its meaning and pronunciation, but such was not always the case. The intriguing story and strong prose were overwhelmed by lack of citation, rampant speculation, and the egregiously clumsy literary device underlying the central relationship of the two protagonists. In between reads, try this literature quiz on all things literature. Your email address will not be published. From 1884-1928, the dictionary was published in instalments, or fascicles, which is the more technical term. Anyone read it? Once the entire background of the man is known, it is not too surprising; he has all of the time in the world on his hands, and hundreds of books at his disposal. Refresh and try again. I showed it to her and then lent it to her. Literature Quiz Hello, bookworms and literature lovers! The Professor and the Madman, masterfully researched and eloquently written, is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary — and literary history. In the end, I felt that I’d read more about Minor than Murray, or anything else. Required fields are marked *. The Professor and the Madman, masterfully researched and eloquently written, is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary-- and literary history.The compilation of the OED, begun in 1857, was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. I think mum even lent it to my sister to read. To think that a professor, James Murray, could work, via correspondence, with an American, Dr William Minor, a retired surgeon, for over twenty years and not realize until then that Dr Minor was in Broadmoor, a very famous and yet harsh lunatic asylum. I guess if you have to write a book about the OED, it has to be written in a really pretentious, loquacious manner with lots of stupid words like "loquacious".

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