Fantasist's Scroll

Well, I actually finished this book sometime ago, but just got to writing the review.

Hey, it’s been a busy month! In any case, Aliens and Linguists: Language Study and Science Fiction by Walter Earl Meyers is a really good book and worth hunting up in the used book market. Published in 1980, it’s a little out of date and very out of print, but still a good look at some of the way linguistics has been used, and abused, in science-fiction. Of course, there is also the prerequisite discussion of the most famous conlanger of all, J.R.R. Tolkien. But, mostly this book focuses on science-fiction.
A fair part of the book is spent criticizing the lack of good language use in science-fiction. Highlights include aliens that all speak our language. Or find it ridiculously easy to learn. But, also, the lack of language variation is hammered home as well as other similar errors. Another area of criticism is the lack of up-to-date use of theories and linguistic science in current, at the time, science-fiction. Linguistics, as well as the other so called “soft-sciences” were just getting their hooks into science-fiction at the time.
But, Meyers finds plenty to be happy about, as well. Sure, most writers took the Worf-Saphir theory way too far, but at least they were aware enough of it to use it. There are other good examples of linguistics in science-fiction as well.
Most interesting to me, was Meyers discussion of how aliens might approach language. First, there is every reason to believe that they will have language. It takes a lot of communication to get off a planet! Second, Meyers indicates that, while that language may be wildly different from our own, there’s a good possibility that we can learn it, eventually. Meyers also explores alternate methods of using language, including how telepathy might work from a linguistic point of view.

In all, it was a great read. Especially if you want to write fiction about a “realistic” created world. Language is a part of every culture that we know of, so it must be part of a created culture, as well. A completely enjoyable book and a fascinating subject.

I just finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last night.

A friend who also recently finished this fifth installment of the Harry Potter series said that he thought this was a “darker” novell than the other four. After thinking about it, I had to admit that it was. In fact, the books have been getting progressively darker as time goes on. Which, really, is to be expected. Things have to get more and more dire for Harry and his friends all the way through the last book when he will, no doubt, kill Lord Voldemort.
Otherwise, though, the book was good. The characters are, as they have always been, quite engaging and J.K. Rowling manages to get us quickly interested in what’s going to happen to them next. This year at Hogwarts, we see Harry dating, dealing with family, and find out why he has to stay with the Dursleys every Summer. We also see Harry grow up a little bit, though it’s mainly teen angst and growing pains.
If you’ve been watching the news stories, you know that someone dies in this book. I won’t spoil it and say who, but it is someone significant. And, I correctly predicted who it was early on. I guess I’ve finally figured out Rowling’s writing style enough to make it a little predictable, but the book was no less enjoyable for all that.

Also, I’ve started reading Aliens and Linguists: Language Study and Science Fiction by Walter Earl Meyers. It’s out of print, so I was really lucky to find a copy, but it’s well worth the hunt. I haven’t gotten very far into it, but it’s about linguistics and language used in sience-fiction and fantasy. Very cool.

Over all, not bad.

Okay, I have to admit that I didn’t read the comic book on which this was based, but it was still an enjoyable movie. The basic plot, without giving too much away, is a mad genius is out to cause world-wide chaos and mayhem and, somehow, plans to turn a profit off it all. To thwart this madman’s nefarious schemes, a group of quite unusual adventurers are gathered together. Adventure and mayhem ensue.

The characters are well developed, and unique even though they’re based on existing literary figures. The writers manage to make these characters their own fairly well. Of course, that means making some changes to them. The most disturbing of the changes, I found, was making Captain Nemo Indian. Not that I have anything against Indians, and certainly, the character in the movie was great, but it really has nothing to do with the literary character at all! But, once I set that aside, I’d say that Nemo became probably my second favorite character. My third favorite is a tie between Dorian Grey and Skinner, the second invisible man. Both were well thought out and “real” in a way that such gimmicky characters rarely seem to be in movies like this.
My favorite character, however, was the aging Alan Quartermain. And, that, of course, was due to Sean Connery. I’ve loved him as an actor since he was James Bond.

There were only a few internal inconsistencies that were troubling. The first being a vampire walking about in the sunlight. The second being the aforementioned Nemo changes. And, of course, there was all of Nemo’s technology. It was far, far in advance of anything even thought of at the time. It relied on concepts not even dreamt of yet.
The other thing I found both troubling and intrigueing was totally personal. There was quite a reference to Freemasonry in the film, not all of it flattering. But, that only bothered my because I am, in fact, a Freemason.

Over all, a good movie, but hit the matinee and save a couple of bucks.

Playing a little catchup here.

I’ve read two books in about as many weeks and I’m just now getting to put something up about them.
The first is Beneath an Opal Moon by Eric von Lustbader, who also wrote the excellent book The Ninja, though it’s not related. His fantasy work is not quite as good as his modern fiction, but it’s pretty good. Okay, it’s not bad, but it’s not quite as good as I remembered it as a kid. Kind of pulp-fiction feeling, but a little less purple prose than a lot of things from that genre. Beneath an Opal Moon is about a navigator/adventurer tyring to find a way home, but getting entangled in someone else’s adventure. It ends up being a quest to prevent the end of the world. I know, I know, it sounds terrible, but it’s really not that bad. It makes nice Summer reading, anyway.

Another Summer read that suprised me was
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling. I’ve been resisting reading this series simply because it’s so popular and because my wife and daughter have read it and are likely to sneak out spoilers on me. But, it, too, was a good, light Summer read. It really is a kid’s book, in spite of how it was billed, but, it still was engaging enough to capture my attention for a couple of days. And, thanks to stuff at my job, all I really wanted was some simple escapist fantasy, which this provided quite well. Of course, by now, everyone in the world knows the story of the “boy who lived”. If not, read the book or rent the video or just ask any kid under 15 who happens to be walking by a bookstore.

Until next time!

It must be sweeps week.

That is the only explanation I have for last night’s episode of Enterprise. It was called “Bounty” and the “main” plot was about Archer being held captive by a bounty hunter. However, the plot that they advertised was all about T’Pol being in heat.
I almost feel sorry for Jolene Blalock because I can’t be the only one who thinks of her as the Striper in Space. I mean, really, she’s in that decontamination chamber every other episode greasing up with “Decon Gel #5” and thrusting her mammaries at the screen. Who do these people think they’re kidding? That’s not story-telling, though it might be considered science-fiction. (I mean, really, can those things be real?) I know their audience is somewhat less than they’d hoped, but I think resorting to T&A just isn’t the way to win viewers. For once, I’d love to get through an entire season of Star Trek without some low-brow, trailer-park-trash alien shaking her “money-maker” at the screen. Is that too much to ask?

Of course, the fun didn’t stop there. When we flipped over to the Cartoon Network and saw “The Family Guy”, which is part of Adult Swim and get more sex. Frankly, I understand why it was pulled from regular TV and put into syndication. So, it wasn’t just Enterprise that stooped to the lowest common denominator, but still….

As my dear, departed grandmother would say, “What’s the world coming to?”…

After yesterday’s entry, I got thinking about other fun linguistics books and it occured to me that Forgotten English by Jeffrey Kacirk fell into that category.

English has gone through some really amazing changes over the years. It used to resemble German much more closely than it does now, but over time, meaning and pronunciation have changed significantly. This book looks at some of the more interesting changes.
It’s broken up into categories, which are further divided by word. Each entry is a page or so long and has interesting historical, as well as linguistic, information about the word, it’s usage and where it went in our modern language. It’s really fun and much more literate bathroom reading than junk mail!
My first introduction to this book was actually through a calendar. It was one of those “word-a-day” types and used to really tickle me and make me think. If nothing else, it gave me some idea about how a language might change over time. Always interesting literary possibilities in that.
I have to admit that I found mine in a used book store, but you can click that link above and get it from Amazon.

I’ve just finished Teach Yourself Linguistics, by Jean Aitchison.

This is one of the best non-fiction, technical, non-computer books that I’ve ever read. I tried reading an introductory linguistics textbook last year and almost suffered an aneurysm as a result! But, this was actually a pleasure to read. It’s a really good introduction to the basics of linguistics. It starts out talking about language in general, covers a bit of linguistic history and then digs into the meat of what linguistics is all about. One of the really nice things about this book is that it assumes the reader knows nothing about linguistics. Then, it starts gently building up the reader’s vocabulary and basic knowlege of linguistic theory and practice. Most importantly, for me, is that it saved the really complicated topics, like Universal Grammar and Translational Grammar and all things Chomsky, for the last bit of the book. That textbook started out there and just got worse. So, finally, I feel like I have the basics of linguistics down well enough to actually talk about it with someone. And, I think I have a good enough grasp of the basics to start working on a decent conlang.

This book was so good that I looked at Ms. Aitchison’s other work. I found another linguistics book that looked interesting, Language Change : Progress or Decay?. It covers historical linguistics, which is of interest to me in relation to conlangs and world building. I have some other books to read first, but I know I’ll eventually get around to this one. I hope it’s written in the same style as Teach Yourself Linguistics. I’d love to have a book on historical linguistics that’s actually readable.

Well, I’m off to pick my next book to read and invent a language.
Stay tuned for more!

Well, I’ve just finished Zohar: The Book of Splendor: Basic Readings from the Kabbalah edited by Gershom Scholem.

It was an intense book and was frightfully challenging at times. Part of the challenge was due to a lack of cultural relevance. The book makes reference to all kinds of Jewish history and culture without any explanations. It felt as though I were missing huge chunks of important references.
But, that being said, what I was able to grasp was enormous. This book really put a new spin on the Old Testament for me. It made me think about allegory and allusion in a whole new light. The layers and layers of mythic and mystic knowledge that it hints at being concealed in the various Scriptures is both tantalizing and invigorating. And, perhaps most importantly of all, it has left me wanting more.