Dictionary Days: A Defining Passion

by Ilan Stavans

The whole of The Catcher in the Rye is in the Oxford English Dictionary , waiting to be unscrambled, and so are all the novels of our past, present, and immediate future en·thu·si·ast
noun
: a person filled with enthusiasm : as one who is ardently attached to a cause, object, or pursuit one who tends to become ardently absorbed in an interest A dictionary, despite its heroic effort to pin down language, is destined for failure the moment a single word is printed; language, with its eternal mutations, is forever uncontainable. In Dictionary Days , award-winning essayist Ilan Stavans explores our very human need to "seize upon the meaning of a word." Owner of hundreds of dictionaries, he follows a fascinating, zigzagging history of lexicography across many languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, and Cyrillic. Throughout his journey, Stavans spots strange meaning inconsistencies, uncovers unusual origins, and shares extraordinary and often hilarious anecdotes. With a dazzling knowledge of dictionaries through the ages, matched by a lively wit, Stavans reaches far beyond the margin of the page and pays a worthy tribute to a discipline that is at once inspiring and maddening. "For dictionaries are nothing is outside them―except the impossible."

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Ilan Stavans is the Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. An award-winning writer and public television host, his books include Growing Up Latino and Spanglish. A native of Mexico City, he lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Seth McGaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting ruminations from an obviously terrific essayist, but two things struck me: (1) could've been a lot shorter & less detailed about certain life stories that drag the reader far from the intended book subject, and (2) for someone making a book that deals largely with correct word usage, I was AMAZED at the sheer number of proofreading errors that lead to glaring misspellings and/or grammatical mistakes.

In other words, Mr. Stavans, keep on doing what you're doing, but for chrissakes, get yourself a new editor!

[Jeannen · Rating 2 out of 5]

An extended and rather free-form mediation on words and dictionaries. Some of the pieces I enjoyed, some of them just seemed self-indulgent to me. I was drawn into the book by the conversation between the author and his son, the first piece in the book, but none of the rest of the book was as engaging. I think… the author was too present. I gathered as I went through the book that I was expected to know who he was, and even to know of his previous works – of which it turns out there are many – but since I didn’t, all the references to other things he had written and how he felt about things just felt self-indulgent. It’s a small book, but it took me several days and some extended bus rides to get through it. (Never underestimate the value of enforced time with a book.) Still, by the same token, it’s a small book and I might re-read it to find the parts that I did like and make notes from them before it moves on – as it will – to the “sell” pile.

[Shinynickel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book of essays based around various dictionaries and aspects of dictionaries. The author collects dictionaries, and his love for them comes through quite clearly.

Unfortunately I think I'm just not a reader who likes reading collections of personal essays - I was also very excited to read Lightman's essays, and yet felt the same way about them in the end - reading each piece was pleasant, but I just didn't seem to *gain* much from them.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love me some word books, be they about grammar or etymology or the creation of dictionaries and encyclopedias and the like. This looked to be a cross between one of those and Manguel's A History of Reading, but somehow was less than and slighter than anticipated. Rather than get a real sense of Stavans' passion we got a glance at it, a few word definitions seen through the eyes of different languages and dictionaries, and a short history of the type. Oh well. Usually I hold to the adage "half as long, twice as nice" but not here. More would have been better.

[Tatiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I read very slowly, dipping into it over time. I really enjoyed it, but find I need to read it again because I probably missed some stuff. Stavans travels through words and their definitions, sometimes across languages, and uses this a springboard to muse about various things such as the meaning of "love" and "silence." He is a believer in words, but, I think, in end, concludes that words can never more than approximate what we are trying to say.

[eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some interesting and amusing reflections in this extended essay on dictionaries. I found it a little tangential and even non suquiturial at times, leaving me with the impression that it could have used a more forceful editor. Prompted me to read The Life of Samuel Johnson, which I appreciate.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

dic•tion•ar•y / days [ ]
definition: essay that was inexplicably streeeeetched into a book.

[Bati · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that great - read better books on language and etymology and dictionaries - Reading the OED for example by Ammon Shea

[Vilo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essays on word exploration and language. Diverse, interesting, provocative. May look for more by this author, a Jew raised in Mexico who has made the United States his home.

[Itisme]

2007

[Elise · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't finish it.