readers advisory for all discussion

Over the last couple of years, I've started to see a strong theme of linguistics running through my favourite books. I don't have a linguistics/semiotics background, so forgive me if I'm not describing this very well, but I really enjoy books that play with ideas about language and its role in a society. The more creative and unusual the concept, the better!

Some examples of books that have piqued my interest in that respect include: Embassytown, The Flame Alphabet, Pontypool Changes Everything, Riddley Walker...

Some examples of concepts in these books:
-language becomes a contagious virus
-a language that can only be understood if there is a true thought behind it
-a post-apocalyptic language based on scraps of the past (our present).

I'm particularly fond of sci-fi, fantasy, horror and books that have a bit of a darker edge.

I realise this is a very specific request. So good luck with that! :)

You have to read Hellspark, if you haven't already. It's out of print, but I believe Amazon has some copies from third party sellers.

It's way future sci-fi. The main character is a polyglot trader who is dragooned into going to a newly discovered planet to investigate the death of one of the research team. She ends up having to judge whether the dominant species on the planet is sentient. Two main themes are what constitutes sentience and what constitutes language. But it's also a good murder mystery.

It's one of my all time favorites.

Betsy wrote: "You have to read Hellspark, if you haven't already. It's out of print, but I believe Amazon has some copies from third party sellers.

It's way future sci-fi. The main character is a polyglot t..."

Oooh. Yeah. That sounds good. One of my favourite StarTrek episodes was a Next Gen one where the sand turned out to be sentient.

Hellspark was my first thought, too.

Suzette Haden Elgin's Native tongue series features families of linguists who monopolize communication with aliens. The women linguists develop a secret language for women only. Elgin is a linguist who also wrote the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense series.
Native Tongue
The Judas Rose: Native Tongue II
Earthsong

Ruby wrote: "One of my favourite StarTrek episodes was a Next Gen one where the sand turned out to be sentient. .."

Janet Kagan also wrote a really good Star Trek novel (and that's not something that can be said often).

Nice - thanks guys :)

Definitely second the Elgin recommendation. Also try Samuel Delany's Babel-17 and maybe Jack Vance's The Languages of Pao.

Babel-17 is one of my favorites.
also Omnilingual for communicating with aliens
for a fantasy flavor: Alphabet of Thorn

Glyph (lots of linguistic theory, some humor, no horror)

The Raw Shark Texts (more horror-ish)

Maybe Orphans of Chaos, not really linguistic, but a fantasy with some interesting bits about the ramifications of different ways of looking at the universe (as a mathematical structure, as a myth cycle, etc).

Thanks for the great suggestions guys. I just stumbled across this list on the Guardian's site too, and thought I'd share it. There's some really interesting stuff here:Philip Gross's top 10 writings from the edge of language

props to Raw Shark Text.

The Book Thief... (maybe.. maybe?)

The Flame Alphabet lots of mixed review; but you mentioned this obvious choice already.

some of Haruki Murakami's work plays with an interesting and strange way. it is surreal and meta physical (but not in that obnoxious american way).

Here They Come (Yannick Murphy); in a whole different way. its more word usage/prose in a manner similar to Egger's)

The Knife of Never Letting Go: Chaos Walking. This one edges on what you are asking for... but not completely. Its the alteration of how one perceives verbal input; well thats one of the elements)

Jason wrote: "props to Raw Shark Text.

The Book Thief... (maybe.. maybe?)

The Flame Alphabet lots of mixed review; but you mentioned this obvious choice already.

some of Haruki Murakami's work plays with an..."

Thanks for that. I adored Flame Alphabet, but Knife.... I really didn't like. Interesting idea, but terrible book!

Flame alphabet was killed by reviewers. I may pick it back up. The concept seems lovely.

10. Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. I agree. And anything by Lewis really. It's just on a different level than what you asked for. But delightful non the less

Jason wrote: "Flame alphabet was killed by reviewers. I may pick it back up. The concept seems lovely."

It's a style you either love or hate. Having listened to Ben Marcus reading and discussing a story by Kazuo Ishiguro on the New Yorker Fiction Podcast the other night (and yes, I'm aware of how wanky that sounds) - I do feel like I understand Marcus' approach to storytelling a bit more though. He's all for leaving it up to the reader to provide their own narrative.

Here's the review to that podcast, with link: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

One of the short stories I've just read in Ted Chiang's awesome compilation, Stories of Your Life and Others, is about a linguist who gained a new perspective of reality as she explored an alien language. The title's Story of Your Life

It's speculative fiction, but the story is short and so good that you should give it a try :)

Ruby wrote: "Jason wrote: "Flame alphabet was killed by reviewers. I may pick it back up. The concept seems lovely."

It's a style you either love or hate. Having listened to Ben Marcus reading and discussing a..."

thanks! not wonky at all! i have a copy and ill set on it straight away. may even have Notable American Women: A Novel hanging around.

Not sure if this is what you had in mind, but in A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess creates his own language called 'Nadsat' which is a sort of slang russian. It's fascinating and surprisingly readable - I thought in nadsat for a while after finishing the novel.

Also, it's pretty dark since you specified you like that sort of thing!

Ella Minnow Pea kinda? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

or maybe Snow Crash? It covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography, memetics and philosophy. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

And connected to Snow Crash, maybe The 12th Planet? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

And maybe if you squint, Lullaby https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...