Translated by N. J. Dawood

Right, here’s my attempt to read fictional works.

I always knew Sindbad from an old movie. It was on one of my parents’ old video cassettes, and I used to catch a glimpse at the end when trying to find something else.

Anyway, I read this, and it plays very well into my weaknesses. I have no attention span at all really, so I’m helped that the chapters are very short. Plus, the translator uses the most exquisite language; it is so beautifully worded.

Nonetheless, the age tells. As a child, I watched TV programmes in which the characters were caught in greater quandries than our hero here. Plus, it’s a very samey formula; Sindbad is shipwrecked, everyone else dies, he finds himself in some death-bringing situation, escapes it, finds a passing ship, thanks Allah, returns home, then sets out again. Bear in mind, this happens seven times!

However, as much as it seems I’m complaining, this was a fun little read. The chapters are short, there’s a certain charm to the threats that Sindbad faced and would’ve been scary in contemporary society, and it is written exquisitely.

A Socio-Linguistic Approach By Ishtla Singh

Really not a book for the layman.

I got this one, because I had been looking for a professional breakdown of Old English. I had read up on it on the net but actually wanted a formal analysis. I wasn’t too disappointed by this one, in that it went into a little more depth than the other offerings I’d seen.

Nonetheless, I wouldn’t particularly recommend it for people who are interested in the progression of the English language from 500 to the present day, because David Crystal’s ‘The Stories of English‘ batters it for better coverage, although it’s three times as lengthy.

Christ: I’ve just noticed that they’ve even spelt her name incorrectly in that photo Fortunately, they’d sorted it out by the time mine came out.

(Or Why Can’t Anybody Spell?) by Vivian Cook

This book ostensibly looks at the intricacies of the English language and the question of spelling reforms and suchlike. In reality, it’s awful; just a collection of lists. Strange lists at that; shops that adopt the ‘z in place of s’ approach; photos of stickers (Polite notice: no parking please) and photos of grafitti.

To be honest, although I read the whole book, it was more in the vain hope that something good would come. I still find two things hard to believe: 1) That a professor of applied linguistics could write such an awful scrapbook-style book; 2) That it’s still selling on Amazon for £9.89! It says a lot to me that they’re selling 73 used copies from £0.01. Thank God that I only wasted £1.99 on this dross.

Avoid.