Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States
by Bill Bryson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Bill BrysonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1996-03-01
ISBN: 0380713810
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780380713813
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States
Book Review: Remember the Story of the Past
Summary: 4 Stars
I believe Bill Bryson did a magnificent job in his book Made in America with outlining some points in history that we may not have as much of the whole story as we think we do from school. While he illustrates some untold truths of people and events we have for so long put on such a high pedestal his main point is to analyze the English Language in the United States. It is interesting how he manages to tie these to points together and helps one understand how the book flows and the history. My family has always taught me to think for myself and to keep an open mind because history is written by the victor and may not always be the whole truth. I do not think most people grow up with that kind of support and idealism and I think Bill Bryson points this out to many who seem to think that what they learned in school is the God spoken truth even if all the evidence in the world and common sense point otherwise.
I found that my theory of this seemed to be true on many occasions on where I had to interact and converse with my fellow classmates. Many had a hard time believing that there could be anything bad about certain historical figures that have been for so long up on a pedestal that they didn't believe that the people could have even errored. These historical figures are looked upon as Gods, not flawed humans. I noticed a conversation of two of my classmates on Thomas Edison, I believe, and they couldn't believe that all his inventions weren't his. They refused to believe that he could have even possibly have stole the ideas, and the reason for their disbelief, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Because I've never read anything like that in school" apparently they didn't realize that this class includes this book and is school, and "I didn't know him, so I'm just going to go off of what I've been told, and he's good in my book." It seems that people can be confronted with almost unlimited evidence and still say the sky is green.
However, this wasn't the first time I have experienced such things, my Grandmother makes a common example. She refuses to believe even under, again, almost unlimited evidence that Columbus was a bad guy. I have told her he was evil, and she gives me a cocky `I'm not going to believe anything you say because I'm older and know more' smile and says "Why? Because he discovered a country" And that is word for word what she said. Then I try to explain to her why he was evil, and all I get is her shaking her head and saying "Well, I don't believe that. I've never even heard of anything like that."
Of course, after taking a year of psychology I understand why all this is. It is hard for a human being to let go of great ideology of someone after being indoctrinated for so long. I myself have done it; I love my grandfather and for the longest time thought he could do no wrong, and I wouldn't listen to my mother when she tried to warn me it wasn't true. I found out the hard and very disappointed way that he is a racist. But I was a little surprised about my classmates' reaction. You see, the law of psychology in this case is that it is nearly impossible for a human being to let go of this kind of ideology after being indoctrinated for so long, so I expected it with my grandmother, but not young people who were still learning and were still supposed to be open minded.
In school we are often taught just the more wonderful things of the past and our often filled with lies to make everything seem golden as well. A good example of this was the story of one of my favorite professors, Professor Loewen. Professor Loewen was a college professor for American History at a state college. With his first lecture he would ask all the students a bunch of questions and every year he would get around the same statistics of about only an 11% minority being correct. The questions would mostly be on the false superiority of the white man and the opposite of the black man. Well, he began to wonder how they were all getting this false information. It turned out that the textbooks used very old data, and were not much younger themselves, and contained the false information. Well then, he set out to make a new high school text book that would be more accurate. He was very proud of his work and sent this text to the school board for approval. He was turned down 4 to 2. There were four white men on the board and two black men, guess who voted what. In the end he went to court because they wouldn't say why it was turned down. So when the judge finally asked the board why, the board turned to a certain page of a very old, very blurry photo and not very graphic photo of a lynching of a black man. The Boardman said he was afraid the picture would start riots in the school, and it happened so very long ago, why bring it up? The judge decided to answer the question and said "Well, it is a history book, and our state has had more lynchings than any in the country." Professor Loewen won his case.
Bill Bryson did a great job of tying language and history together, but he also tied in psychology, whether that was planned or unknowingly done I don't know. Either way, however, knowing the language at the time of the events gives us some clues into the minds of the people living in the times. He starts all the way from how a nursery rhyme will stay within a culture long after it's meaning has been forgotten all the way to the almost present day America where we are the richest country and European descent is quickly becoming a minority but far from this being a bad thing and most immigrants believe that if you live in America you should speak English (in other words, like everyone else) and become a productive citizen no matter what.
Bill Bryson points out tragedies of the past and almost present, but he all presents the hope in both. Yes, there were things that we shouldn't be proud of in the past, but it doesn't mean all of the past was bad. And yes, even in recent times we've done wrong, but that doesn't mean all our people are bad or the world is coming to an end. Bill Bryson simply points out that there were good things in the past, there were bad things in the past, there were things in between, some even comical, but this doesn't change who we are. It does change our perspective on ourselves and our nation though, in a sense we are no longer glorifying ourselves and godlike, but we are flawed and real. As long as we acknowledge the past we can move forward and we can progress individually and as a nation, because now we are no longer ashamed and we no longer hide. You weep for the victims of the past and you smile unto the survivors, but the most important thing is to not forget their story.
More Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States reviews:
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Summary of Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States
Bill Bryson, who gave glorious voice to The Mother Tongue, now celebrates her magnificent offspring in the book that reveals once and for all how a dusty western hamlet with neither woods nor holly came to be known as Hollywood...and exactly why Mr. Yankee Doodle call his befeathered cap "Macaroni."Readers from Toad Suck, Arkansas, to Idiotsville, Oregon--and everywhere in between--will love Made in America, Bill Bryson's Informal History of the English Language in the United States. It is, in a word, fascinating. After reading this tour de force, it's clear that a nation's language speaks volumes about its true character: you are what you speak. Bryson traces America's history through the language of the time, then goes on to discuss words culled from everyday activities: immigration, eating, shopping, advertising, going to the movies, and others.
Made in America will supply you with interesting facts and cocktail chatter for a year or more. Did you know, for example, that Teddy Roosevelt's "speak softly and carry a big stick" credo has its roots in a West African proverb? Or that actor Walter Matthau's given name is Walter Mattaschanskayasky? Or that the supposedly frigid Puritans--who called themselves "Saints," by the way--had something called a pre-contract, which was a license for premarital sex? Made in America is an excellent discussion of American English, but what makes the book such a treasure is that it offers much, much more.
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