While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words. I was quickly swept up into this delicious, clever, deeply moving read. Don’t gobble it, as I did the first time round – savour its heart-wrenching detail.Regardless, it has had an astonishing pickup by international publishers, who clearly expect it to be a commercial success. In his introduction, Macfarlane laments this loss, announcing his intention to create “a spellbook for conjuring back these lost words.” Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. However, when Esme subsequently presents a copy of the volume to an editor who takes over after Murray’s death, he rejects it as unscholarly and not a “topic of importance”, confirming Esme’s experience that “all words are not equal”.She responds to him: “you are not the arbiter of knowledge, sir.
It’s a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape our experience of the world. One day, she sees a slip containing the word bondmaid flutter to the floor unclaimed. Esme seizes the word and hides it in an old wooden trunk that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. One of the advantages of quieter times is the ability to devote time to reading good books and I have just finished The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. The Dictionary of Lost Words is an unforgettable novel that has a lot to say, and says it exceptionally well.
The Dictionary of Lost Words is a stately walk through Victorian England's values, from a woman's point of view, but always with the gentle overlay of the Oxford English Dictionary's lexicography. The Lost Words makes no mention of the dictionary and Macfarlane deftly insults the OJD with a taste of its own medicine by ignoring it. Some of this word collecting takes place in Oxford’s famous Covered Market where Esme learns words from stallholders, words which would make any of Dr Murray’s colleagues blush. At one point early on in this excellent debut novel, The Dictionary of Lost Words, set in Oxford 120 years ago, it appears as though Esme may have to choose between getting married and becoming an editor, a choice that doesn’t seem as outdated as it should. Again, something you don't really think about. The manner in which Pip Williams weaves this fictional account around the facts surrounding the creation of The Oxford English Dictionary is remarkable. “Radcliffe” is spelt two different ways on opposite pages; “braille” is misspelt; the main street in Oxford is known as “the High” rather than “High Street”. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams is Absolutely Extraordinary While I was still reading The Dictionary of Lost Words, I tried to explain the story to a friend.
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