Reviews

The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language by John McWhorter

scorpiogirl93's review against another edition

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challenging informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

matthewthe38th's review against another edition

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funny informative reflective

4.0

longaneyes_'s review against another edition

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I don't wanna talk about it 😔 reading slump is rough right now.

tokisuno's review against another edition

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4.0

fucking finally... i finished a book...

davidkelly0324's review against another edition

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challenging informative slow-paced

2.75

drej's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

1.0

bookishbarnowl's review against another edition

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3.0

This is an excellent introduction to linguistics and I learnt so much about the evolution of language.

I haven't rated higher as there were parts that I struggled to engage with and I'm not fan of long chapters (sometimes 50+ pages long).

I love its approach to smaller languages and dialects which he does not treat as lesser to more widespread languages.

talonx's review against another edition

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4.0

An engrossing introduction to historical linguistics - the study of how human languages evolved.

rsmith0914's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

3.0

nightchough's review against another edition

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3.0

This started out great; seemed repetitive after a few chapters; and then jammed in some unconnected arguments at the end. I loved the first 50-75 pages though.