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A review by mg_in_md_
The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language by Steven Pinker
3.0
To be rated/reviewed
The author is clearly an expert who is passionate about his field of study and was easily able to transfer that passion to the page. However, it still read a bit like a scientific/academic treatise, which made me end up skimming certain parts -- especially when I felt like he was repeating points he'd already clearly proven. Nevertheless, I did find this an interesting read and enjoyed being reminded of the linguistics courses I took in college. I suspect that I would not have skimmed as much if I'd read it closer to my college days and could've seen it sparking lively discussions with other students and my professors.
If you have a casual interest in linguistics or language acquisition, you may find this a bit dry despite the author's efforts to make the material lively. Regardless of your background in the topic or interest level prior to reading it, this will challenge you to think about language differently and will likely teach you something new.
The author is clearly an expert who is passionate about his field of study and was easily able to transfer that passion to the page. However, it still read a bit like a scientific/academic treatise, which made me end up skimming certain parts -- especially when I felt like he was repeating points he'd already clearly proven. Nevertheless, I did find this an interesting read and enjoyed being reminded of the linguistics courses I took in college. I suspect that I would not have skimmed as much if I'd read it closer to my college days and could've seen it sparking lively discussions with other students and my professors.
If you have a casual interest in linguistics or language acquisition, you may find this a bit dry despite the author's efforts to make the material lively. Regardless of your background in the topic or interest level prior to reading it, this will challenge you to think about language differently and will likely teach you something new.