The Mother Tongue

English and How It Got That Way

By: Bill Bryson

Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin

With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson—the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent—brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.

Audio version much better than written version

This was an exceptionally detailed and fascinating history of the English language. Since much of the subject was about pronunciation it was quite helpful to listen to it rather than read it. The narrator did an incredible job pronouncing words that are either foreign or have not been spoken for centuries. He actually sounded like Bryson!

I noted that it was actually written in 1990 and with the development of the internet I wondered if Mr. Byrson would give us an updated version. So much has changed in the past 25 years.

spell it for me

interesting book. somewhat dated. Great performance and very helpful considering the topic. it should be noted that there are occasional stretches where the narrator is spelling words. it is difficult to follow for the most part but I have no suggestions for improvement.

all in all a good listen.

Not Bryson's best, but hey it's 25 years old.

There are very few authors who I prefer read their own books and Bill Bryson is one of those. (Neil Gaiman being another one). Thus the low performance score. In reality after an hour, I stop hearing the reader and start hearing Bryson. Maybe that means this book is well read but I just don't feel it.

Now, on to the book itself. I listened to this book twice. once before and once after listening to Mark Forsyth's Etymologicon. The latter is frenetic but had amazing information. This book, though less so, was also not as entertaining nor as accurate. But again, it was written in 1990. There are better books by Bryson and better books on English etymology.

Torn

interesting facts and very well researched but not my favorite Bryson book. Some sections didn't lend themselves to audiobook

It's ok

It's ok but it got boring after a while and it's not read by bryson