PAUL DONOVAN is chilled by the contemporary resonance of Harper Lee’s coming of age tale amidst racism and white supremacy in this excellent production
Latest editorial
How to tell your cwm from your ghoti
Lingo: A Language Spotter’s Guide to Europe, by Gaston Dorren (Profile Books, £12.99)
GEOFF BOTTOMS recommends the unashamedly light-hearted escapism on offer in this stage version of the 1963 film
Full of mysterious religious references and radical sound design, the Scottish duo’s new offering is candidate for album of the year, suggests SIMON DUFF
MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
I love this book. It’s witty and informative, with a wealth of engaging comments on all things language-related on our continent.
Take Ludovit Stur, linguistic hero of the Slovaks, whose poems every citizen of that country can recite by heart: “Writing poetry was what public figures did in those days, much like appearing on television today,” he says of the literary past. Or, for “extreme athletes of linguistics,” there’s a section where the challenge of languages such as Faroese comes under scrutiny.
In following Gaston Dorren’s peregrinations through “lingo,” it’s handy to have a thorough knowledge of at least some part of the subject matter for an indication as to its general accuracy.
Similar stories
GORDON PARSONS is intrigued by a biography of the Marxist intellectual and author, made from the point of view of his son
MEIC BIRTWISTLE offers an appreciation of the renaissance man GARETH MILES
ALAN MORRISON celebrates life and work of the late Tony Harrison, 1937-2025
GORDON PARSONS is enthralled by an erudite and entertaining account of where the language we speak came from