The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary

Rating:
Summary: Very Quick Read -- Enlightening and Clever
Review: As an English major in college, I heard references to the "blessed O.E.D. (Oxford English Dictionary)" on a daily basis. While I oft consulted "the great book," I never appreciated it or its creators. _The Professor_ cured me of that.

Wihnchester infuses each of the 242 pages with such an enthusiasm for the subject, such lovingly researched information that one can't help but appreciate _The Professor_.

Considering that this is a historical text, the book's organization is interesting. Rather than dividing the text into chronologically ordered chapters, Winchester chops the text into smaller, magazine-like passages. These passages are then included under O.E.D.-inspired subject headings (such as "Bedlam," "Poor, and "Memorial") and definitions that speak to the theme of the passage. This technique not only made the text easy to read and digest, but also acted as a gentle and frequent reminder about the power of words and the daunting task of defining them.

Interesting Tidbit: At the end of the book, after the "Suggestions for Further Reading" section, Winchester lists the typefaces he used to create _The Professor_. (Now I know where "Monotype Bell" came from!) I had never seen that done before and found it to be a nice touch.

Rating:
Summary: Delightful witticism and wonderfully written
Review: This story is a wonderful semi-true tale about everything the title grabs you imagination with, murder, insanity and the making of a dictionary.

The characters are colorful and deep. The story-line flows well with the setting.

A must read, and I rarely say that.

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Rating:
Summary: Shouldn't have been a book
Review: This would have made a great article for The New Yorker. The story of Dr. Minor is fascinating but not large enough for a book. As a result, Winchester's book is full of padding, such as unnecessary and pedantic discussions about insanity as a criminal defense and the strides made in modern mental health. Winchester also commits numerous inaccuracies in his references to orthography, grammar and usage; which is ironic, considering that he's writing about a work which is one of our arbitors of correct English. Winchester is a pop writer, not a scholar, and in this book, it shows.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting, clever read for lovers of the OED!
Review: Winchester's love of the lexicographer and his patient, painstaking task make, ironically enough, for a fast, revealing read.

Winchester introduces each chapter with a definition from the OED and cleverly uses it to tie his narratives together. This technique is reminiscent of Faulkner's "The Unvanquished."

It's a shame, however, that Winchester can't get over his disdain for Christianity. He repeatedly attributes the madness of William Minor, one of the books central protagonists, to a strict Protestant upbringing.

Was Winchester paying homage to the spirits of Emerson and Thoreau?

Tom Wolfe's "Two Young Men Who Went West" "Hooking Up" offers a much more complimentary expose of the Protestant influence on American culture and the high tech industry in particular.

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Summary: The Wild Story That... ...just sort of petered out.
Review: Crazyman meets dictionary chief after 40 years of being his best volunteer definition-writer. How exciting, but there was essentially no relationship there between the two men, and the author's true interest seems to be the dictionary and Dr. Murray, the big boss. (In fact he writes in the prologue, the true star is the OED.) On the other hand, I guess my interest is mental illness and society's reaction to it. But there was not much on Dr. Minor's life and treatment, nor again on his relationship with Dr. Murray or others, so I wasn't real pleased. Most likely this perceived shortcoming was due to limited documentation over time, not due to the fault of the author. But if the information for a good book isn't there, there isn't a need to write one in my opinion. And if I loved the OED, I would go out and write about the SANE people that contributed to it rather than about Dr. Minor. But that's not the book I wanted to read, and that's not the type of book I thought I was picking up. In the end, it was worth finishing. But there is nothing in it that has crossed my mind or generated a thought since I put it down.

Rating:
Summary: A book about a dictionary-entertaining? It is!
Review: This amazing and incredible story about the genius and dedication of the men behind the creation of the OED is highly entertaining, and gripping.

The details of certain historical or academic aspects may be too broad-brushed for anyone who has studied such topics (for example, medicine in the times of Civil War, historical development of psychology, etc., which are briefly explained with a tone and perspective which obviously suits the author's story of the two protagonists - either to shock or to educate). However, that does not take anything away from the amazing and tragic-yet-rewarding story.

It is a quick read, well worth your time.

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Summary: Lexicography as Obsession
Review: This book is marketed as a Victorian thriller, a "tale" of murder and intrigue and mystery and suspense. It is hardly that at all. True, there is much that is fascinating here, but it never shapes itself around a narrative. Rather, it is a book about obsession. Or, more specifically, how there is a thin that line bisects obsession.

On one side of that line, obsession can become a powerful instrument of good, where man can create marvels. Professor James Murray, the man who spearheaded the Oxford English Dictionary project, stands firmly on this side of the line. He is a towering figure, as portrayed here, and his obsession is the completion of the dictionary. It becomes his life's work, or rather, his life's work plus a half. For he died before its completion. His story is fascinating, for it at once encompasses the story of a brilliant man, as well as the story lexicography (which I found just as, if not more, interesting).

On the other side of the line, obsession can destroy. Dr. W.C. Minor's paranoia stems from his days in the Civil War. Eventually, it leads to a homicide, for which he is institutionalized for the better portion of his life. His days locked up are depicted as quite gritty, and then at other times as quite comfortable. But the true nature of his mental unbalance is not revealed until a moment of self-mutilation that is quite uncomfortable to think about now, let alone read about. And yet he is saved by his obsession. For he contributes over 10,000 words to the dictionary, making him more than just an inmate, but a valuable human being.

Winchester does a wonderful job relaying the stories of these two men, and how their obsessions gripped their lives. And he gives great deference to the OED itself, outlining its history with precision and flair. I guarantee that when finished reading this slight book, you'll want to rush out and order the twenty volumes of that monumental, and obsessive, work.

Rating:
Summary: A great story, overwhelmed
Review: Perhaps it is just me, I have never much enjoyed tabloid presentation of good stories, and this is what most struck me about this book. Here is a truly great story but it kind of clunked at times because unfortunately the author seemed to enjoy larding it out with tabloid-ish *gasp* *shock* sort of writing.

For instance the start of the story has an almost gothic - of a man driving up to a Country House meet Dr Minor whom he only knows by the letters he has received from him, only to find out Dr Minor is an inmate of a mental hospital, and criminally insane. The story of this first meeting, we find out later in the book, is a myth. I guess from a personal stand point I don't really like that sort of writing - it seems a bit of cheat.

Having said that, apart from my personal dislikes I do think that Winchester does do a pretty good job on the whole. Perhaps it is not just his style, but my interest at fault here. I found I was only really interested in the chapters on the actual formation of the dictionary - quite a bit of the first part of the book is taken up with Dr Minor's past. It was the sheer breath-taking, enormity of the task of compiling that first dictionary - the thousands of pigeon holes, sorting each letter of the alphabet slowly and painstakingly - the listing of thousands of words some with dozens of nuances. I think Winchester came into his own in those chapters. They were spare in their telling but left an enormous impression.

This really is a great story, and perhaps I was expecting too much from the book at the outset. I had recently finished reading "The Arcarnum" by Janet Gleeson which is a fabulous story about the discovery of how to make porcelain in the west. It has an equally dark and fascinating story behind it, but I much preferred her less flowery presentation of the detail.

Rating:
Summary: fascinating
Review: This is an extremely interesting story, so much so that you can see why anyone who heard about it would feel compelled to share it. But it's pretty slender and just barely worthy of a book length treatment. It seems like it would work better as a long magazine article or even as a novel and it will make a terrific movie.

In the latter portion of the 19th century, when James A. H. Murray faced the monumental task of compiling the initial version of the Oxford English Dictionary, he sent out a call for contributors. One of the most reliable and thorough volunteers proved to be Dr. William Chester Minor. But Minor resisted entreaties to visit the operations of the OED and to partake in the celebrations as volumes were completed. The reason for his reticence turned out to be his incarceration in Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum.

Minor, an American, was profoundly disturbed and a murderer to boot. After some disquieting years of service in a medical unit during the Civil War, he fixed upon an obsession that Irishmen wanted to kill him. His psychoses finally led him to gun down a complete stranger on a British street and he was institutionalized. He eventually spent about 50 of his over 80 years in some form of state care, where he was continually plagued by delusions that he was being spied upon and his food poisoned, and at one point he mutilated himself in a fashion which will have male readers cringing in horror. Meanwhile, his incarceration and his educational attainment made him uniquely well suited to contribute to the mammoth undertaking that was the OED.

Winchester does a creditable job of showing how two very different men were united by their love of language and learning. But, there are pretty obvious dramatic limitations to a true life story that involves one subject who's institutionalized and another who's writing a dictionary. Like I said, it's a pretty slim tale, but it is fascinating.

GRADE: B+

Rating:
Summary: Stranger than Fiction
Review: A whole new world has been openned up to me since reading "The Professor and the Madman". I had never stopped to think about the amount of work and time, let alone the method and organization, that was required to publish the OED. The tediousness with which James Murray, William Minor and all the other contributors used is mind-boggling, especially when you consider it was done entirely by hand, without the benefit of computers or word processors.

By taking a few minutes to explore the dictionary and read the explanatory notes in front of the volume, it has not only improved my understanding of words and language but has also increased my appreciation and awe for the minds of my fellow man.

Winchester has provided "food for thought" in a variety of ways. Reflecting upon the aforementioned consruction of the 12 volume, 414,825 defined words of the OED is just as awe-inspiring as any other work of art. The existence of mental illness, most likely paranoid schizophrenia, in one of the project's major contributors is an example of the complexity of the human mind. To think a delusional mind that was haunted by thoughts that eventually led to an act of abhorrent self-mutilation could also be so focused as to provide thousands of coherant entries of the English language that millions of people speak is beyond belief. Finally, to think that a friendship could occur between Professor James Murray, the editor of the OED and William Minor, a schizophrenic murderer is the stuff of Hollywood fiction, not true-life relationships. What adds to its incredulity is to think that if Minor were to have committed the same crime today, he could possibly be on death row in one of our civilized prisons or locked away as his enormous gift for language lay dormant.

The Professor and the Madman is highly recommended if for no other reason than to read of a glimpse back in time when the pace was much slower and the world was much larger and the complexity of the human mind and spirit thrived.