Rating: 
Summary: interesting story
Review: This is a marvelous book about the Professor, James Murray, the primary editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, and the Madman, Dr. William C. Minor, one of the Dictionary's most prolific contributors, despite his incarceration in an asylum for the criminally insane after committing a senseless murder provoked by his delusions. The book tells the stories of each of these protagonists as well as the making of the OED itself, and nicely wraps up all of the connections, even to the point of showing what happened to the murdered man's family (whose widow visited Minor regularly
for months).
Rating: 
Summary: Quick read for philologists, historians, and others.
Review: I like reading the occasional historical fact (rather than historical fiction) "novelette," and The Professor and the Madman was definitely easy to get through. One can learn much from books like this, particularly the way normal people lived their day-to-day lives in a certain time and place.A few things I liked about this book: 1. One will assuredly learn a thing or two about the English language, in reading it. You will learn some obsolete words, the origin of some words, and just get a refresher of other, more common words. Each chapter begins with a dictionary entry of a particular word, some very normal words, some more exotic words. 2. The parallel lives of the two main characters are interesting to follow. One feels real emotions for both. There are a few shocking moments in the book, which stand out quite a bit in front of the otherwise fairly tame narrative. 3. I grew up with the Oxford English Dictionary, and I always wondered how they compiled all the words. It was great learning about how they did that. 4. The book covers an array of themes and topics, and a fairly diverse geography. Mental illness, civil war, sexual propriety, crime and punishment, one can learn a little bit about a lot of issues in the reading of Simon Winchester's book. I wouldn't recommend the book to just anyone, though. It can be kind of slow, and sometimes one simply grows tired of bouncing back and forth between the two main characters. It is also fairly short; one sort of wishes for more detail on certain events. In some places, the book reads like a crime/detective novel from the 19th century, in others it is more like a biography. It sort of skips around from one style to the next, almost as if different parts were written at very different times by an author in very different states of mind. Overall, though, this book is a nice, quick read, a good plot, and you will learn a thing or two from it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Victorian beautiful mind
Review: It is odd, but I recently read "A beautiful mind" which is about a mathematician John Nash who suffers from delusions, recovers and goes on to win the Nobel prize following a full remission of his symptoms. This book is also about a brilliant academic - and murderer - who suffers no remission, but is able to turn his finely tuned mind to the creation of the Oxford Dictionary. Locked in his room in an asylum with only his books, armed with his incredible mind and astonishing persistence, W.C. Minor performs a massive work that forms the backbone of the Oxford English Dictionary. The story highlights the amazing story of an American rightly imprisoned for criminal insanity who is able to perform the arduous task of compiling meanings for the dictionary. Winchester is a superb storyteller and he even makes the forming of a dictionary an interesting tale. Mixing the tragedy with the remarkable achievement of W.C. Minor, you close the book with an immense feeling of satisfaction. I cannot recommend a book more highly.
Rating:
Summary: A Riveting Story
Review: Who would have thought that a story about a dictionary would be so fascinating? Simon Winchester, that's who! But then, the dictionary about which the story tells is no ordinary dictionary, but is the venerable Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
Simon Winchester is a consummate storyteller. His prose is light, serious, readable, detailed but never tedious, scholarly but never dry, amazingly fascinating. From the dedication of the book to the very poignant and touching ending (where you find out the identity of the person to whom the book is dedicated), Winchester makes connection after connection in the series of events and unlikely characters that resulted in one of the English language's most monumental achievements.
*The Professor and the Madman* is a superb story. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A Typical Best-seller
Review: Typical American journalistic writing. A man who's obsessed with his childhood memory, so - what else could he do - he turned mad. Well, the old plot again. Not a bad book for train/subway journey.
Same question as one of the below reviewers asks: "Is this really worth a book?" or should the anectodte remains a single-line mention in the literary history?
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, informing, and overall pretty good
Review: I must say that this was the first non-fiction book that I had picked up in a very long time and was quite happy that I took the opportunity. I always imagined that it was hard work to put together a dictionary but I never would have guess as to the actual amount of work it takes. This book really gave insight into a part of life that we sometimes take for granted.
However, this book was just not a history lesson; it was also the story of one man in particular who contributed a great lot to the writing of the English Oxford Dictionary. The story of how he went mad and spent his time in an asylum finding literary examples for words in the dictionary. This aspect of the book took it away from a history lesson and turned it more into a novel/biography with a bit of history mixed in with it. Truly interesting to see how people were treated before the use of a lot of medicine and techniques that we use today.
I thought it was wonderfully written, however at some parts it was a little dry, but when you thought you just needed to find something else to read Winchester would reveal a little more information to the reader and keep you hooked for just a little while longer.
I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning a little about the history of the English language and the life of a truly interesting person.
Rating:
Summary: Ancedotes of History
Review: Is this really worth a book?
That is a question worth answering. It is a single but interesting ancedote filled with trivia about mental illness, Civil War justice, the history of dictionaries, and finally self-mutilation.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This was utterly absorbing to me. It's an entirely fascinating story of a highly interesting man, well written, well put together and carefully documented. I recommend it without reservation.
Rating:
Summary: The story behind the OED
Review: Winchester's thoroughly researched history of two of the most notable men involved in the making of the OED is a fascinating and scholarly work. It is a bit tangential at times; however, within this construct, the overall direction and meaning of the work is preserved.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable with a few flaws
Review: This book--part true crime, part literary history, part human interest story-was difficult to put down. It tells the story of two of the personalities behind the making of The Oxford English Dictionary. One, the professor James Murray, was the editor of the tome. The other, Dr. W.C. Minor, was a major contributor to The OED, a former American army surgeon, and a raving lunatic. The Professor and the Madman also narrates the process of compiling The OED and throws in some fascinating etymology. This more "academic" portion of the work is written modestly enough that it should interest even those with only a passing curiosity for the English language. The chapter headings, which contain definitions of words appropriate to the chapter's content, are an interesting touch.
Winchester is an able if not a masterful writer. There is nothing complex or poetic or particularly profound in his narrative, but he tells a fascinating story and captures the reader's interest. I will offer two critiques, however, both of which relate to the author's unskilled method of foreshadowing. Winchester would occasionally drop a hint that leaves the reader hanging, which is fine, if the reader has some concept that his whetted appetite will eventually be satisfied. But after dropping these hints the author would move on as though he had simply forgotten about them, leaving the reader little idea that he planned to reveal all later. (One such example is when the author mentions that only one word was ever lost from the OED. The reader immediately thinks in frustration, "What word?" But Winchester continues his narrative as if he has no intention of revealing the secret. Much later in the book the author mentions the fact again, and this time he reveals the word, after the reader has already given up hope of learning it.) Secondly, this inexpert foreshadowing also tends to obscure the chronology of the story from time to time. Despite these minor frustrations, however, the book is an excellent read.
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