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

Rating:
Summary: A good story. Not a good book.
Review: I wanted to read this book as soon as I heard about it. I waited quite a long time for it, as it wasn't being printed in the U.S. yet.

I would be happy if I hadn't waited. I would be happy if I'd forgotten about it completely.

The story is a good one. Making a dictionary for the first time is a good story--undertaking the process using only paper, no computers, no phone calls, stacking up those papers for years and years. Interesting. Stories about madmen are intriguing. Looking into the unknown and actually getting a glimpse of what's there is interesting.

Putting the two together has real potential.

Still, the author tells the story in a way that makes the madman into a cobbled together character who is pitiful and helpless. We also expect that the professor will be a person involved in the madman's life.

Neither of these things is true.

I see that I am in the minority in not liking this book, but I object to the hyperbole used. The way the author is somehow trying to blend Jack the Ripper with the idea of a person having _A Beautiful Mind_ creates an unfortunate picture that shows both the professor and the madman to be duped or shortchanged by life.

This isn't called historical fiction. It's history told poorly. It's history misrepresented. It's history turned into a soap opera and human beings turned into fictional characters.

Rating:
Summary: pretty not bad
Review: Makes a great story about insanity and the human potential. Genius is inextricably linked to madness in the interaction of different characters and also in a single individual. Books like this are fascinating because they take everyday objects and bring them into a historical context--every time I use my dictionary now I think of the story behind it, and how that may only be the tip of the iceberg. Wincester's prose is manageable for the most part--sometimes it doesn't flow smoothely, but one doesn't have to plow too strenuously to get through this fairly short book. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in madness and/or the origins of household objects we take for granted.

Rating:
Summary: An Intellectual Treat
Review: Winchester has the remarkable ability to turn a seemingly dull topic, such as the creation of the OED, into a compelling tale of lunacy and letters.

Having read the footnote in Jonathan Green's, Chasing the Sun, regarding the "American lunatic murderer who was imprisoned in Braodmore and became a prolific contributer to the OED," Winchester embarked on a esoteric research odyessy covering both England and the United States. What unfolded was a remarkable story of one man's insanity and another's passion for capturing the entire history of the English language on the printed page.

Dr. W.C. Minor, the "American lunatic" was a highly educated Civil War veteran suffering from schizophrenia. While living in England in an attempt to escape his ever-present feelings of persecution, he shot a man dead. Being obviously deluded, the British government sentenced him to an unspecified term in Broadmore lunatic asylum.

His counter-point, Professor James Murray, then editor of the OED, sent out a request for all men and women of letters to contribute definitions and quotations to the compilation of the dictionary. What unfolded was a relationship spanning over twenty years between The Professor and the Madman.

Winchester creates three distinct and affecting personalities, all of which compliment each outher beautifuly: Dr. Minor, Prof. Murray, and quite interestingly, the OED takes on an almost human quality. It is Winchester's skill at blending these three unique personalities and they become interlaced that keeps the reader turning the page. Indeed, a wonderful and absorbing book.