Imagining Language: An Anthology

Rating:
Summary: Compilation amazing, thought-provoking
Review: 'Imagining Language' is a compilation consisting of poetic and literary works, but don't stereotype this book as anything typical. These essays and poems adopt their own graphic images, play with the sounds of their words, and force the reader to 'think outside the box.' Some authors and text included in the compilation are James Joyce's 'Finnegan's Wake' ; Gertrude Stein's 'Conditions' ; Lewis Carroll, Jonathan Swift, Bob Brown, Jackson MacLow, and Jorge Luis Borges, among others.

The texts in this anthology play with language and its evolution into modern times, more hypermediated times. Works are not merely about words any longer. Rather, such literary works must involve all the senses, paying close attention to the visual and auditory appeal of language. Placing such a wide array of hypermediated, philosphically challenging works into this anthology proves to be a trial for the reader, who must take time after each work to consider its meaning and the author's purpose.

Each work in the compilation is a different, and worthy, opponent for anyone tacking issues of language.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Have
Review: If you are considering buying this for yourself, then I would say that this is a book you shouldn't do without, whether you use it as a reference, or a constant source of inspiration (or both). Covering an almost (but deliciously "not quite") overwhelming range of experiments with language, this is a book that would appeal to both writers and readers of the unusual, the stunning, the avante garde, the breathtaking, or the bizarre. When you first heft the book, you may wonder how so many "pieces" could have been found and anthologized. By the time you finish, you may find yourself Imagining Language, and become giddily convinced that Jed Rasula and Steve McCaffery have only scratched the surface of what is possible.

If you're thinking of giving this book as a gift, the answer is: "Yes, they will absolutely love it."

It's beautiful in its construction, layout, and typesetting as well.