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A review by nothingforpomegranted
The Language Hoax by John McWhorter
funny
informative
2.75
I just didn’t get to this before it was returned to the library. will return to it
Review after completing (July 2024)
I thoroughly enjoyed Guy Deustcher’s Through the Language Glass, and I was curious to read John McWhorter’s rebuttal, especially after having McWhorter as a professor in college. Overall, McWhorter’s arguments that language cannot be the predominant shaper of thought and the ridiculousness of not a few popular Whorfian claims are convincing. I concluded the book agreeing with McWhorter, I think. However, the tone and structure of the text actually made it challenging to understand precisely what McWhorter’s argument was. Indeed, so much was couched in highfalutin vocabulary, bizarre sentence structure, and crude analogies that much of the actual content was lost in translation. Rather than the well-researched, confident, academic book I expected from McWhorter, this read like an angry op-ed that needed quite a few more passes through the editing team.
Review after completing (July 2024)
I thoroughly enjoyed Guy Deustcher’s Through the Language Glass, and I was curious to read John McWhorter’s rebuttal, especially after having McWhorter as a professor in college. Overall, McWhorter’s arguments that language cannot be the predominant shaper of thought and the ridiculousness of not a few popular Whorfian claims are convincing. I concluded the book agreeing with McWhorter, I think. However, the tone and structure of the text actually made it challenging to understand precisely what McWhorter’s argument was. Indeed, so much was couched in highfalutin vocabulary, bizarre sentence structure, and crude analogies that much of the actual content was lost in translation. Rather than the well-researched, confident, academic book I expected from McWhorter, this read like an angry op-ed that needed quite a few more passes through the editing team.