Negative Positive
Title: handy sandwich-break read
Review: At first I was surprised and a little disappointed by the format - it is arranged like a dictionary. I was expecting something that could be read through progressively. However, after getting over that, I enjoy the book. It is full of mini-articles that make interesting reading whenever there's a few minutes to spare over coffee or lunch. Naturally it can also be resorted to as a reference, though I could imagine that to be a hit or miss affair until you get used to its quirky look-up style, with entries on suffixes or parts of words.Sometimes I think that in the 21st century we should retreat a little to the looser rules of earlier centuries. Do we really have to agonize so much over how best to spell import-words like felafel or taboulie? One nice thing about the book, however, is its consideration of international trends in English and its attempt to bridge between them.
Is the review positive or negative? 