A couple of humdingers!

Well that took me long enough!

The two books I've been reading, are two that I was so excited about. I suppose the hype kinda got me disappointed in the end.

The first is Accents: A Manual for Actors by Robert Blumenfeld. If you know me, you know I love language. I love accents, dialects, grammar, everything. I also....love acting, therefore, I must love this book right? Well when I originally wanted to check it out, it was in repair and the library had to order a new one. I put myself first on the list, and snatched it up right away. This book guides the actor on how to speak English in ANY accent from Elizabethan English, to Estonian, to Algerian. Since I have some linguistic experience I found it VERY frustrating that Blumenfeld makes up his own phonetic symbols instead of used standardized IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). I basically had to try and unlearn everything I know to understand what he was writing, and it's not like he's ignorant. He made enough references to actual linguistic terms that I know he has SOME basis of knowledge in the field.

I was starting to wonder if I should write a book of my own and include actual symbols and accurate accent comparisons, when I happened upon the major redeeming factor of this book...the CDs. The two CDs which come with the book demonstrate all the practice material in the book in Blumenfeld's own voice. This guy is VERY talented when it comes to the practical application of his teaching. In other words, his accents are fine. Merely his communication is lacking.

I'm really glad I happened upon this book. I will not be buying it or reading it leisurely, but I will certainly consult it whenever I'm called upon to adopt another accent. It's difficult to judge such a work, so I will give it a 3. I recommend it, merely as a tool for those to whom it applies.

Next on my list was The Accidental Connoisseur by Lawrence Osborne. It's labeled as "An irreverent journey through the wine world," and it is definitely that. I'm not a connoisseur of wine, but I would call myself an oenophile, so I was interested in what Osborne had to say. This book is not for amateurs. Yes, it is witty, but it takes more than just a basic understanding of wine to enjoy. I did pick up a few nuggets of wisdom from it, but not enough to benefit as much as I would like. Sad to say, this book only earned a 2.