“Oxford Week” continues: I verify my word made it into the revered OED, I read a book about the history of the OED, I read two books in the “His Dark Materials” trilogy (partially set in Oxford), and even watched “Masterpiece Theater” last night, TiVoed from last week and set, again, in Oxford. Oxford, Oxford, Oxford!

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What went wrong?

I love lexicography, I love the OED (heck, I even got a word into it). I love popular nonfiction. I like the 19th century. I like history.

So why didn’t I like this book? There were moments I did, like the blitz of letterpress details and type-geek tidbits that left me salivating in the middle of the book. But so much of the tale is an unraveling of the political forces both propelling the dictionary project and threatening to destroy it. I know these elements are essential, but my interests lie elsewhere.

This is the second book I’ve read by Simon Winchester about a topic that I have passion for (the other being “The Map that Changed the World”), and the second that has disappointed me. I can’t put my finger on what it is about his writing style, which is amenable to most other readers, that niggles at me. It feels laundry-list-ish and a bit too linear.

Still, I adore the Oxford English Dictionary. So I was in turmoil during my read–thrilled to learn more about the OED but stabbing my way through a dull portrayal.

Tags: dictionary, history, oed, oxford

Kelly’s sweeping popular look at the cause, course and story of the Black Death doesn’t break new academic ground so much as it filters and beautifies the centuries of discoveries by plague scholars. Through evocative description and very human narrative, Kelly builds an immediacy of the horrendous experience: bursting buboes, violent, bloody vomiting and, at times, the near extinction of towns and cities, the love and chaos of family members and the clergy.

The first third of the book is nothing short of fascinating as Kelly winds back the clock and the geography of the origins of Y. pestis, the plague bacteria. It starts in the high steppes of central Asia, among lands and peoples he describes with enough care and detail that one feels almost present in the high grasses with the lurching, infectious “tarabagans,” marmot-like rodents that may have been the source of the scourge.

We as readers get to watch, as a terrified audience, as Kelly brings the “death and death and death” (so described by Elizabethan playwright John Ford) barreling down on western Europe. Individual stories: a physician, Petrarch, a Roman usurper, a reeve, royals–these tragedies unfold nuanced and detailed. Occasional rollicking asides are so fun that one hardly notices the digressions.

Towards the last third of the book, some of the focus is lost, or perhaps the structure (following the plague’s geographic sweeps, generally chronologically) has become a bit too fixed. Kelly’s explanation of the dreadful anti-semitic pogroms carried out by misled, angry Christians are interesting (and important) as part of the plague’s tragedy, but a 20-page full history of Jewish persecution seemed a bit long-winded. Occasionally he repeats himself, telling snippets of the same story multiple times–it’s surprising that a sharp-eyed editor didn’t pick those out.

All in all, Kelly isn’t posing a new thesis as to the cause or havoc of the Black Death. What he does, and does well, is synthesize the story into something approachable by all. A very enjoyable read.

Tags: 14th century, black death, european history, history, plague, popular history

A foundational book for those interested in the history of Portland, Ore., and its surroundings. “Early Portland: Stump-Town Triumphant” is a comfortable, conversational look at the first goings-on in “The Clearing” on the Willamette that slowly became Portland.

The chapters are a mix of biographical and economic history, with a strong thematic focus on the unfolding of local townsites’ navigational potential. Ultimately the winning town has to prove its mettle in terms of shipping, and a lot of the book is spent detailing the argument about just where the “head of navigation” is located. Snyder is, after all, educated as an economist.

My interests run more towards the individual stories of pioneers and the shape of the land they settled, so I found the waterway competition less fascinating. However, Snyder is an easygoing writer and steers clear of dry or overly-academic analysis, so even the sections less tailored to my passions were easy reads. Plus, he does not tell the shipping stories in isolation: there are pepperings of back-stories and interpersonal rivalries that keep things lively.

Local history buffs will come out of this book with some great anecdotes and facts. Snatch it up soon–I believe it may be out of print (originally published: 1970)

Tags: history, oregon, portland history

I saw a thread to this effect on the LibraryThing forums, and wanted to share the notion with you out there, you Lyza-readers.

Probably the most interesting thing I have ever found in a book was a letter from September, 1910 written from a woman named Nell in Spokane, Wash. to her friend (relative?) Alice in Portland, Ore. An old friend and I had purchased a lovely set of old encyclopedias at a West Hills garage sale. This letter fell out. In the end, I let him keep the books. I kept the letter:

Dear Alice,
I suppose you thought that I never would answer your letter but I have been so busy since I got home that I haven’t had time to think. Been cleaning of[?] house canning fruit and I don’t know what else. And I have been doing it all myself.

Edna has gone. She only stayed a few days with me after we came home. She went to Hayden Lake to teach in a private family. So I do not know if I will get to go to Portland after all.

Did you get your bracelet. We found it up by the tent. Mary L [or P?] had been playing with it when she was in bed and dropped down by the side of the tent. How is the darling

Jack will soon be as big as M.S. he weighs 16 lbs he will be 5 months old tomorrow[. M]y but he is a good baby he never crys.

How did you like the pictures. We think they are just fine. The only ones that were no good were the ones Edna took of M.C. in the bath tub. The one of Mr. H. and [is?] game knee is just fine you can almost see how bad it hurts him. I am sending you one more of M.S.

Also put the little bed away. He said maby [sic] there would be another to fill it someday soon. Better get busy.

Love to all,
Nell

02812.

Enclosed was a charming sepia photograph of a baby (presumably Jack) in a very homebrew crib, in a cleared field.

Have you ever found anything really nifty in a book?

Tags: history, letter

Oregon City, Ore., operates a public elevator that is technically a vertical street! From the Oregon City Municipal Elevator Public Art Project Blog (whew, that’s a mouthful):

The Oregon City Municipal Elevator continues to operate as one of only four municipal elevators in the world and “Elevator Street” remains the only “vertical street” in North America.

Tags: history, oregon, oregon city