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The Surgeon of Crowthorne |
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| The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words By Simon Winchester Penguin Books 207 pages, 1998 ISBN 014 0271287 Reviewed by Marie Thorpe - South Africa Read another review by Zaheera Jiwaji Who was the surgeon of Crowthorne? He was Dr. W.C. Minor, a millionaire American civil war surgeon, convicted of murder and imprisoned in Broadmoor asylum for the criminally insane. But Dr. Minor was no ordinary murderer. He devoted his entire cell-bound life to his work for the Oxford English Dictionary. The Surgeon of Crowthorne is the fascinating story of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary, a mammoth 50-year task, requiring thousands of volunteers. It was Dr. Minor who was the most brilliant and prolific of these volunteers. In the 19th century treatment for mental illness was primitive. Dr. Minor was never relieved of his symptoms - his agony endured for his entire life. Except, of course, that he had his Dictionary work, his love of words and their origins. Ironically, if Dr. Minor had been treated with today's compassion and chemistry, he may never have felt driven to work on the Dictionary as he did. It was the Dictionary which became his medication, his addiction - and his therapy. His work was the only thing that provided him with at least a measure of relief from his paranoia. Perhaps this mammoth task even restored some of his self-respect. By telling the poignant and very human tale of William Minor, Simon Winchester creates a prism through which to view the greater and even more enthralling story of the history of English lexicography. Woven through the tragedy of the details of Dr. Minor's terrible illness is the triumph of English endeavour - the creation of The Oxford English Dictionary, perhaps the most ambitious and monumental books ever published. |
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