'Quite simply, and quite ridiculously, one of the funniest and most
illuminating books I have ever read. I thought I was obsessive, but
Keith Kahn-Harris is playing a very different sport. He really has
discovered the whole world in an egg.' Simon Garfield 'There is a
delicious humour implicit in every page . . . [the book] is filled
with a sense of wonder, gazing at languages that neither the writer
nor reader understands . . . The Babel Message was such fun that I
even went out and bought a Kinder Surprise Egg.' - Mark Forsyth,
The Spectator A thrilling journey deep into the heart of language,
from a rather unexpected starting point. Keith Kahn-Harris is a man
obsessed with something seemingly trivial - the warning message
found inside Kinder Surprise eggs: WARNING, read and keep: Toy not
suitable for children under 3 years. Small parts might be swallowed
or inhaled. On a tiny sheet of paper, this message is translated
into dozens of languages - the world boiled down to a multilingual
essence. Inspired by this, the author asks: what makes 'a
language'? With the help of the international community of language
geeks, he shows us what the message looks like in Ancient Sumerian,
Zulu, Cornish, Klingon - and many more. Along the way he considers
why Hungarian writing looks angry, how to make up your own
language, and the meaning of the heavy metal umlaut. Overturning
the Babel myth, he argues that the messy diversity of language
shouldn't be a source of conflict, but of collective wonder. This
is a book about hope, a love letter to language. 'This is a
wonderful book. A treasure trove of mind-expanding insights into
language and humanity encased in a deliciously quirky, quixotic
quest. I loved it. Warning: this will keep you reading.' - Ann
Morgan, author of Reading the World: Confessions of a Literary
Explorer
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