Synopses & Reviews
Liber prosperissimus et mirabilis ex Britannia ad Americam tandem advenit! Umquam vexatus es quando homo inritans "sine qua non" aut "mea culpa" dicit Aut postmeridiana tempora vetera, quando verba obscura ediscere conatus es, terrunt.
Nil desperandum!
Linguae Latinae hoc in itinere iucundo, qui omnia ex lectione grammatica ab Monte Pythone ad Angelinae Jolia in pelle notas et omnia optima in historiae litteratae annis duo milliis ex poese et litteris excerpta habet, Henricus Mons pulvem ex libellis odiosis deterget et in linguam maximam in aeternum vitam respirat.
The phenomenal bestseller from the U.K. finally arrives in the States! Have you even found yourself irritated when a "sine qua non" or a "mea culpa" is thrown into the conversation by a particularly annoying person? Or do distant memories of afternoons spent struggling to learn obscure verbs fill you with dread?
Never fear!
In this delightful guided tour of Latin, which features everything from a Monty Python grammar lesson to Angelina Jolie's tattoo and all the best snippets of prose and poetry from two thousand years of literary history, Harry Mount wipes the dust off those boring primers and breathes life back into the greatest language of them all.
Synopsis
In this lighthearted guided tour of Latin, a major bestseller across the pond, journalist (and former Latin tutor) Mount breathes life back into the greatest language of all, drawing on everything from a Monty Python grammar lesson to Angelina Jolie's tattoos. Filled with fascinating tidbits and humorous asides, Carpe Diem will delight the word-lovers who made Eats, Shoots & Leaves such a monster hit. Whether we're aware of it or not, Latin is all around us. Consider the sayings in everyday use: Alter ego. Ad nauseam. Caveat emptor. Modus operandi. Per se. And of course, the ever-popular e pluribus unum. Even more abundant are words derived from Latin roots: arena (from harena, sand), auditorium (a place of audience), stadium (a running track)...and those are just the theatrical ones It's inescapable. It's also the most daunting of languages, one that is both seemingly obscure and filled with arcane rules, and often accompanied by unpleasant memories of adolescence. But as Harry Mount says in Carpe Diem, Knowing a bit of Latin is an invitation to the biggest room in the building, with a view down the corridor to all the succeeding ages. And you can get your hands on that invitation at any age.
Synopsis
< br=""> Have you ever found yourself irritated when a sine qua non or a mea culpa is thrown into the conversation by a particularly annoying person? Or do distant memories of afternoons spent struggling to learn obscure verbs fill you with dread? Never fear! (or as a Latin show-off might say, Nil Desperandum!) In this delightful guided tour of Latin, Harry Mount wipes the dust off those boring primers and breathes life back into the greatest language of them all. < r=""> < br=""> & nbsp; < r=""> < br=""> Using Latin lovers from Kingsley Amis to John Cleese, from Evelyn Waugh to Donna Tartt, and even Angelina Jolie??'s stomach, Mount breathes life into Latin.& nbsp; < r=""> < br=""> & nbsp; < r=""> Read this book and you will know Latin. Know Latin and ??? mirabile dictu ??? you will know Wilfred Owen??'s misery, Catullus??'s aching heart and the comedy of a thousand bachelor schoolmasters.
About the Author
Harry Mount is deputy comment editor on the Daily Telegraph. He trained to be a lawyer in the early 1990s. He lives in London; this is his first book.