{"product_id":"9781785788956","title":"The Babel Message : A Love Letter to Language (by Keith Kahn-Harris)","description":"\u003cp\u003e'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 SpectatorA thrilling journey deep into the heart of language, from a rather unexpected starting point.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKeith 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOverturning 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'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\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Icon Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49386311844067,"sku":"9781785788956","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1701\/6275\/files\/9781785788956.jpg?v=1783620163","url":"https:\/\/www.harbourbookshop.live\/products\/9781785788956","provider":"The Harbour Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}