So I just finished Syntactic Structures, another book on my reading list. I have to say, this is probably the only book on my list that I wasn't looking forward to reading. It's considered one of the most influential books ever written, but mostly I only wanted to read it so I could pretend like I'm a semi-legitimate Linguist. Fortunately, I found out I could read it for an assignment in one of my classes this semester, so I decided if I didn't read now I would probably never read it. Pretty much it was like reading an EXTREMELY dry textbook. Or a scholarly article that's 100+ pages long. Despite that, I have to say it was kind of a cool experience. I felt like I got a glimpse into how Noam Chomsky's mind works, and it turns out mine doesn't work anything like that. I mean, he was a mathmatician before he became a linguist; there's problem #1 as far as that goes.
Noam Chomsky has always kind of fascinated me because he's such an influential figure. Even though a lot of his ideas are kind of obsolete in the field of Linguistics, he's still highly respected; even by his critics. And it's not just language nerds that love him. He pretty much revolutionized the way people teach English as a second language by going against the Behaviorist idea that people are basically parrots who are only capable of copying set phrases. He pioneered the idea that language is innate and creative; that someone who's never read a book in his entire life is capable of saying a phrase that's never been heard in the history of mankind. I mean, think of the possibilities! You can say stuff like "Please move your zebra, he has bad breath" or "I strongly believe that Thomas Kinkade should run for President," etc, etc... things that have never been heard before! I think that's what I love about language; the thought that from a small collection of words, so much can be expressed. In a lot of ways, language is the essence of human creativity; it's limitless. I would even go so far as to say it's infinite.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who isn't well versed in linguistic jargon, and hasn't studied syntax on some level. However, I would highly suggest researching some of Chomsky's ideas. I guess he's influential for a reason (not to mention the whole political activist thing that I didn't even go into).
p.s. Can I just say how much I love that he is basically wearing the same outfit in both of these pictures?
