The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis as explored by sci-fi. Picked it up after seeing something about it at the SF Hall of Fame. An interesting concept, but the book itself isn't that great.

A wonderful exploration of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, in which language shapes psychology and the destiny of a world can be altered by forcing its population to speak a different tongue. Here we have characters like gods, brooding heroes and villains, interplanetary war, and long-simmering revenge, all wrapped in a thought-provoking philosophy. Jack Vance is incredible.

Uh, wow.

I learned of this book from Aliens and Linguists, a round-up of linguistic subjects as used in science fiction. It's a fascinating book, but it's also old, so the works it mentions are correspondingly old.

The Languages of Pao tackles the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which (briefly) postulates that language affects thought. I am generally in favor of linguistic theories being the basis of science fiction, and this particular hypothesis is close to my heart. However, "if we make this passive civilization learn a new language they will become warriors!" is not a logical extension of it. Sloppy linguistics is the first thing wrong with this book, and yes I am a snob.

There are many other things wrong with it, but I'm only going to pick on one other here, because I think it's an important one: oh my god the gender politics. I don't have the exact quote in front of me, but at one point it's state that Pao (vs. another planet) treats women and men exactly the same and gives them the same opportunities. It should probably not be a surprise, then, that all but two of the female characters in this book (only one of whom has any speaking lines, as I recall) are concubines. The other two are "serving maidens." Golf clap, Jack Vance.

B for effort, D for execution.

I like this book a lot. I read it in the three hour I was waiting to enter The Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam to see the Jheronimus Bosch exhibition. Both the book and the exhibition were worth the waiting.

Interesting use of science fiction to illuminate ideas about how language and culture intertwine. Rather spoilt for today's reader by extreme sexism of the society Vance has invented for this purpose.

Vance takes Sapir-Whorf and turns it into a novel.

These days, this would probably be a three-volume epic, but Vance just packed a huuge story in a relatively small book. I rather liked it, though it’s weird that there are no women in the book (except as pawns and decoration) and it’s all very stand-offish. Thanks for another recommendation, Ursula!

I have only two things to say about this book.

1. Vance's central contention, that language shapes culture, is a good one and worth exploring, which is what he does here. He writes, "Each language is a special tool, with a particular capability. It is more than a means of communication, it is a system of thought" (45). And he then goes on to illustrate the truth of this by showing how the political and cultural landscape of one planet, Pao, is altered by consciously and deliberately altering the language.

2. Aside from this point about language, there's little to be gained from this book. The plot is essentially Hamlet sans the introspection and the death of all the characters at the end. There is little character development, little innovation in plot, and little of stylistic interest. At least, for better or for worse, because of its familiarity and simplicity, it reads quickly.

I went the the Science Fiction museum in Seattle a few months ago and took photos of the books that sounded worth reading. This was one of them.

This book answers the question "What if language shapes who we are?" It's an interesting question and a short book. I found it kind of hard to follow as many of the groups and armies had similar-sounding names and were poorly introduced; once I stopped trying to figure out who was who it became much more enjoyable. Overall, it wasn't a fantastic book, but worth the short time it takes to read.

I can’t help but read this as “The Languages of POW!”.

Vance has fun in this novel playing with the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, but really that’s the side attraction to the usual Vancian loopiness where everything important gets done with “punctilio”. Also present are the standard “elite of amoral supermen” that were so popular in 1950s SF. Vance deflates his supermen, making them rather silly, kind of like Gandalf by way of Hugh Hefner. (I’d posit that Hugh Hefner was a huge influence on 1950s and 60s SF.) Also short. Have I mentioned how much I miss the 50,000 word novel?