(Oxford University Press, 1993), $29.95
Nick Hudson is a man of great learning, enthusiasm, humor and generosity of spirit. His immense knowledge of publishing, of writing, editing and typography, of the whole craft and mechanics and business of the trade, would barely be contained by an encyclopedia. Somehow he has distilled this knowledge, and a good deal of his inimitable character, into one handy little 450-page book. In more senses than one, Modern Australian Usage may be described as the essential Hudson.
The
book's title
pays homage to the great Henry Watson Fowler's Dictionary of Modern
English
Usage (which Hudson says might more appropriately have been called
Modern
British Usage). It also reflects Oxford University Press's regard for Nick
Hudson, as
does the Press's device on the book's spine: not every Oxford book carries that
mark.
Hudson acknowledges Fowler's inspiration, but acknowledges also
Dupré's
Encyclopédie du Bon Français; he likes Dupré's
use of the
one-word sentence "Soit!", and claims that from him he learnt the secret of
ebullient
confidence. I don't believe that. I reckon it comes naturally. As
you browse in
Hudson you soon realize that this book is not an Australianized Fowler, certainly
not in
the sense that Margaret Nicholson's Dictionary of American-English
Usage was an
Americanized Fowler. In fact, for some time its working title was "A Dictionary
of Writers'
Problems", and that is a clue to the book's nature. Such entries as dictionary
(choice of),
copyright, defamation, prejudice, ghost writer, publish, publishing contracts,
editor,
keyboarding, typography and kern may stretch a little the concept of "usage" --
but the
information they contain is most useful, and not easily come by.
Writers are often
uncertain, for example, about what a book editor's function is; so are editors, for
that
matter. Hudson covers this book-length subject in two and a half pages,
beginning with
a startlingly obvious statement of principle: "An editor's main responsibility is to
satisfy
the reader." There are publishers who think the editor's main job is to keep the
accountant happy. A truly professional editor will satisfy everyone concerned,
but there
aren't many editors of that sort around. This book may help to redress this
situation; I
would certainly recommend Hudson as much to editors as to writers. I know
some
accountants who will enjoy it too.
Hudson's first
concern is the language that Australians speak and write, not just the words for
flora
and fauna, or the "backblocks" and "bathers" and "duco", but the more subtle
differences
of expression that distinguish Australian from the other main branches of
English. Next
he is concerned with formal communication ("in which the form is important as
well as
the content"), with effectively conveying thoughts from one mind to another by
means of
writing. A knowledge of words and their meanings is essential to this, but unlike
some
other books on usage currently available, this one does not provide a checklist of
common mistakes. If you think there is such a word as "majesterial", or if you
don't
know what "burgeoning" or "enormity" or "begging the question" means, you
must look
elsewhere. Other dictionaries will help you to avoid being wrong, but this one is
for those
who know there is "a difference between not being wrong and being
right".
"Correctness" is
essential to formal communication, but what is this elusive quality? Hudson
discusses
the matter succinctly, and provides a workable answer. He is far more concerned
with
your awareness of problems than your choice of solutions, providing they are
sensible.
His book is for "people who want to make up their own minds". It follows that
he is not
overly concerned with consistency:
it is in many respects admirable that a book should be at least internally consistent. However, remembering the fates of businesses which go to the wall with their account books in perfect order, one must always remember that literary consistency is a means to an end -- clarity -- not an end in itself.Clarity, awareness, inclusiveness -- such refreshing, positive words -- and Hudson never loses sight of these principles, even (no, make that especially) in his most wickedly funny moments. Try, for example, the entry on obscurantism, "a guide to some strategies to minimise communication".
Language is both a
minefield and a cherry orchard. Nick Hudson invites us in, saying "Here, try
some of
these, they're scrumptious. Mind the pips, and watch where you walk. Isn't it a
splendid
day!"The Society of Editors Newsletter, October 1993
A Nick Hudson story
Over dinner recently I heard a story about your friend and mine Nick Hudson. I have deliberately not checked it with him because I like the version I heard. Nick was on an interstate flight, and he got talking to the bloke in the seat next to him. The bloke next to him was a BHP executive, and he was fascinated to learn that Nick was in the book-publishing business. Indeed, he confessed, he had often thought that he might open a little bookshop when he retired. "Now that's very interesting," Nick said, "because I have often thought that when I retire I might open a little steel mill."
The Society of Editors Newsletter, June 1991
John Bangsund
Melbourne, Australia
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