NOW READING: Roget’s II Desk Thesaurus- Home, School, and Office Edition (1995)

You might think I would move on to something with a narrative (or at least full sentences) after completing the dictionary, but this next selection for Project Bookshelf is part of a planned process. Trust the process. I do, even after the dictionary left me with egg on my face for years on end.

I chose the dictionary first to expose myself to as many words as possible. The thesaurus serves a specific purpose as well. It’s a doubling down of sorts on vocabulary. It exposes me to similar words. I won’t go so far as to use the term synonyms, because I know that words grouped together in a thesaurus are not true synonyms. Some are but there is a wide array of variation and differentiation that must be respected and understood when choosing words.

My mental approach to the dictionary was a positive one. It is a reference book with a noble purpose- helping people spell and understand the meaning of words. This is not the same approach I bring to the thesaurus. It is a dangerous book that is used as a crutch by lazy writers. I’m sure I was guilty of trying to make my writing look better via a thesaurus back in middle school and possibly even high school, but somewhere along the way I came to understand that a thesaurus is more of a frenemy and best kept at arm’s length.

As with the dictionary, there’s not much backstory to describe with this choice. I believe this particular thesaurus moved into the house with me, but I am not 100% certain. One point to clarify is the pronunciation of this book. Growing up, I heard a few different pronunciations but the primary one was Ro-gets. This is incorrect. It is pronounced Ro-zhays, and it is named after Peter Mark Roget, who created a comprehensive English-language reference work in 1805. This book is different from the original, as it is simply presented in alphabetical order, start to finish. Roget’s original (and more extensive thesaurus) is broken up into categories.

Roget’s II offers larger font, more white space per page, and only a third the number of pages that the dictionary threw at me. I know better than to overestimate my reading prowess, so I will simply say that I am confident that I will not take four years to read this one. Onward!