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Carpe Diem: Put a Little Latin in Your Life Audiobook
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(3.03) - 168 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
In this lighthearted guided tour of Latin, journalist and former Latin tutor Harry Mount breathes life back into the greatest language of all, drawing on everything from a Monty Python grammar lesson to Angelina Jolie's tattoos. Filled with fascinating tidbits and humorous asides, Carpe Diem will delight the word lovers who made Eats, Shoots and Leaves such a monster hit.
Whether we're aware of it or not, Latin is all around us. Consider the sayings in everyday use: alter ego, ad nauseam, caveat emptor, modus operandi, per se, and, of course, the ever-popular e pluribus unum. Even more abundant are words derived from Latin roots: arena (from harena, meaning "sand"), auditorium ("a place of audience"), stadium (a running track)...and those are just the theatrical ones! It's inescapable. It's also the most daunting of languages, one that is seemingly obscure and filled with arcane rules and often accompanied by unpleasant memories of adolescence. But, as Mount says in Carpe Diem, "Knowing a bit of Latin is an invitation to the biggest room in the building, with a view down the corridor to all the succeeding ages. And you can get your hands on that invitation at any age."
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"Great book for learning Latin or just finding out what some Latin words and phrases mean. The Author is very funny and uses wit to make his points. "
— Tracey (4 out of 5 stars)
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Stephen Hoye maximizes on the author's sense of humor with just the right timing in his delivery and just the right nuance in his voice.... [A] clever narrator.
— AudioFile
Carpe Diem Listener Reviews
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" Did not study Latin, but enjoyed this book. Latin is today still one of the most spoken languages - I enjoyed how the Swedes published EU Meeting Minutes in Latin! "
— MikeFromQueens, 2/20/2014 -
" For someone who has never paid any attention to latin after his community college dendrology class, this book opened up a lot of perspective for me. Apparently the reason Romans conquered the world is because they had so much pent up agression left over from trying to learn their own language. Latin is HARD; and this book makes that clear. But it didn't actually teach me any latin. Sometimes it seemed not even to try. "
— Tim, 2/10/2014 -
" I loved listening to this, though I wished I had a book next to me to refer to during all the actual Latin phrases and verb declensions that Mount includes in the text. What I enjoyed the most was hearing about all the ways that we are tied to the past, through the roots of many of our words, yes, (and being a native Spanish speaker, this was particularly significant and relevant to me), but also through so much more. Why some Latin words and even phrases survive to this day? Who picked those, how did they fit better than any words in any other language that could have been used? What do our words, our language, say about us? I had fun pondering all these questions as I listened. "
— Ledys, 1/28/2014 -
" A fun read for anyone who has studied Latin before, but it could be a little heady for someone who is trying to learn a little Latin. It's similar to "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves." There were a couple of factual errors and uneven editing that detracted from the book overall. "
— Rebecca, 1/19/2014 -
" Just a fun read to get you into (or back to) studying latin. "
— Daniel, 1/18/2014 -
" Took me right back to my freshman year of high school - oh those nasty declensions! "
— Joanne, 1/17/2014 -
" fun book with the really hilarious premise that this book will teach you enough latin to read caesar,cicero etc. "
— Debra, 1/14/2014 -
" I will probably start using Latin phrases whenever possible now. Semper ubi sub ubi! "
— Phoebe, 12/1/2013 -
" Rather fun and amusing book. Infuses Latin with all the fun and gravity that it was meant to have. It is even educational! "
— Randee, 8/26/2013 -
" A fast read, but one that should be kept around for (re)learning Latin. "
— Lee, 5/18/2013 -
" Clever author but, the focus of this book was absent. It read like a Cliff-notes book proposal - unfortunately, one that would have been returned as not being complete. Not likely to remain in print. "
— Jim, 4/20/2013 -
" Not what I was expecting. Liked the glossary of Latin terms and last chapter about education, though. "
— Amy, 3/29/2013 -
" Didn't quite get through the whole book, but I did enjoy the lessons I read and now I know where the They Might Be Giants song about Istanbul and Constantinople came from---novelty song from 1953 by The Four Lads. "
— Donna, 10/20/2012 -
" I took Latin for 4 years at school in England and this book brought it all back to me - all the blood, sweat, and tears of learning this difficult language! "
— Lynn, 1/30/2012 -
" Listening to it on audio. Funny and entertaining. Wish I didn't have to return it to the library. "
— Hope, 1/7/2012 -
" Interesting...not quite what I would have gotten for myself, but it was a decent read. "
— Aparnaa, 12/13/2011 -
" Interesting if you're into Latin and Roman civilization. Basically a handy guide to all things Latin/Roman, he took all of the information and made it into an accessible and informative summary. Good to have around. "
— Amelia, 7/1/2011 -
" The Latin primer was too brief and in-depth too quickly to be of much use without supplementary materials so I found myself mostly browsing to the Roman and Latin culture sections and reading those instead. "
— Rob, 6/4/2011 -
" A funny British dude giving a primer on how to speak Latin. It's short and chuckle-worthy. "
— Jason, 5/5/2011 -
" A fast read, but one that should be kept around for (re)learning Latin. "
— Lee, 1/6/2011 -
" Not what I was expecting. Liked the glossary of Latin terms and last chapter about education, though. "
— Amy, 11/17/2010 -
" Did not study Latin, but enjoyed this book. Latin is today still one of the most spoken languages - I enjoyed how the Swedes published EU Meeting Minutes in Latin! "
— MikeFromQueens, 9/12/2010 -
" A fun read for anyone who has studied Latin before, but it could be a little heady for someone who is trying to learn a little Latin. It's similar to "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves." There were a couple of factual errors and uneven editing that detracted from the book overall. "
— Rebecca, 5/19/2010 -
" The Latin primer was too brief and in-depth too quickly to be of much use without supplementary materials so I found myself mostly browsing to the Roman and Latin culture sections and reading those instead. "
— Rob, 7/8/2009 -
" Listening to it on audio. Funny and entertaining. Wish I didn't have to return it to the library. "
— Hope, 5/8/2009 -
" Didn't quite get through the whole book, but I did enjoy the lessons I read and now I know where the They Might Be Giants song about Istanbul and Constantinople came from---novelty song from 1953 by The Four Lads. "
— Donna, 3/13/2009 -
" A funny British dude giving a primer on how to speak Latin. It's short and chuckle-worthy. "
— Jason, 3/8/2009 -
" Just a fun read to get you into (or back to) studying latin. "
— Daniel, 12/4/2008 -
" I took Latin for 4 years at school in England and this book brought it all back to me - all the blood, sweat, and tears of learning this difficult language! "
— Lynn, 10/20/2008 -
" fun book with the really hilarious premise that this book will teach you enough latin to read caesar,cicero etc. "
— Debra, 2/13/2008
About Harry Mount
Harry Mount was a Latin tutor before becoming a journalist. He graduated from Oxford University with a first class degree in ancient history. A deputy comment editor for the Daily Telegraph, he also writes for the Daily Mail, the Guardian, the Sunday Telegraph, and the New York Sun. He lives in London.
About Stephen Hoye
Stephen Hoye has worked as a professional actor in London and Los Angeles for more than thirty years. Trained at Boston University and the Guildhall in London, he has acted in television series and six feature films and has appeared in London’s West End. His audiobook narration has won him fifteen AudioFile Earphones Awards.