Joshua Kendall

"The Man Who Made Lists: Love, Death, Madness, and the Creation of Roget's Thesaurus" by Joshua Kendal

Putnam: 2008

Peter Mark Roget was born in a family of madness and grief. If anything saved him from these facts, it was the creation of his Thesaurus more than anything else. Joshua Kendal endeavors to produce the circumstances for this and in doing this he writes a biography that is as much entertaining as it is factual and knowledgeable about his subject. Yet, I can't help but think there is more to this story that Kendal with all of his immense research will never uncover, but what he does is fascinating and told well. Even the book itself with its chapters illustrating parts of Roget's definitions are well done.

The Roget family is beset with a genetic make-up for depression but how much is genetic and how much is environmental? That may never be known. Even one of his children seems to have inherited some of the madness and certainly Roget's mother and grandmother had it. Suicide was there too. In the darkness of the night when Roget felt madness and depression closing in around him, he classified words from an early age. It turned out to be his saving grace. His sister and daughter could not create a life of their own as insanity kept them at home. Yet, Roget had no clue as to why his relatives behaved the way they did although he was a medical doctor.

This was a time when science was waking up and making great strides in discovery but not for him. The Victorian Times was also a time when people hung onto their Christian faith and ignored many of the scientific discoveries such as the new science of Evolution by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace.

Kendall was careful in bringing in the world in which Roget lived in so that all of the information available could be seen in all of its implications. Some biographies, one has to look things up for more information. This is not necessary here. Yet, there is so much that is not known but not because the Kendal did not do his research but because the information simply does not exist.

The writing is clear and the information is well organized. It was enjoyable as it was informative about a remarkable man in a remarkable age. I could not put this book down.