Every book by Ben Schott is a meticulous masterpiece of conception and execution. He's best known for his delightful series of four Miscellanies (Schott's Original Miscellany, Schott's Food & Drink Miscellany, Schott's Sporting, Gaming & Idling Miscellany, and Schott's Quintessential Miscellany) and for his six Almanacs, published annually between 2006 and 2011.
Schott's newest book is unlike his previous efforts in that it has an especially specific focus -- invented German words -- but it's very much like the others in that it's so infernally clever, has been so carefully thought out, and possesses a singularly beautiful design. By going to Mr. Schott's website, benschott dot com, and clicking on The New York Times under the Journalism tab, you can link to an excerpt from the book and listen to him talk about it. There you can also read any of the numerous engaging columns he's written for the newspaper.
"Schottenfreude" is a play on the German word Schadenfreude, which means "shameful joy" or "pleasure derived from the misfortune of others." It's not among the book's 120 indexed entries, but then it's a long-established term that has decisively entered the English language along with such loanwords as Weltanschauung (worldview), Realpolitik (practical politics), Gemütlichkeit (coziness), Wanderlust (desire to travel), Zeitgeist (spirit of the times), Gestalt (whole), and Angst (anxiety). Most of the words in this volume are longer than these examples, some comically so; Kraftfahrzeuginnenaustattungsneugeruchsgenuss, meaning "new car smell," is the longest at 45 letters. They have obviously been contrived by the author, yet they are "real" in the sense that they are perfectly justifiable and creative concatenations of concepts.
Such terms result from the nearly unlimited capacity of the German language to form compounds. They are long for good reason: each packs within it a small universe of distinct meanings, encapsulates very particular sets of denotative and connotative senses, and possesses unique emotional and cultural implications. And there is not one in this book that isn't both witty and amusing. A prime example is Gaststattenneueröffnungsuntergangsgewissheit (inn-new-opening-downfall-certitude or "certainty that a newly opened restaurant will fail"), which has 44 letters. On the other hand, several are as short as eight or nine letters, including "Mahlneid" (meal-envy or "coveting thy neighbor's restaurant order"), "Gastdruck" (guest-pressure or "the effort required to be a good houseguest"), and "Betttrug" (bed-deception or "disorientation upon waking in a strange bed").
Each entry, printed in a gothic font, provides a guide to pronunciation and a definition. This is followed by an insightful unpacking of the words inside and a detailed annotation, complete with lists, quotations, literary references, and the occasional illustration. The book is an elegant pleasure for book lovers, students of German, and logophiles of all stripes. I highly recommended this glittering intellectual bauble for gift-giving this holiday season, or at any time of the year.
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SM Kelly-Martens
You think this book is for English-speakers but it’s not
Reviewed in Germany on March 31, 2023