[.ca] A Proverb in Mind: The Cognitive Science of Proverbial ... (ISBN 0805802312)

Nearly the best paremiology I have ever met:
I am ultimately pleased and honoured by the chance to be the very first reviewer of "A Proverb in Mind" by Professor Richard P. Honeck at Amazon, and ultimately surprised to be its very first reviewer in the year 2000 as the book was published already in 1997 and as it is, to my mind, one of the best books ever written about proverbs, a kind of quintessence of the author's earlier works on proverbs. The language Honeck uses in his book is "clear and simple as the truth" and its thematic scope is exhaustively wide, embracing tropes, structure, communicative and social context of proverbs, as well as their cognitive, psychological and other aspects. The book is in its essence and approach definitely cognitivistic, but Honeck dares to deflect the generally accepted cognitivist orthodoxy wherever he regards it reasonable. The cited material covers a wide selection of works from various disciplines, and what is especially amusing for me as a paremiologist - Honeck does not neglect or ignore the "usual" paremiology, as American cognitivists generally do, and cites calmly not only Wolfgang Mieder, but also B.J. Whiting, Matti Kuusi, Grigori Permjakov, Peter Grzybek, and what is particularly noteworthy, even me :-) I think "A Proverb in Mind" is a creatively stimulating opus for both paremiologists and cognitivists, a magnificent schoolbook for university students, and an excellent deep, but understandable reading for whoever interested in proverbs.