New book discusses the "language genie"

If you are fascinated by the human phenomenon of language — and if you can read Spanish — you may want to take a look at a new book, El genio del idioma by Álex Grijelmo, a prominent Spanish editor. I haven't had a chance to read the book, but an excerpt recently published in Spain's El País indicates that Grijelmo takes an in-depth look at not just the essence of Spanish, but the essence of language in general.
 
The title of his book — it means "the language genie" — refers to the metaphorical being that develops and guards the structure of language. "Conocer el genio de nuestra lengua equivale a conocernos por dentro; el genio del idioma es también la estructura de nuestros pensamientos," he writes: "Knowing the language genie is the same as knowing ourselves on the inside; the language genie is also the structure of our thoughts."
 
Beginning with the first chapter, he makes some interesting observations. Two of them that applies to both languages is that we "hang up" a telephone (colgar un teléfono) even though we hold it in our hands, and we look for "pages" (páginas) on the Internet, which has no paper. Because of the language genie, the words endure through the centuries, he says, even though our lives become different.
 
The book is published in the United States by Santillana USA Publishing Co. and can be purchased from stores listed here.