In Chapter 1 of “Origin” by Dan Brown there are following sentences:
For as long as Langdon could remember, Edmond had been an insatiable
bibliophile—reading everything in sight. The man’s passion for books, and
his capacity for absorbing their contents, surpassed anything Langdon
had ever witnessed.
And my question about the second sentence:
What does “surpassed anything Langdon had ever witnessed” mean?
“The man’s passion…” and “his capacity for…” are outstanding?
Is it possible to replace “anything” with “anyone”?
As a non-native speaker of English, I’d be most grateful, if you could help me understand this sentence. Many thanks.
Yes, you are on the right track. The man’s passion for books was much greater than anything Langdon had ever experienced before.
I’m afraid you can’t just replace ‘anything’ with ‘anyone’ here because we are comparing a person’s capability (their passion for reading) rather two people.
Thank you very much for your answer. Your support has helped me very much.
In the Japanese version translated from the original by Dan Brown,
“anything” is translated with the meaning “anyone else”.
So this sentence is mistranslated into Japanese.
Many thanks.
