Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
by Mark Dunn
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mark DunnEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-09-17
ISBN: 0385722435
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: Anchor
Book Reviews of Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
Book Review: Superlatively Clever, Hilarious, and Original
Summary: 5 Stars
I think this must be the most superlatively clever and original book I have ever read! It is impossible to describe, you really just have to read it to see what I mean. What's even more impressive is that it's done in such a short, quick read, too.
I don't usually describe the plot of books in my reviews - it would be needlessly redundant since the book's description already gives that information. But I was confused by this book's description, so I will try to explain it better. The story is told through a series of letters from various characters. It takes place on a fictional island country where the residents have a dislike of modern technology and a love of language. Every person has an enormous vocabulary and delights in showing off their skills and in using language creatively.
Naturally, the island's founder and hero is a man whose fame lies in his word-craft. Particularly for his invention of the pangram "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." (Anyone who has ever taken typing classes will recognize it as a sentence which uses all 26 letters of the English alphabet with few repeats.) A statue of the founder is prominently displayed on the town square, complete with tiles that spell out his famous sentence.
But the statue is old, and the glue which held the tiles on was never of the best quality. Over the years it has dried out and become brittle, and one night a tile falls off. The town elders decide that this means that the founder does not wish them to use that letter anymore. They quickly pass a law that make the use of that letter illegal. It isn't too hard to find alternative words for ones containing that letter (Z) since it is fairly uncommon.
But tiles continue to drop off, at first one by one and then later at a faster rate. As each tile falls, the residents are forced to stop using that letter. They have to become more and more creative in finding ways to communicate. Eventually, only the letters "L, M, N, O, P" remain, thus the title pun (say them fast.)
As more and more people are either exiled or executed (for transgressions in accidentally using forbidden letters); or leave voluntarily, the remaining residents become desperate. They decide that their only hope lies in out-doing the founder by coming up with a new sentence that incorporates all 26 letters in a sentence of 32 letters or less.
Actually, the subtitle ("A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable"- it's different on some editions) says it all, but you don't fully realize what it means until you've read the book.
Ella Minnow Pea isn't so much about the plot, as it is about language, and the written letters that make up the text. It has even more obscure vocabulary words than does We Need To Talk About Kevin. You've never had so much fun learning new words before. The characters use them in such delightful ways. And the made-up ones are even funnier and more brilliant (as seen in the subtitle, for example); especially as the book progresses and new words must be found to replace ones that include illegal letters.
Towards the end, the letters become more and more difficult to decipher. You have to put some thought into it, which is part of the fun. Also part of the fun are all the pangrams that the people come up with. The whole book is an exhilarating, charming, wacky, and wild ride through the English language. You could read it 100 times and still discover marvelous words you hadn't noticed before.
I read a copy borrowed from the library, but I'm buying a copy to keep for myself, even though I've already read it. It's that good.
(205 pages)
Summary of Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the immortal pangram,* ?The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.? Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island?s Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop. As the letters progressively drop from the statue they also disappear from the novel. The result is both a hilarious and moving story of one girl?s fight for freedom of expression, as well as a linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers everywhere.*pangram: a sentence or phrase that includes all the letters of the alphabet
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