Ella Minnow Pea August 24, 2012
Posted by nrhatch in Books & Movies, Word Play, Writing & Writers.trackback
The other day, Jodi Miner, My Literary Quest, mentioned an intriguing book ~ Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn ~ in conjunction with her post, The #1 Essential Writing Skill, written to extol the value and virtue of typing skills to writers.
Agreeing completely with the sentiments expressed in the post, I responded with two pangrams:
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.
That prompted Jodi to mention Ella Minnow Pea, a novel set on the fictitious island of Nollop, off the coast of South Carolina, and home to Nevin Nollop, the supposed creator of the well-known pangram, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”
The tale chronicles the effects on local literature and social structure as various letters are banned from daily use by government dictum.
Have any of you read Ella Minnow Pea (phonetically: L~M~N~O~P)?
What did you think?
Postscript: I finished reading Ella Minnow Pea last night and recommend it. Told entirely through letters from one citizen to another, using an increasingly limited alphabet, it says so much about our need to communicate freely . . . without governmental intrusion.
Related Post: Daily Prompt ~ Twenty Five
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Spirit Lights The Way 
I have not, Nancy, but it is going on my reading list right now. Thank you.
It sounds a bit Gulliver’s Travel~ish . . . with lots of Word Play tossed into the mix.
I read it a long time ago, but found it (as I recall), quite charming.
When Jodi mentioned it, I marched straight around to Amazon to take a peak. Sounds like an interesting read for bibliophiles.
Hmm. Sounds interesting. Might check it out.
I’m adding it to my library list . . . in the meantime, I thought I’d share the synopsis to find out whether anyone’s read it.
Have not read the book, but may check it out. I am always adding books to my library list. 🙂
I just added this . . . and 6 books on Dementia and Alzheimer’s for caregivers. I’m sure this is the book that will make for the most relaxed reading. 😆
I’ve never read it, Nancy -sounds a great read
I’m intrigued . . . a bit of totalitarianism (like Animal House) and some satire (like Gulliver’s Travels).
Whoops! Not the day to leave out a full stop!
And a perfect time to rely on an exclamation mark! 😀
I haven’t heard of this book before, but I’ll have to read the description closer. (The title is cute!)
I love the title, the premise, and the promise of Word Play. 😀
I always enjoy hearing what others are reading. I will take a look at this one, too, and more than likely it will end up on my every-growing Amazon wishlist! I think I might need to find Jodi, too! Debra
Oh, definitely swing round to My Literary Quest to say hi to Jodi. She’s just started posting again (about once a week) after a blogging hiatus which followed the birth of her youngest son.
That sounds like it would be a rather enjoyable book.
Oh, good. Hope it’s right up your alley, Maggie.
Sounds like a cheerful and fun book. I like the name of it. Saying it over and over all run together is fun. Silly me.
Nothing like a bit of word play to make us smile, eh?
I got the ‘a bee sea’ connection after a few bewildered blinks. Fun!
I love your ‘pack my box’ – haven’t come across it before, and I note that it beats ‘quick brown fox’ by a word, and by three letters (if i counted correctly).
After Jodi pointed me in the right direction, I found out that the “pack my box” pangram features in the book . . . as Ella’s father decides to move to the mainland to escape increasing government intrusion into communication.
I finished reading Ella Minnow Pea last night and highly recommend it. Told entirely through letters from one citizen to another, using an increasingly limited alphabet, it says so much about our need to communicate freely . . . without governmental intrusion.
That sounds fascinating. I have to add it to my list!
It immediately came to mind as I read your post today . . . I know that I enjoy having ALL 26 letters at my disposal.
Thank you for the link on the WP Blog Page… you look familiar. I’m trying to understand 2nd POV. lmnop sounded interesting.
Hi Ted. You’ve visited before . . . at least twice. I did a quick search of comments for your name (because it looked familiar). You posted on two posts:
Ella Minnow Pea is a delightful book. well worth the read. It makes me glad that I have all 26 letters available and at my disposal.
You are Andra’s friend. I commented after you on hers, after I saw this. What a coincidence.
It is a small world . . . even here in cyber space!
One of your comments mentioned “Andra” . . . I wondered if it might be “my Andra.” 😀
Is there more than one? God help us if there’s another…
My latest post, The Geography of Bliss, stems from one of her recommendations. 😀
[…] I was checking what my fellow bloggers wrote about this challenge, I liked what was posted in Spirit Lights in the Way about what a post that she read, I checked also her biography and was inspired by her will to […]
Now I have to read it!
It’s a fantastic epistolary tale . . . with shades of Animal Farm tossed into the mixed up muddled up alphabet soup.
Hmmmm. Check out James Thurber’s The Wonderful O.
I just checked it out . . . it looks great. Thanks, Lizzie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonderful_O