Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
Lynne Truss
Lynne Truss, though perhaps a bit pedantic, is blessed with a British sense of humor, and though Eats, Shoots & Leaves is clearly for the nitpickers among us, the author's habit of scattering sarcastic, witty remarks among her many, many complaints salvages the book, which rises above the level of mere complaint and becomes a testament of sorts to the history and importance of punctuation. It is a dry subject, to be sure, and sometimes Truss's (note the discretionary 's) humor goes just a tad too far- particularly for a treatise on punctuation- but she is able to keep the prose entertaining throughout; this remarkable achievement is assisted in no small part by her abundance of entertaining, and occasionally self-referential, illustrative examples. Part of the fun of grammatical errors is, of course, their propensity to entirely alter the actual effect of an otherwise well-meaning sentence, and this book is replete with such occasions, though the silly sadly outweigh the serious and present a missed opportunity of sorts, as the litany of complaints that buoy the work sometimes make the whole enterprise seem a bit trivial.
Ironically, Truss's willingness to bend on some grammatical principles- and her corresponding acknowledgment that all is likely to come crashing down at some point in the reasonably foreseen future- does tend to hamper her argument that all of this is fundamentally important, disastrous examples and all. Likewise, she does allow some prescriptive nonsense to seep into her prose, and though her acknowledgment of the differences between British and American usages is refreshing and her outright mockery of esteemed Messrs. Strunk and White entirely admirable to this particular hater (O! Sing of the gloriously ironic naming of the Strunkenwhite virus!), she does occasionally slip into the prescriptive mode. And while she is fully aware of the mutability and, indeed, adaptability of punctuation, her exploration of differing stylistic decisions is disappointing; though this certainly isn't meant to question the utility, purpose, or effect of, say, varying use of the commas, her treatment is almost entirely superficial, and she dismisses these phenomena as merely idiosyncratic or, worse, artifacts of historical paradigm shifts, rather than as perfectly legitimate ways in which to alter the style of a work. Nonetheless, and despite its minor annoyances, the book is a quick and fun read, utilizing history, grammar, and humor to make a rather elaborate, but also fairly welcome, point. Eats, Shoots & Leaves occasionally stumbles over its sense of self-importance, but remains more fun than didactic, and is a welcome read for those who fret over the seemingly deteriorating status of modern punctuation; for the absurdly specific, it certainly entertains throughout.
Grade: A-
Lynne Truss
Lynne Truss, though perhaps a bit pedantic, is blessed with a British sense of humor, and though Eats, Shoots & Leaves is clearly for the nitpickers among us, the author's habit of scattering sarcastic, witty remarks among her many, many complaints salvages the book, which rises above the level of mere complaint and becomes a testament of sorts to the history and importance of punctuation. It is a dry subject, to be sure, and sometimes Truss's (note the discretionary 's) humor goes just a tad too far- particularly for a treatise on punctuation- but she is able to keep the prose entertaining throughout; this remarkable achievement is assisted in no small part by her abundance of entertaining, and occasionally self-referential, illustrative examples. Part of the fun of grammatical errors is, of course, their propensity to entirely alter the actual effect of an otherwise well-meaning sentence, and this book is replete with such occasions, though the silly sadly outweigh the serious and present a missed opportunity of sorts, as the litany of complaints that buoy the work sometimes make the whole enterprise seem a bit trivial.
Ironically, Truss's willingness to bend on some grammatical principles- and her corresponding acknowledgment that all is likely to come crashing down at some point in the reasonably foreseen future- does tend to hamper her argument that all of this is fundamentally important, disastrous examples and all. Likewise, she does allow some prescriptive nonsense to seep into her prose, and though her acknowledgment of the differences between British and American usages is refreshing and her outright mockery of esteemed Messrs. Strunk and White entirely admirable to this particular hater (O! Sing of the gloriously ironic naming of the Strunkenwhite virus!), she does occasionally slip into the prescriptive mode. And while she is fully aware of the mutability and, indeed, adaptability of punctuation, her exploration of differing stylistic decisions is disappointing; though this certainly isn't meant to question the utility, purpose, or effect of, say, varying use of the commas, her treatment is almost entirely superficial, and she dismisses these phenomena as merely idiosyncratic or, worse, artifacts of historical paradigm shifts, rather than as perfectly legitimate ways in which to alter the style of a work. Nonetheless, and despite its minor annoyances, the book is a quick and fun read, utilizing history, grammar, and humor to make a rather elaborate, but also fairly welcome, point. Eats, Shoots & Leaves occasionally stumbles over its sense of self-importance, but remains more fun than didactic, and is a welcome read for those who fret over the seemingly deteriorating status of modern punctuation; for the absurdly specific, it certainly entertains throughout.
Grade: A-
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