I’m sure most people have heard of this book; many of you have probably read it. I have always thought I would like to read it, but somehow it has not made it into my reading pile until now. I had a small break when reading for work could be put on hold for a week or so and thought: now’s the time!
I have always enjoyed punctuation and what it is capable of. It is something I notice when I am reading, sometimes stumbling over passages that haven’t used enough, or have used too much of a good thing. Then, at times, it can be a real joy. A perfect example would be books by Jenifer Rowe (who writes as Emily Rodda). On a number of occasions her use of commas has given me shivers of delight. I have read, and re-read a sentence, lavishing in the way all the pieces fit together and make perfect sense. So while I have never gone out of my way to become a ‘stickler’ (as it is put in this book), punctuation has always been on my radar.
Lynne Truss has compiled a collection of examples where punctuation has been misused to varying degrees of disaster, including many that personally rubbed her wrong. By throwing them all together, pointing out what is wrong with them, and speculating about a future where punctuation has become outdated or extinct, she makes a brilliant case for the importance of those funny little marks that go in and around all of our words and letters.
I, for one, have seen the error in some of my ways. Particularly in casual/personal use such as emails and text messages. In these cases, it is not so much about whether or not it can be understood, because generally speaking, it can. It is more about the fact that the over abundance of misuse leads to an acceptance until even literary or scholarly begins to contain these changes and the downward spiral becomes more pronounced and then…
Eats, Shoots & Leaves is the perfect book if you want to have a giggle at some very amusing – and frustrating! – examples of illiterate use of punctuation, and learn a little something along the way.
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