205 pages
English language
Published Nov. 14, 2001 by MacAdam/Cage Pub..
"Ella Minnow Pea is an epistolary novel set on the fictional island of Nollop, situated off the coast of South Carolina and home to the inventor of the pangram The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog. The islanders have erected a monument to honor their late hero, but one day a tile with the letter "Z" falls from the statue. The leaders interpret the fallen tile as a message from beyond the grave and the letter is banned from use.
On an island where the residents pride themselves on their love of language, this is seen as a tragedy. They are still reeling from the shock, when another tile falls and then another." "Mark Dunn takes us on a journey against time through the eyes of Ella Minnow Pea and her family as they race to find another phrase containing all the letters of the alphabet to save β¦
"Ella Minnow Pea is an epistolary novel set on the fictional island of Nollop, situated off the coast of South Carolina and home to the inventor of the pangram The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog. The islanders have erected a monument to honor their late hero, but one day a tile with the letter "Z" falls from the statue. The leaders interpret the fallen tile as a message from beyond the grave and the letter is banned from use.
On an island where the residents pride themselves on their love of language, this is seen as a tragedy. They are still reeling from the shock, when another tile falls and then another." "Mark Dunn takes us on a journey against time through the eyes of Ella Minnow Pea and her family as they race to find another phrase containing all the letters of the alphabet to save them from being unable to communicate."--BOOK JACKET.
Unterhaltsam, spannend fΓΌr einen nicht-Muttersprachler und doch nicht abgehoben, sondern irgendwie sehr treffend in der derzeitigen Krise. Top.
Ella Minnow Pea is a contrived fantasy set on an island of people who delight in flowery language. It features a small, old-fashioned courtship during what I would more likely describe as "a plague of letters".
It's fun and diverting. It's not difficult to read even when, about three-quarters through, it switches to using homophones instead of restricting words themselves.
The pace never rises above a gentle saunter. Don't think of it as some great literary achievement, but enjoy it for what it is.
Clever, fun, quick read
I write this on Nollop on October 13. They say that it is illegal to use letters D, F, J, K, Q, Z. Thus, this is my review about this marvellous thing. It's brilliant. I turn through it in a single one-more-than-three hour sitting while anticipating my aeroplane leaving. It gets more yet more inventive all the way through. It has a clever twist, a clever title. It is especially marvellous because writers have to use variable expressions, as am I, to postulate amongst themselves about what is going on. There is a small portion three-sixths through where I perceive it is a literary excercise, but that might have been the sleep starting: but it cleverly moves up a gear anyway. Brilliant. (Oh, and writing that was very difficult indeed!!)
Part whimsical book of language, centered around "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". Part heavy-handed allegory about dogma, tyranny, and the populace's accepting of it.
