The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
WINTER CHALLENGE 2021
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Group Reads Discussion - Ella Minnow Pea
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I love books told in epistolary form, and this one did not disappoint. It was just long enough not to get boring, clever in the extensive vocabulary, and scary in its depiction of a totalitarian society.
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I love books told in epistolary form, and this one did not disappoint. It was just long enough not to get boring, clever in the extensive v..."
I was also impressed with the vocabulary used in the book when letters were taken away. I also liked that the sentence was discovered by happenstance.
What a charming book! I loved this book and got through it very quickly. The use of language was very clever - I can only imagine the efforts the author must have gone through to select the order the letters would fall in and write the novel accordingly. Towards the end of the book when they were allowed to use some letters in place of restricted letters (e.g. PH instead of F or V) I found myself reading out loud to understand the words!A very unique and entertaining little book.
I really liked this. It was impressive how the characters (and the author!) managed to find new ways of describing things. I'm planning to see how many of my friends know what porticos and fenesters are or how they would describe or re-name sections of the week if we couldn't use the letter D. The different names for October were hysterical. It was less enjoyable to read when the writers changed from re-wording things to using different letters for the phonemes. Understandable why this had to be done, but not as interesting as the expanded vocabulary.
I'm so glad I had an opportunity to read this book again! I really enjoyed the creativity required to come up with words without using the banned letters. I'm glad LMNOP were the last letters left; it tickled me that the title and main character's name were found in the alphabet that way.
As excited as I was for the chance to read this again, I'm not sure I enjoyed it as much. I'm still very impressed by the creativity of the author/characters, but the actions of the council scared me a bit this time.
Wow, I did not think I was going to love this one as much as I did! I read it in a single sitting because I couldn't bear to leave these Nollopians alone. Plus that suspense in the last third of the book just will not let me go. Absolutely fantastical & beguiling; it's one book I'd recommend to my IRL bookclub which I reckon all will actually enjoy (this is a very very rare thing).I do have to wonder though where are the emojis?!
This was absolutely not my kind of book. I just don't like didactic stories that work so hard to make a point they sacrifice character, plot, and even sense. In addition, an epistolary book needs to be written so the reader can tell who is writing the letter without skipping to the signature. As the book progressed I found it impossible to tell who was writing and I got a bad headache from the phonetic spelling. Had this been much longer I'd have thrown in the towel.I was hoping for two things from this story - a sense of fun and some clever use of language. The first was totally missing, the second present but not enough to overcome the problems for me.
I'm really glad other people enjoyed it, though, and it was a clever idea. It just didn't work for me.
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Kathy KSAlthough this has been on my TBR for a few years, it was a pleasant surprise. This epistolary allegory about the island country, Nollop, (off the southeaster U.S. coast) is a quick read, a fun and challenging read, and rather scary when you think of the implications.
First published in 2001, the book seems to bring to mind many aspects of life in the U.S. and around the world in the subsequent years. It definitely would be an interesting book for a book club discussion. Nollop is the home of the creator of "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog", known by generations of those learning to type. As letter fall off a memorial to Nollop the High Council declares each letter must be stricken from use in the country, with severe penalties. As more and more come down, life becomes hard.
Ella and others in Nollop are not willing to accept the totalitarian country that is beginning to emerge. Can they improve things? And how do you communicate as more and more letters are forbidden?
I read this a few years ago in print and audio. I was excited for the opportunity to read it again. I must admit, when I listened to it on audio, I missed a lot of the fun seeing the spellings of words. While reading, I kept stopping and pondering what it would be like to live in a society that banned the use of certain letters. What would I do if the government/council came in and took all my books away. I would be absolutely devastated. I don't watch a lot of tv or movies, so reading is always my go to hobby. The old saying "think before you speak" would definitely become a golden rule to follow.
Towards the end, I did have to stop and pronounce some of the words or re-read them to make sure I was catching on to what was being said. Such a fun, challenging book that I may read again in the future years. This book definitely opens your eyes and makes you think about the freedom we have vs a totalitarian society. Censored mail, the punishments,and the stress of trying not to make a mistake is enough to make a person want to move away as some of the Nollopians chose to do.
Kudos to this author who is not only smart but witty as well. I enjoyed this so much more this time that I am going up from 3 stars to 4 stars. The longer I sit on it, I may go on up to 5 stars, especially since I am already contemplating reading it again.
Yikes, as I am sitting here typing this a nightmare popped into my head. Can you imagine trying to participate in this reading challenge if our alphabet letters were limited? Our moderators would definitely be bald and suffering from migraines trying to determine what the participants were saying/referring to.
Amy FLI think I missed a lot by choosing the audio version. Seeing the altered words in print would have made for a more engaging experience. I didn't hate the book, but I didn't love it either.
PAULA SI, for some reason, expected this to be a funny children's book, and was pleasantly surprised to find a serious, if humorous, story about fanaticism and totalitarian oppression told in notes and letters. It's always good to be reminded about the slippery slope from almost reasonable, and seemingly unimportant, restrictions in personal freedoms to complete oppression, and hopefully this reminder can help us recognize and stop escalations in the real world.
The requirement for task 20.10: You must participate in the book's discussion thread below with at least one post about the contents of the book or your reaction to the book after you have read the book.