Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable Hardcover – October 1, 2001

I'm a writer and an editor. This book was so much fun to read. It started out with such fancy writing that you had to re-read it twice or three times to understand it--usually a no-no for a book--but it was so intriguing I couldn't put it down. The metaphor for the politics that is going on in the country right now was on point, where people are afraid to speak their minds or have opinions that don't fall in line with the main stream media or you are cancelled. The leaders' antics are like those in "The Emperor's New Clothes," only in this book, even if a child points out the idiocy, they are also punished. This book had some twists and turns and it was fun to try to keep up with the alphabet-speak. I loved the transitions to the spelling of the words. I actually had to read it aloud to be able to understand what they were saying. At one point, when read aloud, it sounded like phonetic German--another metaphor.I was a quick read and I highly recommend it, especially for wordsmiths who love words and the English language. It really was genius.

Ella lives on the fictional island of Nollop, set off the coast of South Carolina with her friends and family. Nollip is named after Nevin Nollop – the creator of the well-known pangram, “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.” The sentence is tacked on to a statue commemorating Nollop in the town’s center. One by one, letters start to fall from the statue, and as they do, the island’s High Council interpret this as a sign from Nollop himself – banning letters from use in speech and writing. Citizens of Nollop must adapt to a new way of life and adjust their communication – carefully tip-toeing around the illicit letters. Ella and her friends work to restore the full 26-letter alphabet to her fellow citizens, with it restoring freedom of speech and communication. If you are looking for an intelligent read, with a dense plot and fully developed characters centered around totalitarianism, censorship vs free speech, superstition vs science – this is not the book for you. Quite frankly – there are far better books for that. If you are looking for a quick, pleasant read and some mental stimulation – this is the book for you (you can read this book in its entirety in a mere afternoon). The story is told through a series of letters between citizens of Nollop – and it becomes more challenging to read these exchanges as an increasing number of letters are banned. At first – seemingly less common and unimportant letters conveniently fell from the statue. No worries. Child’s play. But as the story unfolds, there are in fact certain words with such letters that can’t quite be expressed the same with substitutions. Turns out these letters, however infrequently used, are vital members of our alphabet. It certainly becomes a mental challenge to work around illicit letters and communicate the same – and its also a brain teaser just to interpret some messages meanings. Overall, I give this book 3 stars. Certainly not an in-depth analysis of some intense thought-provoking topics– but it was an overall cute and fun read! A nice change of pace to my usual reads.

I've been slowly making my way though a long list of books recommended by a librarian friend of mine. Next on the chopping block was this relatively short, but powerfully effective novel about the importance of vocabulary, and the deadly consequences of a power hungry government.　Taking place on a fictional island off the coast of South Carolina, there resides a tiny country called Nollop; named after Nevin Nollop---the man who coined the phrase "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"; a sentence that uses all 26 letters of the English alphabet. This small island nation that prides itself on rejecting most modern amenities, celebrating vocabulary, and communicates primarily through letter writing, practically worships Nevin Nollop as a god among men, with a statue of him and his famous phrase displayed in the village. But one fateful day, the tile containing the letter "Z" decays and falls off the statue. The island's governmental Council quickly interprets this as a sign from the deceased Nollop that the letter "Z" should be taken out of the alphabet, and thus, everyone is forbidden to write or speak any word that contains the letter. At first, the residents hardly see this as a problem and obediently follow the new rules, with failure to do so resulting in eventual banishment (or death if the person refuses to leave). But as time goes on, more and more of the letters begin to break off, resulting in the alphabet exponentially shrinking....and causing the island Council to employ harsher, near-Gestapo levels of law to keep their positions of power. As the people's rights are slowly taken away, families are torn apart, the community falls into disarray, and everyone's vocabulary becomes more stilted and caveman-like, it'll be up to a teenage girl named Ella Minnow Pea to find a way to convince the Council of their insane wrong-doings, and bring order to this once-thriving nation.　If given the chance, I could probably write an entire college essay on all the layers and subtle nuances contained in this one book that takes less than two hours to fully read. But without giving too much away, let's just say there's a surprising amount of harsh lessons jam packed into this fairly short story that, I would argue, is a quietly disguised horror novel---mostly psychological horror, that is. The situation starts off innocent enough, with this old-world society thinking they'll be fine without one letter, but the longer the restrictions stay in place, the more of their rights that get taken away, to the point of police invading people's homes and the government reading everyone's mail to make sure no forbidden letters are in it. (The huge irony being that supposedly, Nevin Nollop himself said "don't open your neighbor's mail", showing just how deluded the Council's become.) This leads to some extremely clever wordplay as the story goes on, with the island residents having to come up with different words, and alter their speech the more letters they lose, to the point of the book becoming near-incomprehensible.In an extended series of letters between members of the island community, we see, in real time, how quickly a government and society can fall when unjust laws are put into place, the danger and futility of treating ordinary humans like gods, and how far a governmental power will go to maintain supremacy. It also includes a debate on science versus religion, and how people will give any excuse to maintain their viewpoint despite clear evidence to the contrary, as well as what happens when a section of faith is taken too far---in particular, what happens when a government twists religion to further their own ends. Most importantly of all, when a new, arguably strange and/or unjust law is passed, we see how society tends to react from every angle. They either:*blindly follow the law without question*hate the law and leave the island to start a new life somewhere else*hate the law, but choose to keep quiet and make do as best they can, in fear of being targeted*hate the law and actively fight to change it　Through it all, we see how people are quick to either help or turn against one another to ensure their own survival. In one memorable instance, a character accidentally uses one of the forbidden letters, to which one of her neighbors eagerly rats her out to the authorities....only to have this bite them in the ass later when they themselves violate one of the laws, and they find themselves having to go to that same neighbor and beg for help. And it all leads to a bitter sweet ending. When your leaders have been exposed for the lying, power hungry dictators they are, and you've had your own friends and neighbors turn against you during a crisis, you can't exactly come back from that. And even though the day is ultimately saved, it comes at a high cost, and it's clear that, for good or for ill, life on Nollop will never be the same again.　Much as I'd like to see a movie adaption, this is one story that really cannot be told in any other format, lest it loose its impact. It ONLY works as a book, and it's a book that should probably become required reading in schools. It's one tale that'll stay with me for a long time.

A story for our current times in America. Interestingly written in letters. This is the story of restrictions by idiotic people in power. It is the story of Ella who stays behind to fight the good fight against that idiotic restriction. It is also the story about how a restriction might not affect you personally at a particular moment but you find that that one restriction does affect you in the end - thus the importance of standing up, speaking out, and resisting that restriction. It's funny, poignant, and the verbiage is exquisite.

The Story…Off the coast of America is an Island called Nollop. Named for the revered Nevin Nollop (deceased), creator of the pangram "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."Nollop is not an advanced nation - it's not even keeping up with the rest of the world. But what Nollop lacks in technological advancement, it's makes up for with the adoration of language. The Nollopian's adore words - especially Ella. They adore words, and they idolise the aforementioned Nevin Nollop. A monument to his linguistic prowess stands proud for all to see - tiles with individual letters spelling out the famous pangram.One day, a tile falls from the monument - the letter Z. The governing body of Nollop - being so fanatically devoted - declare the falling of the tile to represent an instruction from Nollop himself! The message is interpreted to mean the Nollopians should never used the letter Z again. Not in speech, not in writing...and those who break this divine law are severely punished.The book is written as a series of letters from various Nollopians. As more tiles fall from the aging monument, the Nollopians are forced to abandon the variety of words they adore so much, until they can take no more...What I liked…The book itself is an example - albeit a very strange one - of totalitarian government, fanatical religious leadership and censorship. As the letters fall from the monument, so too are they removed from the book. Dunn writes very cleverly, managing to keep as much variety and love of language in each letter, despite the every increasing pressure caused by the rapidly decrease pool of usable letters. It is clever, not just because it is a physically difficult task, but also because Dunn manages to express so much emotion in so many ways, and when Ella's heart breaks, my heart broke too.The format itself, a series of somewhat connected letters, is a very novel and highly effective form of delivery. It was not just a gimmick - it brought the story to life. It took me a little while to get my head around it, and might have been irritating if the story wasn't so engaging.Finally, I loved the variety of 'authors' for the letters. The letters are written by many different characters; all with different views and ways of dealing with an incredibly difficult situation. Perhaps one of the most difficult, but most rewarding things about this book is that you find yourself questioning which of the characters approaches you think you would follow if you were in their place. Questions like this are what usually make books about totalitarianism very difficult, and often soul crushing to read - but the admittedly bizarre situation allows you to consider these ethical dilemmas, something which I find really important.What I disliked…Nothing. I loved it.Final thoughts...This book seems really strange. The premise is strange, the way it uses an ever decreasing pool of letters is strange. The use of letters instead of 'normal' prose is weird. BUT it is beautiful. It is challenging. It is insightful. It is art.This book may be better suited to those with an appreciation for linguistic acrobatics, and the art of words, rather than the casual reader - but I would still encourage the casual reader to try it and see. It's more than worth the effort.

I really feel like I should be trying to write an epigrammatic review of this book, which is one my favourites, and the book I usually recommend if I'm swapping recommendations with friends, as they are almost guaranteed not to have heard of it.If you like the idea of an 'epistolary epigrammatic fable', then you probably don't need to read this review to know that you'll enjoy this book. If you're not particularly enamoured by the idea of the escalating wordplay, you should still give it a go. The title character, Ella, is a delight, and the cast of minor character that are introduced while sticking to the ever-more-complicated constraints are all worth knowing. I re-read this regularly, and recently bought another copy because I'd forgotten who I'd lent it to last. Seriously, if you're considering it, you should give it a go.

I am yet to read the book but I am a little disappointed with the condition the book arrived in. It appears as though the envelope had been stuck to the cover and has subsequently torn off leaving a strip of brown cardboard on the book. On top of this there was only a small amount of glue holding the envelope closed and it was literally open when it arrived. How the contents were still present is beyond me

Look carefully at that title and see if LMNOP comes to mind. Yes folks, this is a book about the letters of the alphabet and is a great read. A town whose most famous citizen created the phrase "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". He's celebrated by those words rendered in tiles in the town centre. But one day a tile falls off and the local council takes it as a sign to ban use of that letter of the alphabet. The book is told in a series of letters between the principles narrating both the action and their feelings about developments.Gradually more tiles fall and the alphabet cut further. The correspondence becomes a wonderful exploration of the variety of the English language. Because it's written in short notes, it's easy to read in sections such as while travelling. But towards the end I just wanted to read it and find out whether they ended up in a world without any words or whether they escape from the harsh punishments for transgression. There are elements of Farenheit 451 and 1984 in this story yet without the futuristic feel, it's way too easy to believe this could happen.

A really enjoyable read that was a little different from most of the books I usually gravitate towards. The eloquence of the characters and their obvious pain at having to skirt around restrictions placed upon them by the Nollop Island Council banning ever more letters of the alphabet was clear. The author's decision to write the story as a series of letters exchanged between the residents, consequently limiting himself alphabetically as much as the islanders, gives the tale extra sparkle.I would recommend this book to anyone.