Semicolon: The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark

 

Today’s Nonfiction post is on Semicolon: The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark by Cecelia Watson. It is 213 pages long and is published by Harper Collins Publishing. The cover is blue with three semicolons on it in red, yellow, and blue. The intended reader is someone who is interested in the history of the semicolon and how it has been viewed over history. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- In Semicolon, Cecelia Watson charts the rise and fall of this infamous punctuation mark, which for years was the trendiest one in the world of letters. But in the nineteenth century, as grammar books became all the rage, the rules of how we use language became both stricter and more confusing, with the semicolon a prime victim. Taking us on a breezy journey through a range of examples—from Milton’s manuscripts to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letters from Birmingham Jail” to Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep—Watson reveals how traditional grammar rules make us less successful at communicating with each other than we’d think. Even the most die-hard grammar fanatics would be better served by tossing the rule books and learning a better way to engage with language.

Review- As fun little read about one my favorite punctuation marks.  Watson loves her topic and all that love in the text and I understand how she feels. She covers the semicolons from when it was created, why it was created, and now how people feel about it. Watson is a good writer, she knows her material, and she makes it very engaging. She never over loads the reader with information, just enough to understand and appreciate what she is telling us. There are fun little pictures in the beginning of each chapter where you can play where is the semicolon?, it's a fun little game. One benefit to this book is the short length, Watson understands that getting to the point is a good thing with dealing with an odd bit of history and it works in her favor. I recommend this book as a wonderful, fun read about an interesting and at times difficult punctuation mark.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.