Ella Minnow Pea, by Mark Dunn
“On the small, quiet island [nation] of Nollop ... the letter z has fallen from the statue of Nevin Nollop, revered author of the sentence ‘the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog’ - and the island’s rulers interpret this as a sign of divine displeasure and ban its use in any form” (2003 blurb from Methuen).
Throughout the course of reading this novel, the island’s governing body is in every instance more horrifying than the last, first making ill-thought out and reactionary “innovations” in a way reminiscent of counterproductive (howsoever beautifully marketed) university restructuring initiatives that progressively remove courses to save on costs, and later continuing to dispense with sense and curtail civil liberties in a manner more reminiscent of Pol Pot.
Dunn describes his novel as a “progressively lipogrammatic epistolary fable”, meaning that the story is related by means of a fictional correspondence that must comply with increasingly constrained uses of language. I was admittedly surprised by the characters’ difficulties with pangrams compared to their comparative ease with much more tricky lipograms, but this did not decrease my enjoyment in any way-indeed it convinced me to try devising my own pangrams, which was additionally engaging.
Although I found the story a trifle slow to pick up its pace, I am glad that I stuck with it. Dunn impresses with his word play and cleverness, charms with his whimsy and likeable characters, and strikes a relatable chord in speaking against stupid and selfish decision making.
Throughout the course of reading this novel, the island’s governing body is in every instance more horrifying than the last, first making ill-thought out and reactionary “innovations” in a way reminiscent of counterproductive (howsoever beautifully marketed) university restructuring initiatives that progressively remove courses to save on costs, and later continuing to dispense with sense and curtail civil liberties in a manner more reminiscent of Pol Pot.
Dunn describes his novel as a “progressively lipogrammatic epistolary fable”, meaning that the story is related by means of a fictional correspondence that must comply with increasingly constrained uses of language. I was admittedly surprised by the characters’ difficulties with pangrams compared to their comparative ease with much more tricky lipograms, but this did not decrease my enjoyment in any way-indeed it convinced me to try devising my own pangrams, which was additionally engaging.
Although I found the story a trifle slow to pick up its pace, I am glad that I stuck with it. Dunn impresses with his word play and cleverness, charms with his whimsy and likeable characters, and strikes a relatable chord in speaking against stupid and selfish decision making.