The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark
Ratings2
Average rating4
Semicolon
By Cecelia Watson
“Delightful” (The New Yorker): Martin Luther King Jr. and Herman Melville used it. George Orwell hated it. Learn how an unassuming punctuation mark became a grammatical battleground. “Essential reading for anyone who cares about language” (The Boston Globe).
Reviews with the most likes.
This book isn't really about the punctuation mark; rather, it's a response to grammar pedantry.
Weirdly interesting! If you care about language (or at least the English language) at all, I would recommend this! Not too long either, so it doesn't overstay its welcome.
If I had more writing talent I would try to sneak the proper use of a semicolon into this review, but alas; you'll have to make do with this abomination of a sentence.
Semicolon is an informative and lighthearted read arguing in favour of the much-derided ‘semicolon'. Watson's writing is clear and direct; and successfully achieves her aim. For anyone who takes a particular interest in both English grammar/punctuation and the history thereof, I would recommend this novel. It is short and enjoyable: at no point bogged down by minutiae or jargon.
That said, there is nothing particularly remarkable about this book; nor is the topic a must-read by anyone who falls outside of the above niche. Thus, if you are looking at this book—and seem interested—then I think that is all the information you need to know that this book is for you.
PS: Since I am not American—and would find this noteworthy myself—most of Watson's examples and historical cases come from American usage. As Watson is an American author, I am sure that is because she is most familiar with that writing, but I would've certainly been interested to hear more about the semicolon's usage and history in other English dialects, or even other languages that make use of the semicolon.