Reviews - Ella Minnow Pea | The StoryGraph

4.86k reviews for:

Ella Minnow Pea

Mark Dunn

4.01 AVERAGE

weltengaengerin's review

4.0

emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Reading this was an experience. Such a chilling, eerie portrayal of how people faced with ever-more-nonsensical edicts by government react (fight, flight, freeze in its finest) and big kudos to the author for writing in a way that it so.etimes was hard to believe no "d" or "f" was in the last few pages.

Obviously at 200 pages and in epistolary form, there is no huge character development or stuff. But that's not where the enjoyment and sense of wonder comes from!

dumbgrouse's review against another edition

3.0

A solid concept let down by its execution and ending. The use of letters as the narrative allows for an easy flow, however some of the 'side plots' are uninteresting and frankly boring. I suppose you don't read this book for the story though, only the concept.

mckenzijo's review against another edition

4.5

tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

haleyrk's review

5.0

challenging funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

An especially important read in light of the recent climb in book bans and limitations of topics and language 🫶

readnqu33n's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

First read audio. Second read digital.
This book fascinated me on many levels. The main one is the parallels and similarities between what happened in the book and what is happening now. An unheeded cautionary tale almost. For instance, the neighbors turning neighbors into ICE just like they did in this book. The people who are surprised when the bad things they wanted for others began to happen to them. The behavior of those people can go for good (trying to change their course and do better) or bad.

I found the behavior of the townsfolks interesting. Those who had quiet rebellion by overusing words with the letters they could use. Those that just self banished so they would not have to watch what was happening to their town. Those that became isolated. Those who lost their minds and then their life. (The lady who painted her whole body with lead paint.) All because of the chaos caused by the falling letters. The few who were valiantly fought to create change. Those who tried to live within the parameters of the council’s foolishness.

The Council was uncaring in their edicts. There is no room for alternative interpretations. Interpretation of events in any other way represents heresy. The ridiculous name changing of the days of the week when the “d” fell. Then thinking they had done something when they suggested using flash cards to teach your children the new names.

For Sunday, please use Sunshine.

For Monday, please use Monty.

For Tuesday, please use Toes.

For Wednesday, please use Wetty.

For Thursday, please use Thurby.

For Friday, please use Fribs.

For Saturday, please use Satto-gatto.

How it was okay for children up to seven not to follow the rules, but the minute they turned eight they could and was banished. How when they were given a scientific reason why the tiles were falling, they didn’t adhere to the lab reports. The police goons who just started to take over people’s private property and turning them into religious buildings for Nollop. I was amazed in the Council’s attempts that they were smart/intelligent enough to keep all historical documents in a climate-controlled room although they had devious desires to have the masons brick up all the documents. All of these are prime examples of what is happening in the present day, to some extent.

I was impressed with the number of sentences that could actually be made with all the letters of the alphabet. I like that the entire book was told in letters. I was also happy to see that good finally won out. I liked how the break after a letter fell was the alphabet with an asterisk for the fallen letters along with the pangram sentence with an asterisk for the same letters.

~The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

~The wicked peon quivered, then gazed balefully at the judges

who examined him. ~Anonymous Typesetter

~A quick move by the enemy will jeopardize six fine gun boats.

~Back in my quaint garden, jaunty zinnias vie with flaunting phlox.

~Thy amigomate Tom Zelta quickly wove eight nubby flax jumpers.

~Six big devils from Japan quickly forgot how to waltz.

~My girl wove six dozen plaid jackets before she quit.

~Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs. Please note that this

sentence is exactly 32 letters in length. The Council’s request.

~J.Q. Vandz struck my big fox whelp.

The other others, we are pleased to list below:

~Quick zephyrs blow, vexing daft Jim. (29)

~Few quips galvanized the mock jury box. (32)

~Pack my box of five dozen liquor jugs. (32)

A***E***I**LMNOP*RST**W***

The **i** ***wn *o* **mpso**r **e la** ***

***********LMNOP**********

*** ***** ****n *o* **mp* **** *** l*** ***

Children younger than seven, however, may bizz and bazz to their hearts content. (Ah, to be a child again!)

The books have all disappeared. You were right about the books. We will have to write new ones now. But what will we say? Without the whizz that waz.

They shut the library down today. By day’s end workmen had it totally boarded up. I spent much of the afternoon helping Rachelle box up items to transfer to the supply cabinets of Mother’s school.

Dairy farmer and beekeeper. Owner of the largest apiary, if I am not mistaken, on the island. It is the bees that have gotten poor Mr. Gregory into trouble. For how does one describe such creatures without use of a certain outlawed letter as a matter of course.

Neighbor turning in neighbor, perpetuating old grudges and grievances with this new weapon unleashed upon us by the High Island Council.

Without, I am sad to report, an island newspaper. The editor and publisher of The Tribune, Mr. Kleeman, has, in one grand and glorious protest, put out his final issue, and ignoring his family heritage, voluntarily departed this cursed sandbar.

Effective as of September 15, the primary responsibility of our isle’s new assistant chief postal inspector has been to scan all posts for use of illegal letters of the alphabet, then to make nightly reports to the council.

As a further assurance of the guarantee of your constitutional right to privacy, please note: the assistant chief postal inspector is an imbecile-savant from France. English is a foreign language he has yet to master.

We may continue to use the letter “o” until such time as its brothers choose to fall. (Notice that I prefer not to attribute the recurrent plunges to the Almighty Nollop!) However, the High Council askes that we cut usage of the letter by twenty-five

percent. I’m curious to know how they plan to police this.

What a pharisaic, vigilante witch! The nerve - to report me not once, but twice!

Rory is gone. It began this way: brash Council representatives, upon reaching his northern acreage, gave him papers that gave them authority to appropriate his property. No reason was given other than: it is the Council‘s wish.

There is no other supreme being, but Nollop.

A slip up near a police goon.

Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs?

And me down into the vault beneath the national library. Held in climate-controlled for perpetuity are several hundred linear feet of government records and historical documents, including the original Island Compact which we have all gazed upon, and it’s infrequent public displays, along with a sizable collection of Mr. Nevin Nollop‘s personal papers and most private effects. I asked Mr. Lyttle why all of this was spared in the wake of the anti-alphabetical edicts which had rendered to dust and ash virtually everything else found in print upon this island. It seemed that efforts were indeed underway to find masons to seal off the vault, entombing it behind a solid brick wall, burying as unintended time capsule, these immeasurement destined remnants of a time when discourse came without stricture - without posthumous Nollopian , any challenges-cum-curses.

All the Council members save Lyttle have tendered their resignations. Immediately thereafter Harton Mangrove attempted suicide with his necktie. It was clumsy attempt and quickly foiled.

I suggested that the following might be sculpted: a large box filled with sixty moonshine jugs - piled high, toppling over, corks popping, liquor flowing. Disorder to match the clutter and chaos of a marvelous language. Words upon words, piled high, toppling over, thoughts popping, correspondence and conversations overflowing.

nitra00's review

5.0

I read this in like three days, it was fun. It WILL have you searching up words and discovering they do not indeed exist; then, you'll realize "wait I could've just used context clues" or "wait this is literally just two words mishmashed together"; then you'll realize language is cool. DO have fun while reading PLEASE