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dmturner's review against another edition
4.0
A snack-fest of history and typography, the book is divided into stand-alone chapters about the pilcrow, the interrobang, the octothorpe, the ampersand, the @ symbol, the asterisk and dagger, the hyphen, the dash, the manicule, quotation marks, and the various attempts to create irony marks. Some have become part of the character set of modern written language, while others have faded, especially the various attempts at the irony mark. The only irony mark that has survived is from the set of emoticons ;).
There is some repetition, because as the author suggests in the beginning, each chapter can be read separately from the others. I found the chapter about the octothorpe # (otherwise known as the pound sign, the hash mark, the number sign, and the hashtag) particularly fascinating. Its history is intertwined with the Latin words libra and pondo, from which sprang the weight symbol lb. and the weight and monetary unit "pound." In fact, the hash mark was created from an elided variant of the "lb." abbreviation.
Very entertaining if at times slow going.
There is some repetition, because as the author suggests in the beginning, each chapter can be read separately from the others. I found the chapter about the octothorpe # (otherwise known as the pound sign, the hash mark, the number sign, and the hashtag) particularly fascinating. Its history is intertwined with the Latin words libra and pondo, from which sprang the weight symbol lb. and the weight and monetary unit "pound." In fact, the hash mark was created from an elided variant of the "lb." abbreviation.
Very entertaining if at times slow going.
mschlat's review against another edition
5.0
So this was simply a work of sheer delight... Houston could have written twice as much, and I believe I would have been just as enthralled.
What makes the book work is that while the subject is punctuation marks, Houston places his discussion in the context of cultural history and changes in writing and printing technology. A great example is his discussion of marginal marks (e.g., the manicule or pointing hand). Houston doesn't just talk about the development of the manicule and its variants --- he discusses the practice of marginal notes (first, the province of the book owner and a sign of his or her assiduous perusals, and then the province of the book maker to cover more accepted interpretations). You're not just reading about a mark, but you are understanding how readers and writers argued about classical and biblical texts.
Another wonderful emphasis is the impact of technology, covering everything from Gutenberg and the first printed works all the way to the appearance of the digital smiley face. Houston constantly emphasizes that punctuation is kept or abandoned as technology changes. Interested in a new punctuation mark? Well, will it make it onto that new-fangled typewriter, that spiffy Monotype system, or as a character in ASCII? If not, you have another mark lost to history.
Given Houston's love of typography, it helps that the book is gorgeously put together. Black is used for the text, but red for the punctuation marks in question (and the asterisks and daggers for footnotes) and manicules for every image. I must admit that I sometimes lost red asterisks amid the sea of black text (knowing of a footnote's existence solely from its presence at the bottom of the page), but that's a minor quibble for a text with a symbol index.
All this, and I still haven't covered the little tidbits I enjoyed: the reason why paragraphs are indented, why an ampersand is called an ampersand, the rationale for # on touch tone phones, the wonderful appearance of Donald Knuth and his typesetting software TeX, the question of whether you need a written symbol for ironic text, .... Just a delightful work that I would recommend to anyone interested in typography, language, or the art of reading and writing.
What makes the book work is that while the subject is punctuation marks, Houston places his discussion in the context of cultural history and changes in writing and printing technology. A great example is his discussion of marginal marks (e.g., the manicule or pointing hand). Houston doesn't just talk about the development of the manicule and its variants --- he discusses the practice of marginal notes (first, the province of the book owner and a sign of his or her assiduous perusals, and then the province of the book maker to cover more accepted interpretations). You're not just reading about a mark, but you are understanding how readers and writers argued about classical and biblical texts.
Another wonderful emphasis is the impact of technology, covering everything from Gutenberg and the first printed works all the way to the appearance of the digital smiley face. Houston constantly emphasizes that punctuation is kept or abandoned as technology changes. Interested in a new punctuation mark? Well, will it make it onto that new-fangled typewriter, that spiffy Monotype system, or as a character in ASCII? If not, you have another mark lost to history.
Given Houston's love of typography, it helps that the book is gorgeously put together. Black is used for the text, but red for the punctuation marks in question (and the asterisks and daggers for footnotes) and manicules for every image. I must admit that I sometimes lost red asterisks amid the sea of black text (knowing of a footnote's existence solely from its presence at the bottom of the page), but that's a minor quibble for a text with a symbol index.
All this, and I still haven't covered the little tidbits I enjoyed: the reason why paragraphs are indented, why an ampersand is called an ampersand, the rationale for # on touch tone phones, the wonderful appearance of Donald Knuth and his typesetting software TeX, the question of whether you need a written symbol for ironic text, .... Just a delightful work that I would recommend to anyone interested in typography, language, or the art of reading and writing.
plaidpladd's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting topic, and just the right blend of academic scholarship and accessible language
depechemold's review against another edition
I was really enjoying this, but the library was all like, “you’ve had that book out for seven months” and “please pay us $27 before we send you to collections,” so I had to turn it in. I would like to finish it one day though if I remember!
merberr's review against another edition
2.0
What an awesome book! I've only recently delved deeply into nonfiction, and this is exactly the sort of thing I've been looking for– a great adventure into a specific but ubiquitous area: "punctuation, symbols, and other typographical marks." You'll be amazed by how much you never knew, and how hard it is to get the facts and stories about these little guys out of your head after you read them.
A great book, totally engrossing, and completely worth it.
A great book, totally engrossing, and completely worth it.