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absentminded_reader's review
3.0
Interesting read. A very personal history of handwriting. I would have liked to see more citations, though. Often the author would describe what the scribes of old would think, and I wondered if she was pulling from a source or just speculating. Otherwise, it was very informative.
dgw's review
4.0
If only I could remember the path that led me to this book. To someone, somewhere, I owe a debt of gratitude for the initial mention that placed Script & Scribble on my radar. Perhaps it was mentioned in a Goodreads newsletter, or on a blog; I can't remember.
Having read Script & Scribble, I am now perhaps even more irked by my poor handwriting skills—the very cocography that drove me to learn how to type at a respectable 80–90 WPM. I also have a much better understanding of just why I learned to print before learning to write cursive, and just how handwriting has changed over the years.
(As a side-effect, I gained a revulsion for Blackletter: a script so unreadable it brings to mind the squiggles of Peanuts characters—only it's supposed to be "real" writing, not the pretending of comic strip characters.)
Calligraphy was a brief part of my elementary schooling, and I've a sudden urge to dig out the fountain pen I have from those days. Not that my Uncial was ever that good—but maybe if I practice…
On top it all, Florey makes reference to many other books works that will most likely end up on my to-read shelf. When reading a book makes my to-read list longer, and not shorter, I consider it a tribute to the author—even if it means I edge that much closer to having a list that I will never finish.
The only thing I have to complain about is Chapter One, and not because of the content. I would like to have a talk with the publisher about the layout of that first chapter. Figures overlap the text, sidenote references in the text fail to match the number of the note beside them, and sometimes the text breaks in strange places to leave whitespace in odd arrangements. There's also a use of the word "happly" on page 53 that, well, just made me laugh after a double-take.
Aside from those few oddities, the book is flowingly written, beautifully laid-out, humorous, and witty. I look forward to reading Florey's best-selling [b:Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog|31049|Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences|Kitty Burns Florey|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168197838s/31049.jpg|2238416].
Having read Script & Scribble, I am now perhaps even more irked by my poor handwriting skills—the very cocography that drove me to learn how to type at a respectable 80–90 WPM. I also have a much better understanding of just why I learned to print before learning to write cursive, and just how handwriting has changed over the years.
(As a side-effect, I gained a revulsion for Blackletter: a script so unreadable it brings to mind the squiggles of Peanuts characters—only it's supposed to be "real" writing, not the pretending of comic strip characters.)
Calligraphy was a brief part of my elementary schooling, and I've a sudden urge to dig out the fountain pen I have from those days. Not that my Uncial was ever that good—but maybe if I practice…
On top it all, Florey makes reference to many other books works that will most likely end up on my to-read shelf. When reading a book makes my to-read list longer, and not shorter, I consider it a tribute to the author—even if it means I edge that much closer to having a list that I will never finish.
The only thing I have to complain about is Chapter One, and not because of the content. I would like to have a talk with the publisher about the layout of that first chapter. Figures overlap the text, sidenote references in the text fail to match the number of the note beside them, and sometimes the text breaks in strange places to leave whitespace in odd arrangements. There's also a use of the word "happly" on page 53 that, well, just made me laugh after a double-take.
Aside from those few oddities, the book is flowingly written, beautifully laid-out, humorous, and witty. I look forward to reading Florey's best-selling [b:Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog|31049|Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences|Kitty Burns Florey|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168197838s/31049.jpg|2238416].
virtuallori's review
4.0
Really interesting, but marred by some serious proofreading oversights and production mistakes (e.g., pp. 30-31, where stray lines of type run under images, and chapter 1, where the note numbers are all messed up and most of the note numbers in the text don't match the numbers on the notes themselves). Still, worth a read if you're at all interested in handwriting.
oldpondnewfrog's review
3.0
Interesting topic; makes me want to handwrite more. I've also resolved to make my signature less scrawly.
superdilettante's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, though there were some egregious copy/design errors (misnumbered footnotes, illustrations obscuring text) that such a stickler should not have let slip past her eagle eye.
While I am definitely in the camp of those who think that the lack of handwriting practice will be detrimental to young people down the line, I also say that those who liked handwriting practice in school, and did fairly well at it, think that it should continue to be taught. While those who hated it, like my mate, think it's a waste of time.
I was the perfect audience for this book. I only wish I'd known about it about six months ago, when I was writing the handwriting and pen-pal chapter of Good Mail Day, a book about correspondence and mail art that will be coming out next fall! Ah well, best to know I did not unintentionally plagiarize Florey's lovely, witty, charming writing.
While I am definitely in the camp of those who think that the lack of handwriting practice will be detrimental to young people down the line, I also say that those who liked handwriting practice in school, and did fairly well at it, think that it should continue to be taught. While those who hated it, like my mate, think it's a waste of time.
I was the perfect audience for this book. I only wish I'd known about it about six months ago, when I was writing the handwriting and pen-pal chapter of Good Mail Day, a book about correspondence and mail art that will be coming out next fall! Ah well, best to know I did not unintentionally plagiarize Florey's lovely, witty, charming writing.
tallblackguy's review
3.0
Nothing particularly groundbreaking, but I knew that any treatise of history of handwriting and writing utensils would contain some sort of "getting something handwritten nowadays is as rare as " and I wasn't disappointed on that score. Overall, an interesting history of handwriting history in the United States, interspersed with the author's own rumination and remembrances of her own obsession with the written form.
tregina's review
3.0
Just a couple of days ago my coworker (a former teacher) and I were talking about the decline of handwriting, and how young students today were having difficulty reading anything in cursive because they'd never really learned to use it. So when I stumbled across this book I knew immediately that I had to read it.
I'm pretty sure I like the idea of beautiful handwriting more than I like the act of it, which is probably why I loved the book as much as I did. It seems very elegant and classy in a world that is decreasingly so.
Technology moves fast. Nowhere was this more evident than towards the end of the book when the author talked about keyboarding as the skill that every child needs now. I knew at that moment the book must have originally been published in 2010 or earlier--tablets don't have keyboards. Maybe that will be our next lost skill.
I'm pretty sure I like the idea of beautiful handwriting more than I like the act of it, which is probably why I loved the book as much as I did. It seems very elegant and classy in a world that is decreasingly so.
Technology moves fast. Nowhere was this more evident than towards the end of the book when the author talked about keyboarding as the skill that every child needs now. I knew at that moment the book must have originally been published in 2010 or earlier--tablets don't have keyboards. Maybe that will be our next lost skill.
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