Semicolon The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark

Such a great book. Full of interesting history and just really engaging. Beyond that, though, it gives perspective to the whole “rules of usage” perspective that we’ve all been brought up with. In the past, punctuation was essentially just musical notation of the sound that the written sentence would have, were it spoken; it was quite subjective, and only there to help the writing to be expressive of the writer’s intent. It was only in the 19th century that rules of grammar became big, and punctuation became all about obedience to these rules. Of course, good writers today and in the past 200 years have rejected those rules and used grammar in the service of their own idea of good writing. But– like the practice of starting sentences with a conjunction– we view this as rule-breaking, rather than questioning our own rules-based paradigm of punctuation. What is the point of punctuation? To obey rules or to increase clarity or make beautiful, artful writing?These questions are front and center in this book, as are instances illustrating the real-life importance of punctuation in communication. The consequences of over-focusing on punctuation according to the rules, rather than the intent of writers, are illustrated by some horrible examples of criminal law gone wrong.

I teach English at the college and university levels, and have always been in love with the sexiest of punctuation marks, the semi-colon. I’ve also used Martin Luther King’s letter from Birmingham Jail, paragraph 14, in discussing its use in freshman comp classes (as well as in Virginia Woolf’s writing), so I was more than delighted to see this example also being brought forth in this beautiful little book. Even if your idea of a good time is not contemplating the relevance or significance of the semi-colon, you’re sure to be impressed with the back story/history of the mark, its significance in terms of societal-cultural meaning through the ages, and the marvelous sense of humor that runs like a thread throughout. Cecelia Watson is a wickedly wonderful writer, and I totally enjoyed every page of this gem. I’m also recommending it to my students, the ones who are as obsessed as I am over punctuation and its dwindling emphasis in contemporary writing classes.

This is a wonderful book, beautifully written, with a great deal of humour. I highlighted a load of gems as I went through. So interesting to read how a semicolon shut down bars in Boston, how grammarians have endlessly argued over it, how some sticklers for arbitrary rules decided they were the right person to rewrite Shakespeare and other greats. This book has inspired me to just get on and enjoy my love of language in both reading and writing.

Although by a different writer, this is similar to ‘Eats, Shoots and Leaves’ and that’s a compliment. It is in the category of ‘who knew?’ books that pulverize an arcane subject in a delightfully academic way. It was a fun and informing read and I passed it on to a smart person who would appreciate the nuances of this archeological dig into the history and conflicts of this seemingly benign single punctuation mark. Such scope!

A wonderful, book-length essay on grammar. Watson’s wit, spontaneity, and use of source material keeps it from becoming a diatribe on the evils of grammarians, although her position is clear. The title is a tad misleading, as the much-maligned semicolon is used as a reference point for the peccadilloes of punctuation in general. This little gem is now sitting proudly on my shelf, dwarfed only in physical size by its cousins such as the Chicago Manual of Style!