Now, I'm not a stickler about grammar, per se. Sure, I notice on occassion when there is a misplaced or missing punctuation mark. But it doesn't ruin my day or take the "s" off my proverbial skittle to see an it's where an its belongs. Given Lynne Truss's warning at the start of the book that you should put this book down if you don't gasp in horror when you see incorrect grammar, I almost put the book down without reading past the first page. I called her on her hyperbole and sarcasm though, and I'm glad I did.
It was a fun read, as long as I remembered to overlook her frequent "call to arms" comments as she tried to "rally the troops" to her cause - to the aid of dying grammar. I suppose I tend to be more in the linguistic camp; I don't mind simply observing how language is used and how it evolves; it doesn't bother me when people use it "incorrectly." Plus, some things I knew were wrong, she was doing all over the place, so who was she to talk? Then she pointed out that Americans and British have some differences in acceptable uses of punctuation. Oh. Who knew? Anyway, as I told my husband, I read this book for two reasons and two reasons only: (1) the funny jokes about ambiguities in grammar, and (b) Truss's interesting presentation of the history of punctuation marks.
I did disagree with her doomsday reports on how technology (e.g. chat rooms or text messages) is changing grammar. Text messages are a completely different medium from books and journalism; grammar must evolve to the new medium. I don't know that it will change more permanent communication means, since the technology communication is fleeting by nature. We shall see eh? And if it does, I'm okay with that. So this book may not change my understanding or usage of grammar, but at least it was enjoyable food for thought.
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