Subject: RE: Words, words, words
From: Mattis Fishman (mattis@argoscomp.com)
Date: Mon Jan 24 2000 - 16:13:43 EST
>Well, I was going to chide Tim for choosing Fowler over Strunk & White....
>and then Cecilia chipped in with her paean of praise. They're BOTH great
>books. Desert Island books. Books that belong in ANY English-language library.
Paul,
I appreciate your appreciation for these classic works, but I find
it quite (TM) amusing that you would choose for your desert island
reading, two books whose purpose is to promote greater communication
among a group of people whose number is presumably greater than one.
Then again, I am reminded of an early draft of "A Perfect Day for
Bananafish" which I did not read in the Princeton Firestone Library:
The young man pulled the lapels the his robe tightly closed as
he slowly stepped along along the water's edge. Glancing down for
a moment he noticed a bottle of single malt scotch whisky bobbing in the
surf. As he picked it up, he was disappointed to see that though it was
corked it was empty except for a rough scrap of paper. Nothing to drink,
he thought, but as far as messages from the Almighty go, perhaps this was
bit more direct than peering into used handkerchiefs and dirty ashtrays.
He opened the bottle, removed the paper, smoothed it flat and began to
read:
"Help!" the note read, "I am marooned on a small island to the south and
east of Miami. Could you get the Coast Guard to please rescue me.
Cheers,"
The signature had been obliterated.
This fellow obviously has left his Strunk and White behind, he thought as
he dropped the note into one of the wire trash baskets that littered the
beach.
You can see why Salinger decided to go with Sybil here.
all the best,
Mattis
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