Book Review: The Pun Also Rises

I chose this book for its brevity, in light of my imminent vacation on which I want to start a new book. Well, brevity may be the soul of wit, but John Pollack, despite winning a World Pun Championship (something I'd like to enter someday), doesn't load the pages with jokes like some authors I could name. Sure, he'll throw one of his own in here and there when it comes easily, but for the most part, he takes the subject rather seriously.

So, it turns out, have most punsters in history. Forget wordplay; people have read spiritual truths into puns, used them for coded messages in dangerous times, and even had death matches over them. Apparently the English helped pioneer the more fun uses, Shakespeare reflecting a bit of a turning point. Even modern fun uses aren't just leisure: They function as a mental exercise to hone our creativity to practical ends, much as young animals play in order to practice survival skills.

Pollack stretches the meaning of "pun" to its limits by citing combinations such as Google Doodles, where letters often take the form of objects. I guess I don't mind, given that they serve a similar purpose. What I appreciate most is his theory on why some people hate all puns -- and why they're wrong to do so.

...Yeah, if you hate puns, you probably won't read far enough to get that. But in that case, why are you reading my LJ?


My next read is Keri Hulme's The Bone People. In the unlikely event that I have enough downtime to finish it -- or can't stand to -- before I return, I'm also taking David Weber's On Basilisk Station.

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In less than two days, I'll be at the airport heading to New Zealand. My mom has said more than once, "I hope you're excited about all this," because I almost never express excitement. Indeed, one of my reasons for going is to combat ennui.

But I don't know whether to call my feeling excitement or just apprehension. I've had to do a number of things I never did before in preparation, and even with all the assistance from Topdeck and others, I can't help worrying that I'll lose or overlook something important. I already made my most expensive mistake to date in the last four months (the MacBook); could this be a new high?

OK, it's hard to see this becoming a total loss, which, as I've said, is rarer than we tend to think. Unless I can't even leave the U.S. for some reason, I will add to my geographic experience -- a new country, a new continent, my first time in the Eastern and Southern Hemispheres at once -- and if I can't, I'll surely learn to do better next time. And while it is a singles tour, I doubt I'll start a disastrous relationship. Mostly I'm in this for the memories.

And yes, I'll take pictures this time. Provided I maintain a working phone.