Since working in a book store, I’ve been of the opinion that we are on the verge of another dark age. Where no one reads, and everyone is more fluent in txtspk than even English. I realized more and more that I was living in a culture of functional illiterates when one teenager was disappointed that we only had 10 books on CD. Sure, he could have needed them to listen to during a long commute… but considering he looked about 15 I find it doubtful. Of course, I spend so much time online that I fall prey to the lawls now and then (I love me some lolcat) but it’s important to maintain a somewhat firm hold on literacy and good old fashioned grammar and spelling. And run-on sentences.

Reading this book was even more of a reinforcement, just making me feel like I was very alone in paying attention during English class in high school. Each chapter is focused on one literary device, or commonly used symbolism. I found something new to learn in at least part of each chapter, but most of it just made me feel like it was a review. The chapters are in order more or less from simplest to most difficult to grasp. It was about the 15th chapter that I started having the lightbulbs of realization. In that way it’s really a book directed towards the every day reader, which despite my complaints was something I was glad of. The conversational tone of the author and his use of both literary and pop culture reinforcing references made the book quick to read and easy to understand.

The last part of the book is a short story, which you’re meant to read and interpret according to the things you’ve learned while reading. I was pleased to get graded as a university English graduate student, despite my having attained a much lower degree at a technology college where I only had to take an intro English class. Then again, I do read a shitton of books. Also it could be proof that the topics covered in the book are as basic as I thought they were. This book is a valuable read in many ways, it will definitely help broaden the understanding of many books from contemporary fiction to classic literature for readers at various levels. I’ve also found that the things I’ve learned in this book apply to some movies, tv shows, and music. I didn’t previously realize there was such a direct link between them, which makes me feel really silly and a little extra stupid.