Full Version: Did a man write a book without using "E?"
I've heard that a man decided he'd write a book without using any words that had an "E" in them. My father says it's true, but I doubt it. How could you write ANYTHING without using "the?"
Have never heard of that. Of course the more I think about the letter E the more impossible it sounds. I don't know the guidelines that make a book. It could be just a couple of pages. Still that would be a terrific accomplishment.
QUOTE(RollingThunder06 @ Oct 9 2006, 12:53 AM) [snapback]1382501[/snapback]
Have never heard of that. Of course the more I think about the letter E the more impossible it sounds. I don't know the guidelines that make a book. It could be just a couple of pages. Still that would be a terrific accomplishment.
I've actually heard about that. I find that really interesting and if he did do it, I give him/her credit. Right here in this post i've already used the letter "E" about 20 times+. How impossible!
Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright
I know of a song written by Leon Gieco that doesn't use any other vowel except for the "o" 
It is not that hard to coin good writing without using that in particular. In another forum some of us had a topic going for a long time in which it was not put into the posts at all!
^ There, no E's!
'it' of course refering to the letter e.
^ There, no E's!
'it' of course refering to the letter e.
QUOTE(BurnSide @ Oct 9 2006, 03:41 PM) [snapback]1383090[/snapback]
It is not that hard to coin good writing without using that in particular. In another forum some of us had a topic going for a long time in which it was not put into the posts at all!
^ There, no E's!
'it' of course refering to the letter e.
What's this then?
Blast! Evidently i'm rusty. I also used the word 'time'.
With a decently large vocabulary it's very much possible to use no E's in sentence structure and make the writing ledgible, however i'm not that good.
With a decently large vocabulary it's very much possible to use no E's in sentence structure and make the writing ledgible, however i'm not that good.
^ And you used 'another'.
I have heard about this book,if it was Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright, wouldn't he have used E in the title?
I have heard about this book,if it was Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright, wouldn't he have used E in the title?
Blast!! Harder than i remember. 
His name doesn't count, he can't change that.
His name doesn't count, he can't change that.
Golly, if that isn't an odd thing to do. 
Who could find that kind of opportunity?
I'll try to look at this book on any random approaching day. It sounds amazing.
^No E's.
Who could find that kind of opportunity?
I'll try to look at this book on any random approaching day. It sounds amazing.
^No E's.
I can do a post without using _. It is kind of difficult to do a post without using _, so how hard is a book?
^See no E's, But a whole book, How long would that have taken?
^See no E's, But a whole book, How long would that have taken?
QUOTE(_Nyx_ @ Oct 8 2006, 10:32 PM) [snapback]1382594[/snapback]
Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright
Don't you mean Gadsby by rnst Vincnt Wright?
QUOTE(OlDrippy34 @ Oct 9 2006, 02:24 PM) [snapback]1383385[/snapback]
Don't you mean Gadsby by rnst Vincnt Wright?
well...if you want to get technical about it..
I wondered what was on the front.
QUOTE(BurnSide @ Oct 9 2006, 12:42 PM) [snapback]1383312[/snapback]
Blast! Evidently i'm rusty. I also used the word 'time'.
And the word 'the'.
I could never do that. Not without a huge thesaurus. The word that would escape me every time would be 'the'.
QUOTE(BurnSide @ Oct 9 2006, 11:41 AM) [snapback]1383090[/snapback]
It is not that hard to coin good writing without using that in particular. In another forum some of us had a topic going for a long time in which it was not put into the posts at all!
^ There, no E's!
'it' of course refering to the letter e.
Too many E's to count, Burny, baby.
(Gangster CK is hittin' the town, rocket kid.)
All i know is that i'm a good work guy.
HA! No, 'E's but gotta give Simpsons credit for that
HA! No, 'E's but gotta give Simpsons credit for that
Dr Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham only with 50 words, repeated. Because someone dared him too, Apparently.
No E's! Eek! I mean...Aaah!
No E's! Eek! I mean...Aaah!
How could you or I post any topic without using that? In my opinion it is hard if not outright ridiculous. Only a man with nothing to do would accomplish that. That said it was difficult to just mark this short paragraph without it. Now I lack anything in addition to what I said.
That was so hard.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
I feel better now.
That was so hard.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
I feel better now.
QUOTE(Dowdy @ Oct 10 2006, 07:26 AM) [snapback]1384239[/snapback]
All i know is that i'm a good work guy.
HA! No, 'E's but gotta give Simpsons credit for that
Haha, that reminds me of when Homer became a food critic with a broken "e" on his typewriter.
"Restaurant Review...no...Eatery Evaluation...no..."
Although the best part of that is probably his actual review when the editor reads it back, with the "e" apparently completely fine. "You use words like 'pusghetti' and 'momatoes.' You make numerous threatening references to the U.N. And at the end, you just repeat the words 'Screw Flanders' over and over again."
I love E.
QUOTE(Xenojjin @ Oct 10 2006, 02:27 PM) [snapback]1384679[/snapback]
Thanks for the link!
QUOTE(BurnSide @ Oct 9 2006, 09:41 AM) [snapback]1383090[/snapback]
It is not that hard to coin good writing without using that in particular. In another forum some of us had a topic going for a long time in which it was not put into the posts at all!
^ There, no E's!
'it' of course refering to the letter e.
Nice try but you have an "e" in time.
QUOTE(IamsSon @ Oct 10 2006, 04:07 PM) [snapback]1384800[/snapback]
Nice try but you have an "e" in time.
He also said another and the. He already admitted defeat. It's amazingly difficult. I won't even try it.
That link tho is neat, but the punctuation had to be all weird....
QUOTE(clockworkgirl21 @ Oct 9 2006, 01:44 AM) [snapback]1382490[/snapback]
I've heard that a man decided he'd write a book without using any words that had an "E" in them. My father says it's true, but I doubt it. How could you write ANYTHING without using "the?"
Humbug, it’s not that difficult at all, involving no witchcraft. You just got to abstain from forming or picturing said ’glyph’ in your mind. A small thing, if you think it through thoroughly. What might possibly assist in this task too is a good amount of focus, imagination and a vast pool of words to borrow from. You might also profit from diagonal thinking; narrow minds will only opt for obvious solutions, sloppy application of cranial capacity will obstruct clarity. But unusual thoughts, born out of profound fascination for linguistics could blossom into a thousand truly stunning works of art.
A warning though: abstain from insipid monosyllabic chitchat, don’t copy a couch potato’s procrastination; paralysis of your brain through lack of training is not good. Favouring apathy and sybaritic habits will kill your inspiration! I watch in horror minions of sloth ignoring our bard’s fruits of hard labour, mutilating and grossly misusing words on a daily basis! What Barbary! Our cultural tradition of using a rich vocabulary is shrinking fast and will probably vanish soon -and humanity will fall back to using barks and grunts!! Pitiful!
Man’s ability to form words is a fabulous gift; you should not dismiss it too lightly as quaint and boring. Not only is your mind a womb for all conscious thought and has a capability for giving birth to fantastic and imaginary worlds, it is, most of all, a harbour, a sanctuary for a soul’s intrinsic wisdom, truth and individuality.
Apropos, I could accomplish this without consulting a dictionary. And in addition, this is not my original ‘lingo’ from my country of origin, if you know what I am saying.
Show-off, you say?? Pffffff!!!
PS: May I add that, should you want to insult this author, you may do so without using said ‘glyph’. A surprising amount of bad words such as s**t, c**p, bo****ks, BS, a**, including idiot, tw*t, moron or cow do not contain it!
QUOTE(QueenOftheCramped @ Oct 11 2006, 06:23 AM) [snapback]1384879[/snapback]
Humbug, it’s not that difficult at all, involving no witchcraft. You just got to abstain from forming or picturing said ’glyph’ in your mind. A small thing, if you think it through thoroughly. What might possibly assist in this task too is a good amount of focus, imagination and a vast pool of words to borrow from. You might also profit from diagonal thinking; narrow minds will only opt for obvious solutions, sloppy application of cranial capacity will obstruct clarity. But unusual thoughts, born out of profound fascination for linguistics could blossom into a thousand truly stunning works of art.
A warning though: abstain from insipid monosyllabic chitchat, don’t copy a couch potato’s procrastination; paralysis of your brain through lack of training is not good. Favouring apathy and sybaritic habits will kill your inspiration! I watch in horror minions of sloth ignoring our bard’s fruits of hard labour, mutilating and grossly misusing words on a daily basis! What Barbary! Our cultural tradition of using a rich vocabulary is shrinking fast and will probably vanish soon -and humanity will fall back to using barks and grunts!! Pitiful!
Man’s ability to form words is a fabulous gift; you should not dismiss it too lightly as quaint and boring. Not only is your mind a womb for all conscious thought and has a capability for giving birth to fantastic and imaginary worlds, it is, most of all, a harbour, a sanctuary for a soul’s intrinsic wisdom, truth and individuality.
Apropos, I could accomplish this without consulting a dictionary. And in addition, this is not my original ‘lingo’ from my country of origin, if you know what I am saying.
Show-off, you say?? Pffffff!!!
PS: May I add that, should you want to insult this author, you may do so without using said ‘glyph’. A surprising amount of bad words such as s**t, c**p, bo****ks, BS, a**, including idiot, tw*t, moron or cow do not contain it!
Hooray! That was mind-blowing! <----Haha, Hows that for a first start at it?
Good Work!!!!
i am going to look and find out if i can post a long post with no E's but now i know that is not an goal i will attain for i lack a robust vocabulary but i will try: a guy who cant find a gun should not buy a crossbow so that in no way a man can still kill what i want to not to stop living for i am a pacifist who wants his cat to jump high
now think about if i do that sort of a post but it is normal and you can unda stand it
now think about if i do that sort of a post but it is normal and you can unda stand it
I can write a book without using the letter "E".
Simple.
"A book."
haha!
Simple.
"A book."
haha!
QUOTE(Kaknelson @ Oct 11 2006, 11:49 AM) [snapback]1385194[/snapback]
I can write a book without using the letter "E".
Simple.
"A book."
haha!Hahahahahahahahahahah! Yay!
that must have been very hard to write
I just don't see the point.
Having a rich vocabulary can involve the letter 'e'.
Sure it makes you think, but it also makes the punctuation unusual and the grammar bad.
Having a rich vocabulary can involve the letter 'e'.
Sure it makes you think, but it also makes the punctuation unusual and the grammar bad.
QUOTE(coldethyl @ Oct 11 2006, 05:05 PM) [snapback]1385734[/snapback]
I just don't see the point.
Having a rich vocabulary can involve the letter 'e'.
Sure it makes you think, but it also makes the punctuation unusual and the grammar bad.
It's just a bit of fun, nothing more...
http://www.spinelessbooks.com/gadsby/
at the bottom of the site, you can read the novel by clicking on the pages. The novel has 50,000+ words, with no "e"s. It's magnificent to see how he avoids the word "The"
at the bottom of the site, you can read the novel by clicking on the pages. The novel has 50,000+ words, with no "e"s. It's magnificent to see how he avoids the word "The"
It's either a test for the bored mind, or a marketing ploy.
QUOTE(fortunrx7Lady @ Oct 8 2006, 09:48 PM) [snapback]1382550[/snapback]
I've actually heard about that. I find that really interesting and if he did do it, I give him/her credit. Right here in this post i've already used the letter "E" about 20 times+. How impossible!
Actually Seventeen
QUOTE(Method @ Oct 13 2006, 10:16 AM) [snapback]1388524[/snapback]
Actually Seventeen
I counted 19 total.
QUOTE
Gadsby (novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Gadsby Author Ernest Vincent Wright
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Fiction
Publisher Wetzel Publishing Co. Inc.
Released 1939
Media Type Print (Hardcover)
Pages 267 pp (hardcover edition)
ISBN NA
Gadsby is a novel by Ernest Vincent Wright, written around 1939. It is famous for not containing the letter 'e'.
The lack of the letter 'e' makes Gadsby a lipogram, or an example of constrained writing. Wright explains in the introduction that he had to tie down the 'E' key of his typewriter to avoid mistakes.
The story tells how the main character, John Gadsby, transforms his home town of Branton Hills into a bustling city by tapping the vigour and original thought of youth. Quoting from its first paragraph:
"If youth, throughout all history, had a champion to stand up for it; to show a doubting world that a child can think; and, possibly, do it practically; you wouldn't constantly run across folks today who claim that "a child don't know anything." A child's brain starts functioning at birth; and has, amongst its many infant convolutions, thousands of dormant atoms, into which God has put a mystic possibility for noticing an adult's act, and figuring out its purport."
The use of odd punctuation, contrived language, and disjoint air carry on throughout the book.
As well as having to avoid common words such as 'the', 'he', and 'she', Wright made the task particularly hard for himself by setting Gadsby in the past tense, while avoiding the verb ending '-ed'. He also made valiant attempts to include objects that ordinarily require the letter E, such as a horse-drawn fire engine; he achieved this by describing the object without quite naming it.
Wright never saw his work in print - he died at the age of 66 on the day it was published.
A similar lipogrammatic book is Georges Perec's La Disparition (1969), which was later translated into English by Scottish author Gilbert Adair as A Void (1994).
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Gadsby Author Ernest Vincent Wright
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Fiction
Publisher Wetzel Publishing Co. Inc.
Released 1939
Media Type Print (Hardcover)
Pages 267 pp (hardcover edition)
ISBN NA
Gadsby is a novel by Ernest Vincent Wright, written around 1939. It is famous for not containing the letter 'e'.
The lack of the letter 'e' makes Gadsby a lipogram, or an example of constrained writing. Wright explains in the introduction that he had to tie down the 'E' key of his typewriter to avoid mistakes.
The story tells how the main character, John Gadsby, transforms his home town of Branton Hills into a bustling city by tapping the vigour and original thought of youth. Quoting from its first paragraph:
"If youth, throughout all history, had a champion to stand up for it; to show a doubting world that a child can think; and, possibly, do it practically; you wouldn't constantly run across folks today who claim that "a child don't know anything." A child's brain starts functioning at birth; and has, amongst its many infant convolutions, thousands of dormant atoms, into which God has put a mystic possibility for noticing an adult's act, and figuring out its purport."
The use of odd punctuation, contrived language, and disjoint air carry on throughout the book.
As well as having to avoid common words such as 'the', 'he', and 'she', Wright made the task particularly hard for himself by setting Gadsby in the past tense, while avoiding the verb ending '-ed'. He also made valiant attempts to include objects that ordinarily require the letter E, such as a horse-drawn fire engine; he achieved this by describing the object without quite naming it.
Wright never saw his work in print - he died at the age of 66 on the day it was published.
A similar lipogrammatic book is Georges Perec's La Disparition (1969), which was later translated into English by Scottish author Gilbert Adair as A Void (1994).
From Wikipedia. (duh.)
But wow, just wow! 267 pages! (in the hardcover edition.)
BTW, I counted 20 total E's in that post. Not mine, you know, that post. Yeah. I'm gonna stop typing now.
QUOTE(OtterLord @ Oct 13 2006, 10:51 AM) [snapback]1388561[/snapback]
BTW, I counted 20 total E's in that post. Not mine, you know, that post. Yeah. I'm gonna stop typing now.
You're right, I counted 20 this time!
I need to get out of this thread. It's killing my OCD.
I think that it's an innacuracy. That man could not author a book without using it.
But I did this post without using it. It is horribly difficult. I don't think you should try it.
You're right, I counted 20 this time!
I need to get out of this thread. It's killing my OCD.
1. I also got 20
2. You got OCD?
Still not using it!
But I did this post without using it.
It is horribly difficult. I don't think you should try it.QUOTE(coldethyl @ Oct 13 2006, 06:45 PM) [snapback]1388719[/snapback]
You're right, I counted 20 this time!
I need to get out of this thread. It's killing my OCD.
1. I also got 20
2. You got OCD?
Still not using it!
QUOTE(Mister E. @ Oct 13 2006, 01:06 PM) [snapback]1388755[/snapback]
I think that it's an innacuracy. That man could not author a book without using it.
But I did this post without using it.
It is horribly difficult. I don't think you should try it.1. I also got 20
2. You got OCD?
Still not using it!
No he did do it. You can read the book on that link. It's quite interesting.
Yep, OCD.
QUOTE(coldethyl @ Oct 13 2006, 07:24 PM) [snapback]1388781[/snapback]
No he did do it. You can read the book on that link. It's quite interesting.
Yep, OCD.
Have you ever seen Monk?
QUOTE(Mister E. @ Oct 13 2006, 01:51 PM) [snapback]1388805[/snapback]
Have you ever seen Monk?
Yes. Alice Cooper was in it once.
QUOTE(coldethyl @ Oct 13 2006, 08:20 PM) [snapback]1388846[/snapback]
Yes. Alice Cooper was in it once.
I thought the best one was where a woman was found dead after falling from her apartment, and they weren't sure if it was suicide or murder. Monk says that it must have been murder, because she hadn't finished painting her toenails. If she was going to commit suicide she would have either finished or not even started, so she must have been interrupted.
QUOTE(clockworkgirl21 @ Oct 8 2006, 07:44 PM) [snapback]1382490[/snapback]
I've heard that a man decided he'd write a book without using any words that had an "E" in them. My father says it's true, but I doubt it. How could you write ANYTHING without using "the?"
I say that it's possibl. I could typ anything whil laving out thm. Lolz
QUOTE(OtterLord @ Oct 13 2006, 10:51 AM) [snapback]1388561[/snapback]
From Wikipedia. (duh.)
But wow, just wow! 267 pages! (in the hardcover edition.)
BTW, I counted 20 total E's in that post. Not mine, you know, that post. Yeah. I'm gonna stop typing now.
But wow, just wow! 267 pages! (in the hardcover edition.)
BTW, I counted 20 total E's in that post. Not mine, you know, that post. Yeah. I'm gonna stop typing now.
He used improper English through the whole thing though. It had to be funny when he finished the book and ended it by typing "The End" then got mad. Or when he wrote the begining page: by Ernest Vincent Wright...*grumble* (That name has three 'E's in it!)
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