In this day of fast correspondence via e-mails and tweets, John O'Connell takes a refreshing look at the history behind the deliberate and genteel skills of letter-writing in For the Love of Letters. Examples of letters written by noteworthy people such as Dorothy Wordsworth (sister to William) demonstrate how far the world has changed since 1806; her letter, announcing the birth of a child, runs for two pages and details "the birds singing in the orchard in full assembly" and "the rose-trees rich with roses in the garden, the sun shining on the mountain, the air still and balmy." Today, the same birth announcement would be squashed into 140 characters.
O'Connell analyzes the epistolary techniques of other famous writers, including Jonathan Swift, Jane Austen and Anton Chekhov. Their letters cover the general news of the day, arguments, friendships, love and advice from a parent to a child--showing the slow, thoughtful process that each writer assumed in order to produce such correspondence. A passage from Catherine Field sums up the joy and meticulousness inherent in letter-writing: "A good handwritten letter is a creative act," she said, "and not just because it is a visual and tactile pleasure. It is a deliberate act of exposure, a form of vulnerability, because handwriting opens a window on the soul in a way that cyber-communication can never do." O'Connell's book finds compassion buried in the words and allows readers a warmhearted glimpse at a custom that is rapidly disappearing. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer