The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition by William Strunk Jr., E. B. White
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Book Reviews of The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition
Book Review: Essential
Summary: 5 Stars
Everyone learns to write. Few people learn to write well anymore. Pick up a newspaper or magazine or peruse a blog and you'll find competent but formulaic writing. Journalists pound out their essays by formula, using standard sets of tricks time after time. The result is dreary prose. You read an article and you may get the point, but you don't get inspired. You don't want to leap out of your chair, share your new learning with your friends, or change the world. Today's writing lacks that special flare that newspapers had in earlier generations.
We've diagnosed the disease. The Elements of Style is the cure. Within 87 pages, it holds all of the essentials. Common grammar and usage mistakes, basics of sentence structure, paragraph organization. This stuff may seem indisepnsible, but high school English teachers and college composition professors don't teach it any more. I'm an editor; I see stack after stack of manuscripts from young would-be authors who don't understand what good prose is.
Whenever possible, I recommend that they buy a copy of Strunk and White. This little gem contains all the rules. More importantly, William Strunk wrote with a concise, commanding stlye. Today's style guides are filled with vague, spineless advice, phrased as recommendations rather absolutes. Strunk gave orders. "Enclose non-restrictive clauses in commas." "Don't write sentences of only one paragraph." "Omit unnecessary words." If you want to see your work published, buy this book.
Book Review: The Destroyer of my Honeymoon
Summary: 5 Stars
I've always loved our language. I'm creative enough, yet since the 7th grade even though I've always scored A's in my English classes, I've been plagued with an inability to make my writing clean and readable. After I learned Russian I lost my feel for English altogether; words loitered haplessly between thoughts. Redundance, ambiguity and lack of direction sapped any life from my pen, so I decided upon desparate measures. To my pleasant surprise, I was enraptured by this book the instant I opened it. It is the first manual I've seen that is in itself a work of art. I've learned even more by example than I have by the explanations.
On my honeymoon my wife was sick and as I took care of her I pulled this book from my suitcase and began reading. Quickly the expression of intrigue and fascination, usually reserved for my face as I'm enjoying a remarkably complex chess game, the light of true committment and love filled my eyes. When Natasha woke up to ask for some juice, she found what I was reading and the enthusiasm with which I read, so distraught was she that it took a full 2 days for her to forgive me. She even pulled herself out of bed the next time she wanted a drink just to avoid seeing how I poured over each page.
The next best book I've seen takes about 2 1/2 times as many pages to say basically the same thing, never with as much force, skill or clarity. Anyone who values his English should own this book. Every student should keep a copy in his back pocket.
Book Review: TEXTBOOKS DON'T HAVE TO BE BIG
Summary: 5 Stars
While skimming through Stephen King's book ON WRITING, he highly recommended THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE. Taking his advice I searched for a copy and found one in a free bin--of all places! I looked at it and decided that it was so much better than any other textbook that I had seen that I decided to WRITE IT. Three pages a day for a month or so. It's a very short book, only about 80 pages or so. You learn everything from words that are often spelled wrong, to punctuation, to style, etc. Very blunt and to the point. No exercises in here, problems 1 - 10 all. Nope, you just read this book and enjoy it. Why, there's actually a little humor in it at times, which is pretty good for a textbook. Now I've heard some people say that this book is bad because it is saying to follow all these rules and don't stray from them. I think they got it all wrong. This book is essentially saying this: you can't blaze new trails in the English language without having a solid foundation in the basics first! This goes for ANYTHING. You don't suddenly set off an a 200 mile trek, you slowly work up to it, starting from the basics. After you have mastered the basics, then you can break free. One thing that this book continually points out is that it is OFTEN A MATTER OF EAR. Meaning that if you are experienced enough, you will know whether to stick to the traditional or whether to be liberal when phrasing something, for example. By far this is the most talked-about textbook that I've seen and the most valuable.Book Review: Develop Your Own Style from Knowing the Basics
Summary: 5 Stars
Anyone who even thinks about wanting to write should have this book on the nighttable, or within easy reach of brief periodic readings. There are no opinions here, only straightforward, "this is how it is" rules and anecdotes of English instruction. The underlying point, like all good English books, is that there really is no new way to say, "it is," although overuse of "be" is a detriment to vivid writing. Rather, the point is certain words and expressions fade out and must eventually be replaced, such as "thee" and "thou." The English language, like all human languages, change over time, but some standards must remain. The use of plurals, capitalization, gerunds, prepositions, and so on, will still be the same.This book can be read cover to cover in less than four hours by an "average" reader, and after several more passes, the what was once forgotten rule becomes a part of memory. It is enjoyable to read because there are no tests. This book helped also me to write better. Before I would sit at my computer for a writing session, I would have the cadence of "The Elements of Style" going through my head. This book should be on the shelf of any would-be author, editor, word processor or office supervisor. Get it, read it, memorize it. Learn the basics before you move on to more complex pieces of writing. You will become more confident for having done so, and your readers will be able to tell.
Book Review: A polishing cloth for writers
Summary: 5 Stars
I discovered The Elements of Style as an undergraduate student. By the time I entered university my writing style was already clear: the guidance provided by this book made it clearer. I credit my application of the directions contained in The Elements of Style with a consistent half to a full grade improvement in my university course results (that's about 5 to 10 marks). Now that I work as a lecturer, I recommend it to all my students.
The Elements of Style is succinct - fewer than 150 pages. Yet, in its limited space it manages to provide a wealth of good advice, and examples to illustrate how that advice, when taken, improves writing.
Do not feel that you have to read this book cover to cover. Instead, start with the section on Words and Expressions Commonly Misused. Even some very good writers make the mistakes illustrated in that section. After this, try Chapter 2 on principles of composition, which lays out clear and simple rules that anyone can follow to improve their writing. Make sure you read Chapter 1 as well: the other chapters you can take or leave as you choose.
One strategy I find very helpful is to use the Find function in Microsoft Word to search drafts of my writing for aspects that the Elements highlights as troublesome. From there, I try to eliminate or rework the problem areas. Try this for yourself, it is a good way to get the most from the book.