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A review by juliwi
The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase by Mark Forsyth
3.0
s you may know, I was an English student and thus spent much of my time reading English literature. Through the years you learn how to read books in such a way you both analyse their style and get a sense for their "feel". What are they trying to tell you and how. Forsyth's book is a great guide for learning how to do the latter. Thanks to Netgalley and Icon Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The point of The Elements of Eloquence is not, necessarily, that you sit down with a pen and paper and make furious notes so you remember all the names of the different literary devices Forsyth describes. Rather, this is a book meant to open your eyes to the possibility of language but also to how you yourself are affected by language. As you read through the different literary devices and realize that most of your favourite lines, whether its from books or songs, actually have some king of literary device behind them, you can't help but admire your favourite writers even more. It takes some skill to be clever with language but the first thing to do is enjoy language. Forsyth makes it very easy to both understand and enjoy the different literary devices in his book.
Forsyth's The Elements of Eloquence is very enjoyable, especially if you already love language. It's the kind of coffee table book that'll make you forget there's guests for coffee. And with some luck you'll walk away from this book being able to write like Shakespeare!
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/review-elements-of-eloquence-how-to.html
The point of The Elements of Eloquence is not, necessarily, that you sit down with a pen and paper and make furious notes so you remember all the names of the different literary devices Forsyth describes. Rather, this is a book meant to open your eyes to the possibility of language but also to how you yourself are affected by language. As you read through the different literary devices and realize that most of your favourite lines, whether its from books or songs, actually have some king of literary device behind them, you can't help but admire your favourite writers even more. It takes some skill to be clever with language but the first thing to do is enjoy language. Forsyth makes it very easy to both understand and enjoy the different literary devices in his book.
Forsyth's The Elements of Eloquence is very enjoyable, especially if you already love language. It's the kind of coffee table book that'll make you forget there's guests for coffee. And with some luck you'll walk away from this book being able to write like Shakespeare!
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/review-elements-of-eloquence-how-to.html