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Good prose - fiction and non-fiction alike - is part
mystery and part technique.
Mystery cannot be taught, but technique
can, and if it is well taught it can open a window onto the mystery. In A
Matter of Style, Matthew Clark draws on examples from real writers, past
and present, to examine the stylistic techniques that lift written language
from bare communication to art.
Many style books advocate a clear and
simple style, but simplicity is not the only virtue. To show how effective --
and varied -- ornate style can be, Clark points to examples ranging from
Dickens to Beckett. In the process he reveals how adeptly even an
"anti-rhetorical" writer like Hemingway can use the techniques of classical
rhetoric.
He then examines in detail a number of the most useful
figures in that tradition.In the following chapters Clark's perspective widens
steadily as he moves from the basic principle of parallelism (and antithesis)
to the complexity of the periodic sentence and on to the level of the paragraph
and, finally, the conventions of plot structure in novels.
Throughout,
the approach is descriptive rather than prescriptive, and every point is
generously illustrated with examples, good and bad, from writers that Clark
respects and even loves. An invaluable resource for writers and editors at
every level, from the novice to the professional, A Matter of Style will
delight readers who want to know more about how the writers they love achieve
their effects. |
| DESCRIPTION |
| Author |
Matthew Clark |
| Publisher |
Oxford University Press |
| Year of release |
2002 |
| Pages |
170 pages |
| Catalogue No. |
0-19-541762-3 |
| Price |
15.95$ |
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| Available in French |
No |
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