Exercises in Style Paperback | Pages: 204 pages

Specify Containing Books Exercises in Style

Title	:	Exercises in Style
Author	:	Raymond Queneau
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Deluxe Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 204 pages
Published	:	February 17th 1981 by New Directions (first published 1947)
Categories	:	Fiction. Cultural. France. Short Stories. Language. Writing. European Literature. French Literature

Narrative In Favor Of Books Exercises in Style

Meta

From what point of view should I review the book? Evidently: from all possible points of view.

Snobbish

Needless to say, I am reading the original French edition. I can hardly believe that his delicate linguistic irony would survive translation into English. Quelle horreur!

Vulgar

I laughed until I wet myself. Well, I should know better than to read this kind of book in the bathroom.

Pedantic

If nothing else, very educational. I have already learned the names of two figures of speech I didn't previously know.

Anxious

Wait... maybe someone else has already done this joke? Let me check the reviews. Oh, thank GoodReads, they haven't!

Pessimistic

The idea is certainly amusing at first. But I doubt he'll be able to keep it up for 99 different versions.

Grudging

Alright... this isn't as easy as one first thinks. I'm not even up to double figures, and I'm already running out of ideas. He was a smart guy.

Minimalist

Unique.

Conscience-stricken

I'm doing this? I should be working! But he is quite inspiring.

Practical

I will put the book on the coffee table, and read a couple of pages every now and then. I don't think you're meant to go cover-to-cover. Also, living in Cambridge as we do, I am sure that at least half our visitors will enjoy leafing through it.

Itemize Books During Exercises in Style

Original Title:	Exercices de style
ISBN:	0811207897 (ISBN13: 9780811207898)
Edition Language:	English
Setting:	Paris(France)

Rating Containing Books Exercises in Style

Ratings: 4.09 From 8138 Users | 631 Reviews

Criticism Containing Books Exercises in Style

Pearls before a swine? Perhaps.It definitely takes a lot of talent for someone to tell one completely unremarkable story 99 times and still make a fun and readable book out of it. What Queneau (and the translator) has done here is really clever work, no doubt. And I can imagine this whole exercise must have been very amusing for him. But that doesn't mean reading it will be just as enjoyable as writing it was.**These are exercises in writing in English (originally French). I do have some working

MetaFrom what point of view should I review the book? Evidently: from all possible points of view.SnobbishNeedless to say, I am reading the original French edition. I can hardly believe that his delicate linguistic irony would survive translation into English. Quelle horreur!VulgarI laughed until I wet myself. Well, I should know better than to read this kind of book in the bathroom.PedanticIf nothing else, very educational. I have already learned the names of two figures of speech I didn't

One very effective way I have found to squeeze the juice of wisdom from the books I read is to write a book review, which forces me to formulate my ideas and opinions in precise and clear (at least that is my intent) language. However with Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style we have a book that contains not only wisdom but many flavors of linguistic magic. Thus, I need to do more than simply write a book review. I found the solution: I read Barbara Wright's translation aloud, recording my voice

This is a lot of fun at the beginning as you realise exactly what Queneau has challenged himself to do here: rewrite the same little scene about a gangly young man in a badly fitting overcoat and an odd hat, in different styles, ninety-nine times! After number twenty however, the various word play games are no longer quite as funny. After number forty, youre pretty sceptical about Queneau's mental health. By number sixty, youre seriously worried about your own. By number eighty, youre seeing

I think this is a book that should be read in its original language of French. I loved the idea of this book, but my expectations were perhaps a little too high. The low rating is not the book's fault, but my goddamn own - excuse my (lack of) French. On a crowded bus at midday, the narrator observes one man accusing another of jostling him deliberately. When a seat is vacated, the first man takes it. Later, in another part of town, the man is spotted again while being advised by a friend to have

This shames me to say but I was not originally on the bus with Queneau's Exercises in Style, yet I pretended to be, sitting right beside the dude with the long neck and the eccentric hat. I was not being myself, not beating my own drum, passengers stepping all over my feet, but I could not get off the bus. Shamed if I did, shamed if I didn't. So I sat there reading his proper novels, genuinely enjoying them as the bus jostled and my feet hurt and the long neck irked me. Damn sheepish passengers!

I feel like this book's high average rating is caused mostly by the fact that the only people who would even know about it are the sort of people who'd like it. So, though I didn't hate it completely, I'm here to offer a dissenting opinion:This book kind of sucks. It's a short, anticlimactic anecdote about a scuffle on a bus, told in 99 different styles. I imagine this is already enough to turn off most people, but in case this still sounds really good to you, be apprised that none of those