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A review by hopeykatt
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr., E.B. White
3.0
I liked that this book went into detail about the structures of language and provides a no-nonsense _________________ into how grammar should be used and structured. Most of these rules I learned already in undergrad, albeit my professor phrased things differently (Less is More vs. Omit Needless Words).
However I felt like this book was largely Old-White-Man-Opinon and it made me question whether some of these rules are actually "rules." For example
Do not inject opinion.
Do not use dialect unless your ear is good.
Write with nouns and verbs.
Don't construct awkward adverbs.
Avoid fancy words.
Do not overwrite.
and perhaps most shockingly: "Avoid foreign languages."
I was required to read this book as part of a publishing course and sincerely hope this isn't going to be regarded as some sort of sacred text. I feel like it's outdated and stuffy, but that doesn't mean I'm going to ignore the more sensible grammar rules that truly benefit a writer and I assume are mean to teach a writer to care about the craft more than just putting words on a page.
However I felt like this book was largely Old-White-Man-Opinon and it made me question whether some of these rules are actually "rules." For example
Do not inject opinion.
Do not use dialect unless your ear is good.
Write with nouns and verbs.
Don't construct awkward adverbs.
Avoid fancy words.
Do not overwrite.
and perhaps most shockingly: "Avoid foreign languages."
I was required to read this book as part of a publishing course and sincerely hope this isn't going to be regarded as some sort of sacred text. I feel like it's outdated and stuffy, but that doesn't mean I'm going to ignore the more sensible grammar rules that truly benefit a writer and I assume are mean to teach a writer to care about the craft more than just putting words on a page.