Style: The Art of Writing Well

By F.L. Lucas

Book Overview

The best book on the art of writing that I know is F. L. Lucas's Style - Joseph Epstein, New Criterion, June 2011 Lost for almost forty years, Style has acquired the status of a legend. Loved by some of the greatest modern authors and acclaimed by critics, this guide to recognising and writing stylish prose was written by a Cambridge don and veteran of Bletchley Park. Imbued with a lifetime of wit and wisdom, it retains its power today. Writing forcefully and persuasively has never mattered so much - and Style is the perfect guide for the busy, the ambitious, and the creative. With unique authority and good humour, F. L. Lucas takes us through his ten points of effective prose style and provides a tour of some of the best (and worst) that has been written in a number of languages and literatures. Wry, perceptive and rich in quotation and anecdote, the book reads like a personal conversation on the art of writing well - with a master of the art.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 085719187X
• ISBN13: 9780857191878
• Release Date: May 2012
• Publisher: Harriman House
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

To learn about Style with pleasure

F.L. Lucas tells us in his first chapter his major purpose in writing this work. " No one is born a writer .The greatest had to learn.Only one learns most from trying to do things oneelf; ;and my purpose is simply to make some suggestions, and provide some illustrations from the experience of others, which may perhaps help to shorten that painful process." As he defines it style which comes from the Latin stylus a writing instrument, means 'a way of writing', and also a 'distinctive way of writing'. In chapters rich with examples and illustrations he writes about , The Value of Style, The foundation of style- character, Courtesty to readers-clarity Courtesy to Readers- Brevity and Variety Courtesty to Readers- Urbanity and Simplicity Good Humour and Gaiety Good Sense and Sincerity Good Health and Vitality Simile and Metaphor The Harmmony of Prose Methods of Writing . This book is a pleasure to read and learn from as it provides so many examples of good writing. Lucas himself writes with grace and clarity, and is not afraid to champion his own idiosyncratic preferences in Style.

A Great Book About the Craft of Writing

This is the best book about writing I have ever read. Robertson Davies thought the same thing and I am in debt to him for recommending it.

A classic

This is the best -- and best written! -- book on literary style. Lucas knows that the quality of prose is determined, in the end, by the character, intelligence and passion of the writer. No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader; no joy in the writer, no joy in the reader. Writers who can think clearly and feel passionately have a chance to write well. Lucas convincingly demonstrates Buffon's dictum, "Le style est l'homme meme." The book is filled with well-chosen examples from great and near-great writers, at their best and their worst. A physics professor of mine once damned a very famous philosophy book with a single sentence -- "There's not a 'for instance' in the whole book!" Lucas knows the power of examples. This is a book not only of literature, but of life. Those who begin the work desiring to write well will finish it desiring to live well. What better tribute could be made to any book?