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Clear and simple as the truth : writing classic prose

de Francis-Noel Thomas

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292289,196 (3.75)2
Everyone talks about style, but no one explains it. The authors of this book do; and in doing so, they provoke the reader to consider style, not as an elegant accessory of effective prose, but as its very heart. At a time when writing skills have virtually disappeared, what can be done? If only people learned the principles of verbal correctness, the essential rules, wouldn't good prose simply fall into place? Thomas and Turner say no. Attending to rules of grammar, sense, and sentence structure will no more lead to effective prose than knowing the mechanics of a golf swing will lead to a hole-in-one. Furthermore, ten-step programs to better writing exacerbate the problem by failing to recognize, as Thomas and Turner point out, that there are many styles with different standards. In the first half of Clear and Simple, the authors introduce a range of styles--reflexive, practical, plain, contemplative, romantic, prophetic, and others--contrasting them to classic style. Its principles are simple: The writer adopts the pose that the motive is truth, the purpose is presentation, the reader is an intellectual equal, and the occasion is informal. Classic style is at home in everything from business memos to personal letters, from magazine articles to university writing. The second half of the book is a tour of examples--the exquisite and the execrable--showing what has worked and what hasn't. Classic prose is found everywhere: from Thomas Jefferson to Junichirō Tanizaki, from Mark Twain to the observations of an undergraduate. Here are many fine performances in classic style, each clear and simple as the truth. Originally published in 1994. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.… (més)
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I loved this book. One reason is the authors’ concession that classic style is but one of many valid styles of writing. Another is that the book is written in a way that exemplifies the style that it proposes. The book is in two parts of roughly equal length. The first half defines and describes classic style, the second half is a “Museum,” writing samples, mostly classic, but not all, with analysis by the authors. The book concludes with an appendix listing some books written in classic style, beginning with Audubon Field Guides, but covering many fields, from history and science to sport and cooking. It features not only Thucydides and Pascal, but also Jane Austen and Louise Brooks.
What is classic style? In one sense, it is a mode of writing practiced by a group of writers such as Descartes in 17th century France. Yet, as the authors show, it is not exclusive to French prose. They cite examples from American, British, Spanish and German authors.
One of the chief hallmarks of classic style is that it is disinterested. It doesn’t argue, it doesn’t have anything to sell. Its aim is to present clearly — to be a window on what it presents. This could be something as concrete as a tree or a painting, or something as abstract as quantum mechanics.
I liked the authors’ subtle distinction that the classic style is elitist but not exclusive. By elitist, they mean that those who write in classic style imagine a reader who, like them, expends the effort and discipline necessary to “get the essential things right” (p. 49). It is an open elite, however; anyone can join. The stance the practitioner of classic style takes toward his or her reader is conversational. It is a meeting of minds on an equal footing. The writer assumes that the reader would see things the same way if he were to stand in the same place.
Thomas and Turner outline further characteristics of classic style, in each case a decision about matters such as “cast,” “scene,” “language” and “thought,” as well as the enabling conventions that underly the style: certain decisions about the nature of truth and other matters. It is part of the honesty of the authors that they admit that classic style is inadequate for treating some topics: “The theology behind classic style does not admit that there is anything that counts as truth that cannot be presented briefly and memorably. In practice, this simply means that classic style prefers to limit its domain while tacitly claiming universal application” (p. 105).
An example of when not to use classic style is when a person in a powerful position is called before a congressional committee (see the analysis of testimony by Alan Greenspan, pp. 179—81).
It may well be true, as the authors assert, that there are many valid styles of writing. Yet while reading this book, I couldn’t suppress the wish that more writers would choose classic style and master it. ( )
  HenrySt123 | Jul 19, 2021 |
This superb little book comprises an introduction to and explication of the 'classic' writing style, plus a 'museum' of annotated samples of this style drawn from all manner of writing.

Clear and Simple as the Truth is the single best book on writing well I've read; it's particularly exemplary in the way Thomas and Turner practice what they preach.

One caveat: this is not a basic manual for undergraduates or beginning writers. Appreciating its wisdom requires broad exposure to non-fiction writing, and experience writing functional prose. ( )
  mrtall | Feb 18, 2008 |
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The teaching of writing in America is almost entirely controlled by the view that teaching writing is teaching verbal skills—from the placing of commas to the ordering of paragraphs.
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Everyone talks about style, but no one explains it. The authors of this book do; and in doing so, they provoke the reader to consider style, not as an elegant accessory of effective prose, but as its very heart. At a time when writing skills have virtually disappeared, what can be done? If only people learned the principles of verbal correctness, the essential rules, wouldn't good prose simply fall into place? Thomas and Turner say no. Attending to rules of grammar, sense, and sentence structure will no more lead to effective prose than knowing the mechanics of a golf swing will lead to a hole-in-one. Furthermore, ten-step programs to better writing exacerbate the problem by failing to recognize, as Thomas and Turner point out, that there are many styles with different standards. In the first half of Clear and Simple, the authors introduce a range of styles--reflexive, practical, plain, contemplative, romantic, prophetic, and others--contrasting them to classic style. Its principles are simple: The writer adopts the pose that the motive is truth, the purpose is presentation, the reader is an intellectual equal, and the occasion is informal. Classic style is at home in everything from business memos to personal letters, from magazine articles to university writing. The second half of the book is a tour of examples--the exquisite and the execrable--showing what has worked and what hasn't. Classic prose is found everywhere: from Thomas Jefferson to Junichirō Tanizaki, from Mark Twain to the observations of an undergraduate. Here are many fine performances in classic style, each clear and simple as the truth. Originally published in 1994. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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