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Exercises in Style (Oneworld Classics)
 
 
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Exercises in Style (Oneworld Classics) (Paperback)

by Raymond Queneau (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 200 pages
  • Publisher: Oneworld Classics Ltd (1 Jul 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1847490735
  • ISBN-13: 978-1847490735
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 1.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 51,967 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #2 in  Books > Fiction > Cult Authors > Queneau, Raymond

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Product Description

The Guardian
"Witty, playful, ingenious, it manages to transcend its own
sophistication by a sort of verbal slapstick which Miss Wright translates
into Pure Groucho Marxism."
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
On a crowded bus at midday, Raymond Queneau observes one man accusing another of jostling him deliberately. When a seat is vacated, the first man appropriates it. Later, in another part of town, Queneau sees the man being advised by a friend to sew another button on his overcoat. "Exercises in Style" retells this unexceptional tale ninety-nine times in ninety-nine different styles. An 'Abusive' chapter heartily deplores the events, 'Opera English' lends them grandeur. Raymond Queneau rendered Barbara Wright his 'heartiest congratulations', adding, 'I have always thought that nothing is untranslatable. Here is new proof'.

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, Mind-stretching and Inspirational, 19 Aug 2002
By Andy Back (Brighton, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Exercises in Style (Paperback)
Okay, so that's a bit over the top. But these stories (one story, told in many different ways, actually) make me smile, make me think about language, syntax, construction and style, and inspire me to have a go myself.
The writer uses a range of styles to explore the differences this makes to the story, and to the reader's perception of the protagonists. This book is a must for anyone who ever tried to write using different voices or in different contexts (for example, a letter has a different tone to a newspaper report, a police statement or a short story, probably).
The stunning realisation that this book is a translation from the French makes the translator seem just as remarkable as the author!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of literature's greatest jokes!, 7 Jul 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Exercises in Style (Paperback)
Queneau was, among many other things, a brilliant gamester. In this book he takes the most banal of stories and tells it 99 times in 99 different styles. It is a weird book, whose charm grows as you continue. Once you get to the 5th or 6th version of this inane tale, you begin to laugh and gasp and don't stop until the end. Like all good jokes, it is more than a joke. If you delight in language, read this book. If you do not delight in launguage, this book will teach you to. I have read the original French version, and Barbara Wright has stayed true to it in this wonderful translation. Don't miss this gem!
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An essential book for writers, 20 Nov 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Exercises in Style (Paperback)
Queneau keeps you laughing so that you almost fail to notice him slipping in a remarkable lesson about language, writing, and creativity. This book forever changed the way I teach my college writing course-and changed me as a writer.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant
A brilliant book. How can you tell a simple, everyday story in 99 different ways? I have read it in 3 different languages and I am always impressed with the translator's... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Di20

5.0 out of 5 stars Doorway to new perspectives
This is a fascinating book. It presents a very simple story, an encounter on a crowded tube train with a brief meeting later the same afternoon. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Steven Unwin

3.0 out of 5 stars How many ways are there to tell a story?
Many! any reader of this book will testify so! Playfull, but on certain occasions tirring by its repetitiveness. Read more
Published on 17 Jan 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars It is hard to render Queneau's wit into another language.
I have not yet read the English translation Barbara Wright made of "Exercices de style". Someone else said that she "stayed true" to the original version, but... Read more
Published on 21 Jan 1999

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