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Exercises in Style
 
 

Exercises in Style (Paperback)

by R Queneau (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
Price: £8.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Paperback: 197 pages
  • Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co.; 2nd edition (1 Feb 1981)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0811207897
  • ISBN-13: 978-0811207898
  • Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13 x 1.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 439,641 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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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 an alternate Paperback edition.


Book Description

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 appropriates it. Later, in another part of town, the narrator
sees the man being advised by a friend to sew another button on his
overcoat.

'Exercises in Style' retells this unexceptional tale 99 times, employing
the sonnet and the alexandrine, "Ze Frrench" and "Cockney". An "abusive"
chapter heartily deplores the events, "Opera English" lends them grandeur.

In 1947, when 'Exercises in Style' was first published in French, it led to
Queneau's election to the highly prestigious Academie Goncourt. This
virtuoso set of theme and variations is a linguistic rust-remover, a guide
to literary forms - a demonstration of the use of imagery and expletive.
But it is far too funny to be merely a pedantic thesis.

Barbara Wright's translation is a marvel of the art - much of it done in
collaboration and under the guidance of the author. The late Raymond
Queneau, novelist, poet, mathematician and editor, once told Barbara Wright
that of all his books, this was the one he most wished to see translated.
He rendered her his "heartiest congratulations", adding: "I have always
thought that nothing is untranslatable. Here is new proof. And it is
accomplished with all the intended humour." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


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Exercises in Style
86% buy the item featured on this page:
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£8.99
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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
14 of 14 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
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
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 7 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 8 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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