Style (book)
Contents
Lucas begins with a definition of style in prose, and a discussion of its importance. He questions the extent to which style can be taught, given that it is a reflection of personality ("The problems of style are really problems of personality"
"I can think of no constantly perfect stylist who has not laboured like an emmet." [11] "One cannot ask oneself too often, both in writing and in re-reading what one has written, 'Do I really mean that? Have I said it for effect, though I know it is exaggerated? Or from cowardice, because otherwise I should be ill thought of?' " [12] "A writer should view his mental offspring as relentlessly as a Spartan father. If he does not 'expose' his unsound offspring himself, others will, in a different sense." [13]
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― F. L. Lucas, Style (1955) |
- Preface
- Chapter 1: The Value of Style
- Chapter 2: The foundation of Style - Character
- Chapter 3: Courtesy to Readers - (1) Clarity
- Chapter 4: Courtesy to Readers - (2) Brevity and Variety
- Chapter 5: Courtesy to Readers - (3) Urbanity and Simplicity
- Chapter 6: Good Humour and Gaiety
- Chapter 7: Good Sense and Sincerity
- Chapter 8: Good Health and Vitality
- Chapter 9: Simile and Metaphor
- Chapter 10: The Harmony of Prose
- Chapter 11: Methods of writing
Background and publishing history
Style was based on one of Lucas's first courses of lectures at Cambridge (1946 to 1953) after his return from
Reception
Style was generally well received.
'On the Fascination of Style' (1960) and 'The Art of Proverbs' (1965)
Lucas returned to the subject in a 4000-word essay, 'On the Fascination of Style', published in the March 1960 number of Holiday magazine.[36] The essay reworks the core points of Style more succinctly, in a different order and with some changes in emphasis, and adds new examples and a few autobiographical anecdotes. It was reprinted in Birk and Birk, The Odyssey Reader: Ideas and Style (New York, 1968)[17] and in McCuen & Winkler, Readings for Writers (New York, 2009).[37] The essay was reissued in 2012 as 'How to Write Powerful Prose', by Harriman House Publishing, Petersfield.[38]
His companion essay, 'The Art of Proverbs', published in the September 1965 number of Holiday magazine, explored two aspects of style – brevity and metaphor – in a celebration of world proverbs as a source of wit, wisdom, and insight into human nature and national character.[39] The piece was reprinted in Mieder and Sobieski, Gold Nuggets or Fool's Gold? Magazine and Newspaper Articles on the (Ir)relevance of Proverbial Phrases (Burlington, 2006).[40]
Notes
- ^ Lucas's own early style had been analysed in A. J. J. Ratcliff's Prose of Our Time (London 1931). His mature style can be seen in his review-cum-essay, 'Long Lives the Emperor' in The Historical Journal, Vol.8, No.1, Cambridge, 1965.
References
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), p.10
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), p.16, p.45
- ^ John Rosselli, review of Style in the Manchester Guardian, September 1955
- ^ a b Raymond Mortimer, review of Style in The Sunday Times, 11 September 1955
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), author's paragraph on dust-jacket
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), p.48
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), p.61
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), Preface
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), pp.41–45
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), pp.35–37
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), p.269
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), p.151
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), p.166
- ^ Cambridge University Reporter, 1946–1953
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), p.24–25
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), p.22, p.143
- ^ a b Lucas, F. L., 'On the Fascination of Style', in Birk, N. P., & Birk, G. B., eds., The Odyssey Reader: Ideas and Style (New York 1968), pp.486–494
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style (London 1955), p.36
- ^ Lucas, F. L., Style, 2nd edition (New York 1962, London 1964), Preface
- ^ F. L. Lucas Style: The Art of Writing Well, Harriman House Publishing 2012
- ^ Lucas, F. L., 'On the Fascination of Style', in Birk, N. P., & Birk, G. B., The Odyssey Reader: Ideas and Style (New York 1968), p.490
- ^ F. L. Lucas, Style: The Art of Writing Well, Harriman House Publishing 2012, pp.i–iii (press quotations)
- ^ Nowell-Smith, Simon, The House of Cassell, 1848-1958 (London 1958)
- ^ Hugh Gordon Porteus, review of Style in the Time and Tide, September 1955
- ^ Wilkinson, L. P., Kingsmen of a Century, 1873–1972 (Cambridge 1980)
- ^ Sir Richard Livingstone, Foreword to Lucas's Euripides and his Influence (Boston 1923)
- ^ Cassell's advertisement for Lucas's Studies French and English (London 1934), dust-jacket
- ^ a b Rayner Heppenstall, 'Prose for General Purposes', review of Style in The New Statesman and Nation, 24 September 1955, p.371-372
- ^ J. M. Cohen, review of Style in The Spectator, 18 November 1955
- ^ Review of Style in The Listener, September 1955
- ^ Foreword by Sir Bruce Fraser to 1974 Cassell reprint of Style
- ^ Philip Toynbee, review of Style in The Observer, 11 September 1955
- ^ Epstein, Joseph, 'Heavy Sentences', The New Criterion June 2011 [1]
- ^ F. L. Lucas, Style: The Art of Writing Well (Harriman House Publishing 2012), Publisher's Acknowledgements, p.257
- ^ Walther, Matthew, 'The Art of Writing Well', review of Style in New English Review, July 2012
- ^ Holiday magazine, Vol. 27 No. 3, March 1960, pp.11-21; Curtis Publishing Company, Pennsylvania
- ISBN 1-4282-3128-5
- ^ 'How to Write Powerful Prose', Harriman House Publishing, Petersfield
- ^ Holiday magazine, Vol. 38, No. 3, September 1965, pp.8-13; Curtis Publishing Company, Pennsylvania
- ^ Mieder, Wolfgang & Sobieski, Janet (eds.), Gold Nuggets or Fool’s Gold? Magazine and Newspaper Articles on the (Ir)relevance of Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases; The University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont (2006), pp.41–49