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Monday, July 23, 2012

Monday, July 9, 2012

Book Review: How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One

Seeing as how I only update this blog at the end of the year, I'm honestly shocked at this urge to write a blog post. However strong this urge might be, it's also very lacking; I don't know what I want to write about.
Not to mention figuring out how to cater to the attention spans of people who barely finish reading a headline, let alone a post more than 140 characters. (*gasp* Oh, the horror that words emit these days.)




I finished reading a book by Stanley Fish How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One . The frontman of one of my favorite bands gave it a good rating. (Who said stalking was bad?) And with that, I had to have it.
I am a fan of words. I enjoy everything about them: meaning, origin and phonetics. I keep a notebook with a list of all the words I like. But with this book, I came to realize their monumental effect when used in sentences. I must admit, I never gave sentences much attention but as I began reading I started to notice what I would usually dismiss -or more accurately, what I would never take into consideration-

Much to my dismay, I found out that I am a terrible reader. With each example I read in the book, I began to see that reading begs more attention. And as an amateur writer, it became apparent how much work I needed. I never thought that authors went above and beyond coherence and eloquence. I mean, apart from the obvious fluency, there are the minute details in every sentence and the intricacy, craftsmanship and flow of it all is astounding. Their work is equally amazing when viewed from a distance as it is when it's picked apart and examined up close.

In conclusion, I would beg you to read this book if you're just stumbling through the trenches of creative writing. Also, if you're an avid reader, it would give you more insight and appreciation to what you read.
And if you're a know-it-all who doesn't need to be told about writing styles and whatnot, read it because a reminder doesn't hurt.