Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau

Note: I occasionally accept review copies from the publisher. Posts written from review copies are labeled. All opinions are my own. Posts may contain affiliate links. I may receive compensation for any purchased items.

How many times have you reread the same story?

Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau is a collection of the same story, written 99 different ways.

Some of the stories are fascinating retellings in various styles. Some are stereotypes (feminine, cockney, Gallacism, exclamations), some are in different perspectives (past, present, blurb, ignorance), some are different styles (noble, comedy, cross-examination, notation, sonnet, ode), and some are rather odd (dog Latin, permutations by groups of letters).

Exercises in Style is a book that is short and sweet. It sets out what it was trying to do: show how style can change a story, depending on either the narrator or the particular way of writing. Some of them were perfect examples of the impact of style, while others seemed odd to me. In the end, it was a quick read that gave me ideas for developing my own writing style – and it gave me ideas for fun practice in imitating others and changing voice.

My favorite of all of the styles was the last style: Unexpected. It was the most creative and showed me that we can take a simple, rather boring story and add something interesting to it in the end.

I’d love to do my own 99 exercises in style. I think this is fun.

Reviewed on March 27, 2009

About the author 

Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid is a homeschooling, stay-at-home mother seeking to make the journey of life-long learning fun by reading lots of good books. Rebecca Reads provides reviews of children's literature she has enjoyed with her children; nonfiction that enhances understanding of educational philosophies, history and more; and classical literature that Rebecca enjoys reading.

  • Kathy, actually, each story was about a page long (some longer). It was a quick book, but I wanted to space it out because it was a bit repetitive.

    Lezlie, I have a great library! I can request any book in all the Chicago Northern Suburbs libraries without any charge. You can also get it from Amazon — $10 new or about $6 used.

    Penny, I enjoyed it.

    karlo, I hope you enjoy it!

  • Thanks, Rebecca! I haven’t checked Amazon for a long time. I don’t think it was available when I looked before. I’ll check again! It looks like such a cool book!

    Lezlie

  • I love the idea of this book. I’ve been reading quite a bit lately about writing styles. I’m definitely going to check this one out. Thanks!

  • {"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}
    >