Francine Prose
Paperback | Pages: 297 pages Rating: 3.77 | 9324 Users | 1264 Reviews
Details Books As Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them
| Original Title: | Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them |
| ISBN: | 0060777052 (ISBN13: 9780060777050) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rendition Supposing Books Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them
In her entertaining and edifying New York Times bestseller, acclaimed author Francine Prose invites you to sit by her side and take a guided tour of the tools and the tricks of the masters to discover why their work has endured. Written with passion, humor, and wisdom, Reading Like a Writer will inspire readers to return to literature with a fresh eye and an eager heart - to take pleasure in the long and magnificent sentences of Philip Roth and the breathtaking paragraphs of Isaac Babel; she is deeply moved by the brilliant characterization in George Eliot's Middlemarch. She looks to John Le Carré for a lesson in how to advance plot through dialogue and to Flannery O'Connor for the cunning use of the telling detail. And, most important, Prose cautions readers to slow down and pay attention to words, the raw material out of which all literature is crafted.Describe Out Of Books Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them
| Title | : | Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them |
| Author | : | Francine Prose |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 297 pages |
| Published | : | April 10th 2007 by Harper Perennial (first published August 22nd 2006) |
| Categories | : | Language. Writing. Nonfiction. Books About Books. Reference. Criticism. Literary Criticism. Essays. Literature |
Rating Out Of Books Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them
Ratings: 3.77 From 9324 Users | 1264 ReviewsPiece Out Of Books Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them
I was reminded of teachers of programming and tech things of that nature. What they do is offer ten to twenty minutes of lecture then go around from desk to desk answering individual questions. That appears to be Proses technique, which got on my nerves. I was hoping for something a bit more formulaic, in the sense of indicating what rules made sense, showing how to use this or that that tool to create such-and-such an effect. Instead, Prose says that there are rules, but here are many, manyThe NY Times Book Review has a special slot on my Sunday schedule. In this a.d.d. world, it affirms that books, and more importantly, the time consuming process of mulling over words and putting together sentences that convey thoughts clearly--the act of writing, is still valued. Book Reviews in the Times generally go on for 3 pages before even mentioning the actual book and then it gets like 2 paragraphs--with a quick reference to a third book for comparison. I'm fine with that. They're always
I really enjoyed this book and the author's focus on the finer points of writing. She references dozens of classic works and discusses word choice, sentences, paragraph structure, voice and many other fundamentals of writing fiction.Her comments are geared to literary writers and often I felt insulted (as a lowly thriller writer). At one point she says, "Opening a mass-market thriller at random," and she quotes a horrible passage that I didn't recognize. She's telling us that mass-market
The trouble with Prose's book is that it's good. It's annoyingly like finding oil changing advice in the New York Times crossword or having your wine snob friend demonstrate the way to lay drywall with metaphors drawn from the bouquet of their favorite shiraz.Still, Prose brings up several excellent points. Her section on gesture is particularly good; it's easily as illuminating and Stephen King's hatred of adverbs. But I think what I will take away most from this book is her advice for when you
Made for a reader, but strong enough for a writer!Not surprisingly Reading Like a Writer weighs a bit heavier on the writerly side rather than the reader. Francine Prose (that HAS to be a pen name) has taught writing and so that is her approach to writing this novel, which by the title sounds as if it's meant to assist the reader. Well clearly what makes good writing is the stuff readers should be aware of if they wish to get the most of their occupation, so I can forgive her that. Another
This may very well be the most horridly pretentious writing book I've ever seen. The only thing stopping me from throwing it across the room in sheer despair was that I bought the audiobook version - and there was enough pain involved in actually listening that it would have been almost vulgar to add that of broken glass.Seriously, though: ugh. There are some good points in this, certainly, but they're drowning in the haughtiest filler possible. My main problem is not the highly literary angle
My highlighter ran dry as I eagerly noted large swaths of wisdom and great lines from the many excerpts. It's not so much a guide to writing as it is guide to writer mindset. At the very least, it's a celebration of books and the art that goes into creating them. Fair warning, your to-read list (and Amazon cart) will overflow after only a few chapters.With that being said, there are plenty of dull moments. Easily 50% of the book is wasted on setting up context for an excerpt that may be
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