The Elements of Eloquence: How To Turn the Perfect English Phrase

This is perhaps the most entertaining book about the English language I have read this year. I added the qualifier ‘perhaps’ because I am currently reading his book The Etymologicon which might eclipse Elements of Eloquence in terms of entertainment. Elements explains why great writers (of speeches, poetry, songs, advertising copy and so on) use certain phrasing to make what they have said more memorable than writing without knowledge of what makes things ‘pop’. Forsyth provides his definitions of each of the ‘figures’ of rhetoric and is quite candid that there is a lot of disagreement among scholars about these definitions. He provides the definition which he thinks makes the most sense and has the support of the majority, and provides excellent and entertaining examples of their employment. Some of the figures are in common use and I, a humble ‘self-taught’ writer, like a lot of people manage to use some of them without really thinking about it. For example I am an ardent admirer of alliteration – often employing it to the edge of overuse. I also use tricolon a lot – if only from listening to Del la Soul repeatedly enforcing the coda that three is the magic number. There’s a few others (personification was obviously part of my ‘O’ level education in terms of how they relate to simile and metaphor and allegory) but I have to agree that I have been ‘baking blindfolded’ as Forsyth puts it – sometimes I luck out and write a catchy sentence but most times not so much. Since reading the book I have been keeping an ear out for the use of these figures when listening to film dialogue and of course songs which are as close as I get to reading poetry – lyrics are full of assonance, alliteration, isocolons, anaphora, diacope, smatterings of epanalepsis and lots of other things I have already unfortunately forgotten the names for, and the lines in films are generally memorable because of the use of one figure or more. A great example recently is “if we burn, you burn with us!” I think Forsyth’s main point is that great writers such as Shakespeare and Dickens were not necessarily happy to settle on using the talents they were born with but in practicing their craft and learning how to employ the figures to great effect. He bemoans the usual edict to ‘delete unnecessary words’ that a lot of modern writers follow and this is something I will ponder as I write. It is obviously a matter of personal choice or taste when and when not to be succinct or meander into the realms of pleonasm. Finally it was great to finally find out what the iambic pentameter was and also read about all the other meters that are out there in the wondrous worlds of poetry and prose in Forsyth’s divagation concerning versification. When I have written poems in the past I have always looked at how many syllables each line contained and then struggled to make sense of the flow (or meter!) when what I should have been looking for was in fact something called ‘feet’ (of which there are four types including the iamb) to then fit to a consistent meter line by line. The iamb is a te-TUM and if you put five in a row then you get the iambic pentameter te-TUM- te-TUM- te-TUM- te-TUM- te-TUM. Simples! And much used by Shakespeare – perhaps something I was taught and have since forgotten. Anyway thanks goes to the @inkyfool Mark Forysth for running me through it!

This truly is a beautifully written book which is not only entertaining to read, thanks to Forsyth's innate humour, but is also vastly educational. It's cleverly put together, with each 'chapter' covering a particular technique linked to the next, and every section is peppered with examples from a wide range of literature, media and political speeches. There are common techniques which anyone who's sat through GCSE English lessons will know, such as alliteration, however there are dealt with in such detail and with such well put together explanations that they still offer something new. Then there are techniques which many readers will already know but just won't have names for them - I know the rule of three but had never heard it was called a 'tricolon'. Or I already knew repetition can work brilliantly, but I had no idea that if you start sentences using repetition, it's known as prolepsis. Naturally, there are also techniques which are entirely new to me, such as the gorgeously named 'scesis onomaton' (if you want to know what this is, then think about the dead parrot speech from Monty Python). If you want to become a more knowledgeable reader or a better writer or appreciate good prose or like a good laugh then buy this book. I'll certainly be buying more of Forsyth's books in the future.

A smart book, about rhetoric (nice on the classical definitions etc), and the literary uses we put them to. It's amusing and neatly written (as it should be, about this topic). Lots of small effects I'd not thought much about before plus some extracts I'd not come acosss. Good stuff!

I previewed this book before buying it and was encouraged by the style and pace of the sample. Rhetoric may not seem like a particularly relevant skill in modern times but this book illustrates clearly how adepts in the art can turn a run-of-the-mill idea into an apparent gem of wisdom. If you think these concepts have fallen out of use, check out the latest political sound-bite to change your mind! The book itself is a circular tour of a catalogue of rhetorical devices, entertainingly described and illustrated with examples from everyone from Plato (if memory serves) to The Beatles and Bob Dylan. The author defines each construction, then describes how it's been used by writers down through history. Using proverbs and quotations, he makes a case for the use of the construction, often offering alternative phrasings that, quite simply, don't cut the mustard like the original. At the end of each chapter, he finishes with a final example that's also an example of the device described in the next chapter (and, by the end, he arrives back where he started). I was particularly taken with his opening passage, which starts with a denial of Shakespeare's genius (how often do you find someone going public with that?) No, says Forsyth, what Shakespeare did was to work at his art and get better at it with years of practice. He applied many of the concepts described later in the book and, when he did, he came out with his most memorable quotations. (Would anyone remember "Can anyone lend me a horse, please?" in comparison with what he actually wrote?) If you have any love of language, this is a book you should read. If you ever have to speak in public, ditto. But please don't expect a dry, turgid exposition of rhetoric. This is a good read and something you could keep by the bedside to dip into whenever you get the urge.

A fun, interesting read, somewhat in the spirit of Stephen Fry’s “An Ode Less Travelled” in that it wants to educate people in literary technique rather than critique the work. It claims to be impatient with the style of writing about literature which sees its aim as to “decode” the true meaning and intent of the author, so: “English teaching at school is obsessed with what a poet thought, as though that were of any interest to anyone. Rather than being taught how a poem is phrased, schoolchildren are asked to write essays on what William Blake thought about the Tiger; despite the fact that William Blake was a nutjob whose opinions, in a civilized society, would be of no interest to anybody apart from his parole officer…” Although a little bit of an exaggeration, he has a point! So this book is a guide to the various tricks and techniques involved in turning an eloquent, memorable phrase. Although not a “how to…” guide with exercises, it does explain how a person can use all the various techniques to write and speak better. It also explains the background and etymology of all the complicated sounding words which describe rhetorical techniques: Aposiopesis, Hypotaxis, Diacope and so on. I don’t know enough about the subject to say if this book could accurately be called comprehensive, but it does seem to cover a lot of ground, without overstaying its welcome. It is quite a short book, but full of really fascinating and occasionally useful stuff. Recommended.

This could have been a jaw-drippingly dull read, but Forsyth's style and humour carry it along so well, I was disappointed to reach the end. I bought The Elements of Eloquence after seeing the pithy analysis of English word order (Chapter 8: Hyperbaton): “adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest you’ll sound like a maniac.” The writing is informative but engaging; intelligent but accessible. Forsyth mostly explains the rhetorical figures by employing the figure in his explanation: so he explains epistrophe by ending every sentence with the same words (because that's exactly what epistrophe is); he explains hypotaxis using simple sentences. Short and snappy. The description of farmer's English had me laughing out loud: embarrassing on a crowded train. Other examples are taken not just from classical literature but also pop music, TV and movies. Most of my time reading this book, I wore a disturbing grin from the sheer pleasure of it. It's not for everyone. But if you love wordplay, if you love language, if you love the English language like Nabokov and Rushdie love the English language, then you must, must, must read this book. It is joyous.

A thoroughly enjoyable and readable book explaining the technicalities and formulas of great writing. Very entertaining and educational. I have been given a new appreciation of some of the classical works, so much so that I might be tempted to read or reread some! I would recommend this if you enjoy understanding how and why things work, or if you are just looking for something a little different to read to capture your interest.

I don’t usually have a particular next-book in mind when I visit Kindle downloads. I check out the special offers and look for those scoring lots of 5* reviews. This was one such book. The topic seemed unlikely to attract many buyers but I was intrigued. What could be so special? I read a few of the reviews and decided to give it a try. Amazing! One of the most enjoyable books I have read in recent history. Intelligent, entertaining, very clever writing, extremely witty and even informative and potentially valuable (I am a writer by profession). The only drawback for me is that, with memory increasingly failing, I now cannot remember most of the terms for the figures. But then I can (and probably will) read it a second time and enjoy it all over again!

Die Bücher von Mark Forsyth gehören zu unseren Favoriten im Bücherregal (15 bis 50 Jahre). Er schreibt sehr unterhaltsam, kenntnisreich und außerordentlich humorvoll über die englische Sprache. Wir verdanken dem Autor manch vergnügliche Stunde, auch mit dem Hörbuch im Auto. Selbst Freunde, die sonst eher Romanen zuneigen, sind begeistert. Dieses Buch möchte ich uneingeschränkt empfehlen!

Libro muy interesante – permite un vistazo al "backstage" de las figuras retóricas del inglés. Muy útil para avanzar en el conocimiento de este idioma y escribir mejor y de forma mas contundente. La lectura es divertida y rápida – cero técnica y con muchos ejemplos.

libro utile per ingegneria degli elementi finiti consigliato a ingegneri strutturisti non dovrebbe mancare nella biblioteca di un ingegnere meccanico e civile

題名から分かりにくいが本書は修辞学用語辞典である。alliteration, antithesis,など約40語の修辞学用語が収められている。アルファベット配列ではないが目次を索引代わりに用いて知りたい用語を容易に検索できる。例えば、enallage を見てみる。英和辞典では「代替法」と訳されているが、本書の定義は「意図的な文法上の誤り」（p.103）である。コンラッドの『闇の奥』(The Heart of Darkness)の最後の箇所が引用されている。 …the manager’s boy put his insolent black head in the doorway, and said in a tone of scathing contempt－ ‘Mistah Kurtz－he dead.’ もちろんhe is deadが文法的に正しいのであるが、あえて少年にhe deadと言わしめることによって文学的価値を高めているという。もう一つは, T. S. Elliot の詩からである。 Let us go then, you and I 文法的にはyou and me とすべきであるが、Iを用いたのは次の行と韻を踏むためであろうといっている。次の行は引用されていないが、ネット検索すると、次の行は When the evening is spread out against the sky であることが分かる。なるほどと納得した次第。 本書を読んでおけば、英米文学作品を理解する上で有益であろう。

This book is written well and loved it!