Having read EXERCISES IN STYLE by Raymond Queneau for class...
*Originally posted on Goodreads.
I had to read Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau back in mid-September this year, within a few hours of the thirteenth, for the creative writing class I'm taking this semester. It's not my typical read, not something I would have picked up had it not been assigned. It was an... interesting read.
I don't mean this in a bad way. If you were just to flip through this book, you'd notice how it differs. The same story is told, over and over again. A man with a hat boards a bus, wearing a hat with a cord on it. Another passengers interferes in his personal space, much to the annoyance of this man. A seat is emptied, this man rushing over to seat himself. Later, the man is seen again, talking with what is presumed to be a friend. A comment is made about the top button of his coat.
A pretty basic story, correct? But Queneau retells the story over and over again, each time differently. Some are a change in perspective, others a change in format (there's one in the form of an opera!), and others that at first glance just seem a jumble of letters for you to decode.
We read this book so as to see how style affects a story, even a simple one. While I did find it an entertaining, I would not immediately recommend it to everyone. People who simply don't like reading, I'd see them reading a few of the first styles, but not the whole. An interest in the art of writing seems needed to fully enjoy the story without it seeming a burden. I personally found it a fun read, especially when trying to "decode" the perplexing lines of letters that didn't seem to mean anything at first.
And clearly, one needs talent to write the same story ninety-nine times, over and over again, maintaining the audience captured. Queneau is clearly clever. After reading, the class had to write two more additional versions of the same story, which was extremely fun, all of us reading each other's pieces, each with a different take.
So, while not my instant all time favorite read, Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style was quite entertaining, unique among my other readings, both assigned and not.
I had to read Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau back in mid-September this year, within a few hours of the thirteenth, for the creative writing class I'm taking this semester. It's not my typical read, not something I would have picked up had it not been assigned. It was an... interesting read.
I don't mean this in a bad way. If you were just to flip through this book, you'd notice how it differs. The same story is told, over and over again. A man with a hat boards a bus, wearing a hat with a cord on it. Another passengers interferes in his personal space, much to the annoyance of this man. A seat is emptied, this man rushing over to seat himself. Later, the man is seen again, talking with what is presumed to be a friend. A comment is made about the top button of his coat.
A pretty basic story, correct? But Queneau retells the story over and over again, each time differently. Some are a change in perspective, others a change in format (there's one in the form of an opera!), and others that at first glance just seem a jumble of letters for you to decode.
We read this book so as to see how style affects a story, even a simple one. While I did find it an entertaining, I would not immediately recommend it to everyone. People who simply don't like reading, I'd see them reading a few of the first styles, but not the whole. An interest in the art of writing seems needed to fully enjoy the story without it seeming a burden. I personally found it a fun read, especially when trying to "decode" the perplexing lines of letters that didn't seem to mean anything at first.
And clearly, one needs talent to write the same story ninety-nine times, over and over again, maintaining the audience captured. Queneau is clearly clever. After reading, the class had to write two more additional versions of the same story, which was extremely fun, all of us reading each other's pieces, each with a different take.
So, while not my instant all time favorite read, Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style was quite entertaining, unique among my other readings, both assigned and not.
-Thanks, Covy
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