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afoxswandering's review against another edition
5.0
(reread 09/13/15) The English translation better be good, because this? This is brilliant.
"Il y avait aujourd'hui dans l'autobus à côté de moi, sur la plate-forme, un de ces morveux comme on n'en fait guère, heureusement, sans ça je finirais par en tuer un."
PS. I would love to write my review as [a:Raymond Queneau|15957|Raymond Queneau|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1225922573p2/15957.jpg], that is to say, using several literacy techniques to relate the same story over and over and over again, but let's face it : my English needs improvement before.
paolo_di_anversa's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
saracasm's review against another edition
4.0
read to reference. great foreword reflecting on the difficulties of translation!! maybe to be read in french at a future point in time
wigstown's review against another edition
5.0
I thought I would be bored by Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style. He tells the same story of impossibly necked man being jostled on the S bus over and over and over (and did I say over?) again. Each time he takes on a new style -- from "Anagrams" and "Animism" to "Opera" and "Olfactory", from "Telegraphic" to "Zoological". The whole book was a romp of rhetoric. I loved it.
avaline_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
ericsmooth's review against another edition
4.0
Something special about reading the same story over and over again. Allows the different styles of each piece to veer wildly into territory that would be impossible to understand otherwise. But if that was all this is it still wouldn't rise above literary "exercises". What makes this special is the slow reveal of new information as it goes on, until by the end you have a truly omniscient view of the incident on the bus.
magicaltats's review against another edition
3.0
This book is actually really fascinating. The author witnessed a small happening on a bus and wrote it down. He then writes this happening again in a different style. This one not quite remarkable, but eye-catching to authors, event is told in 99 different styles.
The reason that this book works is not because the happening is so interesting, but because rarely does one see the same plot told in a different way and especially not in 99 different ways. Some of them were almost unreadable, but others were absolutely brilliant.
The reason that this book works is not because the happening is so interesting, but because rarely does one see the same plot told in a different way and especially not in 99 different ways. Some of them were almost unreadable, but others were absolutely brilliant.
alskn's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
wolkjes's review against another edition
2.0
Okay, I get that it was probably fun to write this, but reading it was not. Halfway I just started skipping parts to get it over with. I thought this would totally be my cup of tea. Well... I guess not. As an excercise in style, though, it’s done very well. Clearly, I need more story in my books.