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Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them | 
 enlarge | Author: Francine Prose
Publisher: HarperPerennial
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
Buy New: £3.56
You Save: £5.43 (60%)
New (41) Used (9) from £3.56
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 22381
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Harper Perennial Ed
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.6
ISBN: 0060777052
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.02
EAN: 9780060777050
ASIN: 0060777052
Publication Date: May 1, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW - ***Delivery usually * 2 - 3 * working days - From Aphrohead of SOUTHPORT, Lancs, UK *** . Priority Airmail used Worldwide on International orders. Thanks from all at Aphrohead.
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| Customer Reviews:
 NOT WITHOUT FLAWS, BUT PLENTY OF FOOD FOR THOUGHT August 10, 2008
Easily Me
Won't teach you how to write, but it may serve to heighten your awareness of techniques that can be employed to bring credibility to a piece of work. I particularly liked points in the books where she highlights differences between clichéd language and more original language, and emphasises the importance of word economy: how to say only what needs to be said.
I found certain chapters - `Close Reading', `Words', `Narration', `Character', `Dialogue' and `Gesture' - both interesting and informative, and I believe they considerably sharpen the tools needed to critically analyse other's work if we are to improve our own writing and yet avoid overt imitation or, worse, plagiarism.
You do, however, get the impression in two of those interesting and informative chapters - `Character' and `Dialogue' - that, although very good points are made, much of what is included is unnecessary: too often much of these chapters seem to merely serve to summarise lengthy sections of stories she particularly likes, but not provide anything more to a valid point that was made succinctly enough in one or two paragraphs. I wish to avoid being too critical here, though, as the points in these chapters are generally well-made and maybe the length of some of the examples used here is necessary for emphasis; to avoid these points being neglected as incidental digressions.
Here, though, I must mention the two chapters - `Sentences' and `Paragraphs' - that I believe are essentially pointless as they are too analytical of specific examples and bring out little in general that a practising writer may use to inspire their own technique. I would also go as far as to say that where good points are made - in `Sentences' - the examples used to highlight these are not particularly good and, in some cases, serve more to contradict than to clarify. In addition, coming as do so early in the book - chapters one and two - is fairly off-putting and could deter you from wishing to read further, which would be a shame as there is much here for a close and critical reader to consider when approaching their own reading and writing.
And that would be the book in a nutshell: yes, there is a lot to be had from it and is, therefore, worth recommending for that, but there will be the occasional section where you may ask yourself why you are bothering.
All-in-all though, worth the time and effort.
 Not very good May 14, 2008
Miguel Figueiredo (Lisbon, Portugal)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This isn't a very good book. It should be re-titled as "How to read like a writer: me". The book starts of nicely with a very interesting chapter concerning Close Reading, but then the quote festival begins. For chapters and chapters all the author does is to present us with huge quotes from literary geniuses and to display a very small and insipid subjective opinion on them which scarcely relates to the chapter topic.
I only give it two stars for the first chapter and the one entitled "Learning with Checkov".
Reading this is a kind of torture: very disapointing.
I would recommend "How to read a book" by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren.
 This Refreshing Book February 26, 2008
Well Read (Norhampton England)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Francine Prose explicates on writing creatively with a masterful analysis. The rules for storytelling are refreshingly challenged, using many examples of well-known author's writing styles. This is a book for reflective readers, who love the way words are woven to create and tell a story. For writers who want to create stories that are not hidebound by dead rules. In the first chapter Prose poses the question: "Can creative writing be taught?" Her answer to this, we learn to write by trial and error, and by example when reading books. Reading slowly, carefully, and concentrating on the writers for whom every word in a paragraph is essential for reader impact. In my estimation, this is a most stimulating book for anyone fascinated with novel reading and writing.
Disappointing January 15, 2008
P. Bird (England)
2 out of 12 found this review helpful
From this book, I am stimulated to search out two authors' pieces of writing: ZZ Packer's "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere" and Samuel Becket's "First Love". I found the chapter on opening paragraphs stimulating but other than that, I was very disappointed. Every other chapter failed to deliver mainly because the examples of writing were not to my taste. For brilliant dialogue, there was no mention of Anne Tyler or Charles Webb. Everyone would be far better to study in detail the writers they like and not waste their time on this book which uses examples from writers I have no interest in and, judging by the excerpts she offers, I'm not surprised.
Be a Better Reader in Order to Become a Better Writer December 29, 2006
David De Sousa
22 out of 24 found this review helpful
You certainly are a person who enjoys reading. The beauty of this book is that its author teaches us how to read carefully, deliberately and slowly in order to digest and extract the ideas behind the words, and also to identify the style of an specific writer. By doing so Francine Prose gives us the tool that we may require to become a better writer. Basically is a process of learning by example, and Prose goes all the way to select and bring us a lot of examples, both from classical and contemporary authors.
As you advance through the chapters you will find examples covering the fundamentals of writing, including aspects related to narrative, plot development, characters creation, as well as the basics of sentence and paragraph structure.
Even if you have no intention at all of becoming a writer you will love this book, since it also teaches us how to have a better appreciation of what we read.
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