abhaille's Full Review: Arthur Quinn - Figures of Speech: Sixty Ways to Tu...
The premise of this book is really interesting. The author purportedly discusses literary terms--the bane of high school sophomores--in an interesting and engaging manner. He presents the literary terms with lots of examples that highlight different figures of speech. I'd certainly never heard of a hendiadys or epanalepsis.
What's more, I don't care if I ever hear of one again.
I love language and all the fun and twisty quirks that exist. There are lots of examples found in this slim volume. What kills it for me is the very dry writing and attempts at humor that don't quite work. Perhaps I'm just not smart enough, or educated enough to appreciate the humor. I certainly get most of it, I just don't think it is very funny.
It is in fact like death to read this book. I want the time back that I invested in it.
Will I keep it or toss it on the fireplace? Actually, I'll probably keep it as a reference. I think in the context of that use this book could be valuable, especially for the high school student. The numerous quotations are generally really good ones. Shakespeare and the Bible are by far the most liberally used.
I do think that my daughter would have used this as a reference when she was taking AP English. As a resource, this book has value.
As a read, however, it is dismal. It felt like this: "In cookies there are things. . .flour. . . .sugar. . . .eggs, maybe, sometimes. . . . .butter. . . . . . . . semi-sweet chocolate chips on semi-frequent occasions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The review title means in a bizarre twisted way that the content is so exceedingly dry that you will dehydrate and wither into a husk if you do not read it while being actively hydrated. . . .
This book is not about anything. It is a list of literary terms and examples.
It makes me want to gouge my eyes out!
The author must be a terribly happy person. As stated in the book quoting Montesquieu, "Happy the people whose annals are boring to read."
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