The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
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- Author：Steven Pinker
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Summary
Steven Pinker， the bestselling author of The Language Instinct， deploys his gift for explaining big ideas in The Sense of Style - an entertaining writing guide for the 21st century
What is the secret of good prose？ Does writing well even matter in an age of instant communication？ Should we care？ In this funny， thoughtful book about the modern art of writing， Steven Pinker shows us why we all need a sense of style。
More than ever before， the currency of our social and cultural lives is the written word， from Twitter and texting to blogs， e-readers and old-fashioned books。 But most style guides fail to prepare people for the challenges of writing in the 21st century， portraying it as a minefield of grievous errors rather than a form of pleasurable mastery。 They fail to deal with an inescapable fact about language: it changes over time， adapted by millions of writers and speakers to their needs。 Confusing changes in the world with moral decline， every generation believes the kids today are degrading society and taking language with it。 A guide for the new millennium， writes Steven Pinker， has to be different。
Drawing on the latest research in linguistics and cognitive science， Steven Pinker replaces the recycled dogma of previous style guides with reason and evidence。 This thinking person's guide to good writing shows why style still matters: in communicating effectively， in enhancing the spread of ideas， in earning a reader's trust and， not least， in adding beauty to the world。 Eye-opening， mind-expanding and cheerful， The Sense of Style shows that good style is part of what it means to be human。
What is the secret of good prose？ Does writing well even matter in an age of instant communication？ Should we care？ In this funny， thoughtful book about the modern art of writing， Steven Pinker shows us why we all need a sense of style。
More than ever before， the currency of our social and cultural lives is the written word， from Twitter and texting to blogs， e-readers and old-fashioned books。 But most style guides fail to prepare people for the challenges of writing in the 21st century， portraying it as a minefield of grievous errors rather than a form of pleasurable mastery。 They fail to deal with an inescapable fact about language: it changes over time， adapted by millions of writers and speakers to their needs。 Confusing changes in the world with moral decline， every generation believes the kids today are degrading society and taking language with it。 A guide for the new millennium， writes Steven Pinker， has to be different。
Drawing on the latest research in linguistics and cognitive science， Steven Pinker replaces the recycled dogma of previous style guides with reason and evidence。 This thinking person's guide to good writing shows why style still matters: in communicating effectively， in enhancing the spread of ideas， in earning a reader's trust and， not least， in adding beauty to the world。 Eye-opening， mind-expanding and cheerful， The Sense of Style shows that good style is part of what it means to be human。
Reviews
Binati Sheth
，
This book has some great advice。I only docked a star to highlight how the book ignores most of its own advice。 That's incredibly unfortunate。 This book has some great advice。I only docked a star to highlight how the book ignores most of its own advice。 That's incredibly unfortunate。 。。。more
Kimball
，
2。5 stars。 I liked the book for the most part but towards the end I started to wonder why the author even wrote this book。 Sure， his anecdotes were fun but quickly became irrelevant because it was hard to distinguish them from an example of when to say a word or phrase or when not to say a word or phrase。 Also， he used big， uncommon words to describe sentence structure and syntax。 So if he really wanted to educate readers to speak well he would have written to the Commoner audience。 And not just 2。5 stars。 I liked the book for the most part but towards the end I started to wonder why the author even wrote this book。 Sure， his anecdotes were fun but quickly became irrelevant because it was hard to distinguish them from an example of when to say a word or phrase or when not to say a word or phrase。 Also， he used big， uncommon words to describe sentence structure and syntax。 So if he really wanted to educate readers to speak well he would have written to the Commoner audience。 And not just to the proverbial Choir like he did to show off his English/Grammar intelligence。 This book was pretty in-depth writing。 Many terms and rules went over my head。 The PDF would have been helpful。 Notes:You don't say 6 people you say 6 persons。 The currency of our social and cultural lives is the written word。 The starting point for being a good writer is being a good reader。An explanation without an example is little better than no explanation at all。 The author could have done better with this teaching。 This author hates cool George Bush。Who is nominative and is used for subjects; I， she， he， we， and they。 Whom is accusative and is used for objects; me， her， him， us， and them。 He who can does and he who cannot teaches， and he who cannot teach， teaches gym。 （That's me）You only live once should be rewritten as you live only once。Aggravate doesn't mean to annoy， it means to make worse。 Don't say 10 items or less。 Rather 10 items or fewer。 。。。more
Ann
，
Excellent advice in the first few chapters， but then it gets too far into the weeds for me。 :）
翰林院编修
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 风格感觉 8。0 （822人评价） [美] 史蒂芬·平克 / 王烁 / 机械工业出版社 / 2018无论是写微博、微信文章和电子邮件，还是写论文、新闻稿和技术指南，我们今天的社会文化生活比史上任何时候都更依赖于书面语言。像所有语言使用者一样，互联网一代不仅。。。
auria
，
Haberá que ler a versión orixinal。
SHISHIR SHOHAN
，
বইটা যেহেতু একজন psycholinguist এর লেখা， তাই ভেবেছিলাম এখানে দেওয়া পরামর্শ গুলো সব ভাষায় লিখার ক্ষেত্রেই প্রযোজ্য হবে। কিন্তু বইয়ের বেশিরভাগ পরামর্শই শুধু ইংরেজী ভাষার ক্ষেত্রে প্রাসঙ্গিক， বিশেষ করে ব্যকরণ অংশ।কিন্তু এরপরও হতাশ হয়েছি বলবনা। কারণ কিছু পরামর্শ সব ভাষার লেখককেই উপকৃত করবে। আর বইটা অনেক ভালোভাবে লেখা হয়েছে। স্টিভেন পিংকারের অন্যান্য লেখার সাথে যারা পরিচিত তাদের ভালোই লাগবে।
Vinícius Macêdo
，
Um livro interessanteEmbora use muito da língua inglesa em seus exemplos， a obra aponta vertentes sintáticas a serem utilizadas ou evitadas。 Nesse sentido， apresenta diversas sugestões práticas。
Robin
，
Penguin Books， 2015。Striking Quotes。'。。。show mercy to your readers。。。'， Arcs of Coherence， page 145。'Coherence begins with the writer and reader being clear about the topic，' Arcs of Coherence， page 146。 Penguin Books， 2015。Striking Quotes。'。。。show mercy to your readers。。。'， Arcs of Coherence， page 145。'Coherence begins with the writer and reader being clear about the topic，' Arcs of Coherence， page 146。 。。。more
Peachy Keen
，
So far， this is the least useful book I've read on how to write， and the book is itself not well-written （at least the first 60% that I read）， which was not reassuring while reading。 Pinker is wordy and writes with an air of pretentiousness that gets irritating after a while。 He loves adjectives and conjunction-constructions that add little， if any， substance: e。g。， "The classic manuals， written by starchy Englishmen and rock-ribbed Yankees，""the uncompromising atheist and tireless advocate of s So far， this is the least useful book I've read on how to write， and the book is itself not well-written （at least the first 60% that I read）， which was not reassuring while reading。 Pinker is wordy and writes with an air of pretentiousness that gets irritating after a while。 He loves adjectives and conjunction-constructions that add little， if any， substance: e。g。， "The classic manuals， written by starchy Englishmen and rock-ribbed Yankees，""the uncompromising atheist and tireless advocate of science，" "It could betray to our peers the awful truth that we are still greenhorns， tenderfoots， newbies" etc。 Is there a relevant difference between 'greenhorn' and 'newbie' such that a short list of terms is needed where one will do？ Does he actually think it sounds better his wordy way？ （Yikes。） Wth is a "rock-ribbed" Yankee？ （And "starchy Englishmen" is trite。） But moreover， for someone who claims to love reading style manuals， this book flouts all the （good） conventions they have developed: having clear chapter titles that indicate what will be discussed， organized to move from basics to complexities， generally easy to search through as a reference book。 Structurally， this reads like a lot of academic work: The author's train of thought transplanted onto the page。 Pinker has a lot of thoughts about writing--some useful-- but he doesn't have a vision of what good writing is that he presents clearly and coherently。 Anyway， his prose is easy to read， so you will expend only a few hours on this meandering excavation， and you will come away with some decent pointers that you can learn elsewhere in a better-formatted， better-organized way。 。。。more
Joemin Nuevo
，
Too much information if you're just a casual writer。 Might be even fair to say that some parts won't be useful and/or interesting unless you're someone who teaches or studies writing for a living。 Still， there's a lot of practical tips in the first few chapters。 I'd recommend reading a summary first， then reading parts of the book that you find interesting。 Too much information if you're just a casual writer。 Might be even fair to say that some parts won't be useful and/or interesting unless you're someone who teaches or studies writing for a living。 Still， there's a lot of practical tips in the first few chapters。 I'd recommend reading a summary first， then reading parts of the book that you find interesting。 。。。more
Mark Howard
，
If I could give more than five stars I would。 Pinker writes with wit， clarity， and authority。 His skill as a communicator may be unmatched。
Paul C。 Stalder
，
Informative， helpful， and practical; Pinker has provided an accessible guide for writers of all levels。 Whether you are writing technical manuals， emails to colleagues， or essays， the Sense of Style will help improve your writing in several ways。 From sentence construction， to word choice， to punctuation should go， Pinker's wit and humor make what could have been a dull read， a fun and memorable text。 A must-read for writers of all stripes。 Informative， helpful， and practical; Pinker has provided an accessible guide for writers of all levels。 Whether you are writing technical manuals， emails to colleagues， or essays， the Sense of Style will help improve your writing in several ways。 From sentence construction， to word choice， to punctuation should go， Pinker's wit and humor make what could have been a dull read， a fun and memorable text。 A must-read for writers of all stripes。 。。。more
Pickles
，
Okay to be perfectly honest I didn't actually read all of this （if you're my English professor and see this， no you don't）But what I DID read was pretty good。 Highly recommend at least skimming this if you write anything ever。 There's also a video he did that basically covers the whole book that you can watch instead Okay to be perfectly honest I didn't actually read all of this （if you're my English professor and see this， no you don't）But what I DID read was pretty good。 Highly recommend at least skimming this if you write anything ever。 There's also a video he did that basically covers the whole book that you can watch instead 。。。more
Rasheed Lewis
，
Good writers are avid readers。 They have absorbed a vast inventory of words， idioms， constructions， trope， and rhetorical tricks， and with them a sensitivity to how they mesh and how they clash。So what're you waiting for， fellow Goodreads netizen？！ Go write that maudlin， midlife character study already！Unfortunately， this was yet another case of me expecting too much from a book by its title， and， as we all know， expectations will almost always kick you in the ass。 I should've learned my les Good writers are avid readers。 They have absorbed a vast inventory of words， idioms， constructions， trope， and rhetorical tricks， and with them a sensitivity to how they mesh and how they clash。So what're you waiting for， fellow Goodreads netizen？！ Go write that maudlin， midlife character study already！Unfortunately， this was yet another case of me expecting too much from a book by its title， and， as we all know， expectations will almost always kick you in the ass。 I should've learned my lesson the other times I had decided to read anything about the liberal arts written by a secularist。 This is exactly why Mortimer J。 Adler says to give a potential next book an inspectional skim to see if it's worth reading， but it's hard to do that on the Kindle app。 I only have myself to blame。The book's not so much about developing your own sense of style as it is a rehash of my 7th grade A Beka Book: Grammar and Composition II （if there's one thing Christian private school middle-schoolers can do， it's diagram a sentence）。 Brace yourself， avid Goodreads reader， as you will learn about correctly using apostrophe's， the difference among among and between and the Oxford comma。 Luckily， Pinker provides us 21st-century thinking people with Boomer newspaper comic strips dispersed in between his lessons on independent and dependent clauses to recalibrate our quickly waning attention spans with cartoons and to give our index fingers a break from left-swiping digital page after digital page as we half-read Pinker's science-guy writing。。。。if you're writing an essay on mammals， it's up to you whether to write first about the rodents， then the primates， then the bats， and so on， or first the primates， then the felines， then the whales and dolphins， or any of the other 403，291，461，126，605，635，584，000，000 logically possible orderings of the twenty-six subgroups。 （p。 134） Wow， what an interesting fun fact， Steven Pinker The Science Thinker。。。As far as style goes， Pinker only mentions one style of writing -- the classic style。。。。not so much metaphors or analogies as they are actual instances of the phenomena。。。， and they are instances that readers can see with their own eyes。 This is classic style （p。 36， emphasis his） Classic style is empiricism as literary praxis。 Pinker The Science Thinker recommends writing as how a cinematographer films -- by guiding the reader's mind's eye with a visual path with different angles， zooms， and cuts to the evidence that we want to present。 Scientists make a living by observing material in different ways under different lenses as well， and look at how much good they've done for society。。。。the ideal of classic prose is congenial to the worldview of the scientist （p。 36 - 37） Of course， this classic style doesn't help much if we want to write about things which cannot be seen， things that are not material。 But given that Pinker is an Enlightenment fideist， he probably doesn't believe those things exist anyway。I gave the book two stars instead of one only because I appreciate a good modernist versus postmodernist smackdown in the Ivory Tower ring。By the same token， the guiding image of classic prose could not be further from the worldview of relativist academic ideologies such as postmodernism， poststructuralism， and literary Marxism。 （p。 37） Pinker lands a good right hook to the groin of postmodernism's jester Bill Clinton and a swift uppercut with his left to the chin of its high priestess Judy B。 I'm taking bets now to see which ideology will come out winning in the end。 。。。more
Steve Dragon
，
The book serves two distinct purposes。 First， it is a style manual of the modern kind。 Second， it is a book about linguistics。 In serving these dual purposes， the book becomes a fun and interesting read。 Full of linguistic curiosities and ideas， information and stories， Sense of Style is a fascinating style guide because of how the practical information comes from science and history。 It is unlike any style guide I've read before。 In absolute terms， it's also probably the best one。 All its tips The book serves two distinct purposes。 First， it is a style manual of the modern kind。 Second， it is a book about linguistics。 In serving these dual purposes， the book becomes a fun and interesting read。 Full of linguistic curiosities and ideas， information and stories， Sense of Style is a fascinating style guide because of how the practical information comes from science and history。 It is unlike any style guide I've read before。 In absolute terms， it's also probably the best one。 All its tips are based in logic， powerful and well-explained。 They're basic things to keep in mind， and they absolutely help。 There are other guides that have made more of an impact to me personally， but I would not hesitate in saying that this is the most broadly useful style guide I've read。 If you wanna write better， you can't go wrong with this。 If you don't wanna write better， then consider reading it anyway and you might change your mind。 。。。more
Nicola Lew
，
Useful book - I highlighted a few things and I'd keep it to flip through - but feels like he could have said everything in half the number of pages。 Useful book - I highlighted a few things and I'd keep it to flip through - but feels like he could have said everything in half the number of pages。 。。。more
Rick
，
This is one of my new favourite books。 It contains two main topics。 The first is a discussion of how psycho-linguistics can explain why brilliant academics， bureaucrats， lawyers etc。 often publish gibberish。 The second topic is a practical section to help the reader learn to write with clarity， precision， and style。 Pinker writes with his own sense of elegance and wit， making the book thoroughly enjoyable。
Rosy
，
Ugh。 I was bashing away at a longer （for me） review with the soft end of my stylus on my iPad when my review disappeared and I can’t find it。 Short version: my opinion kept changing。 Interesting and useful analyses of good writing at the beginning; an independent （？） system of grammar/logic of questionable value although I get his point about grammar “rules” being spurious when not logical: then a more typical style commentary that was just a little liberal for me and I sometimes wondered whethe Ugh。 I was bashing away at a longer （for me） review with the soft end of my stylus on my iPad when my review disappeared and I can’t find it。 Short version: my opinion kept changing。 Interesting and useful analyses of good writing at the beginning; an independent （？） system of grammar/logic of questionable value although I get his point about grammar “rules” being spurious when not logical: then a more typical style commentary that was just a little liberal for me and I sometimes wondered whether his arguments fully grasped the usages or notions they took on。 I enjoyed the punctuation section。 Didn’t read the glossary but might turn to it in the future。 Worth a read but covers a lot of ground covered elsewhere （he might have got there first in some cases， but he does cite a lot of sources）。 。。。more
Castles
，
I’m taking the blame of the low rating on me。 The author writes well and graceful， but I forgot how tiring and boring grammar books can get。 I struggled with it and skipped most of the last chapter。
Lan Anh
，
The key takeaway from this book is that writing simply is an art。 It doesn't take big words and complicated sentence structure to get your points across: a good writing is coherent with a good sense of word choice and syntax。 It may sound simple， but only when I put it into practice do I realize how hard it is， and I've been writing more mindfully after the book。The （big） last part of the books falls a bit too heavy on the English grammar。 I kinda skipped the part because as someone who learns E The key takeaway from this book is that writing simply is an art。 It doesn't take big words and complicated sentence structure to get your points across: a good writing is coherent with a good sense of word choice and syntax。 It may sound simple， but only when I put it into practice do I realize how hard it is， and I've been writing more mindfully after the book。The （big） last part of the books falls a bit too heavy on the English grammar。 I kinda skipped the part because as someone who learns English as a second language， I rarely make those mistakes。 But overall， this is the best writing manual I have ever read。 Instead of jamming into my head some rules， the book explained why I should and shouldn't do this and that in my writing， and I am totally convinced。 The book itself is an example of "the sense of style" also 。。。more
Prahlad Saldanha
，
As usual。
Anthony Thompson
，
Steven Pinker is one of today's greatest thinkers。 Bar none。 What am I doing reading a writer's guide？ I'm a bad writer。。。 Reading a good writer's rules on writing is something that's always a bit。。。 Challenging。 Pinker is refreshing though。 His views mirror mine， although mine are less refined， and I think he'd shudder in my appeal to kinsmanship。 What they boil down to though， I think， is this， 'Language， and particularly writing， is all about communication。 Comprehension and clarity of messag Steven Pinker is one of today's greatest thinkers。 Bar none。 What am I doing reading a writer's guide？ I'm a bad writer。。。 Reading a good writer's rules on writing is something that's always a bit。。。 Challenging。 Pinker is refreshing though。 His views mirror mine， although mine are less refined， and I think he'd shudder in my appeal to kinsmanship。 What they boil down to though， I think， is this， 'Language， and particularly writing， is all about communication。 Comprehension and clarity of message are the only relevant measures of skill。' Grammarians and rule-followers are winning a game no one but them is playing。 Pinker sort of shades and laughs at people who take to superior false elevations of self for following grammatical rules at the expense of clarity。 I dig that。It forced me to think about my own writing， how I simultaneously try to write intelligently and idiotically， because that's who I am。。。。 Pinker is always great。 His vision and clarity of thought are aspirational。 That he dedicates an immense amount of personal time to his work is evident and enviable。 He sets a standard for the modern writer that I think few are capable of matching。 He can make dangling participles interesting， and that's no easy feat。 I have a natural disdain for rules surrounding language。 I've always assumed it's unreal， and that the focus around grammar was a big game that limited communication， rather than enhanced it。 But who am I？ The greatest teachers of all time used simple language and broad metaphor to great success。 Even the late 20th centuries most prolific author， Paulo Coelho， owes his massive success to this principle。 I walk around bookstores looking at who is successful in terms of mass market appeal， and it's never the great technical writers。 For writers。 For English Majors who need a reality check。 。。。more
Aemilius
，
The impressive， incredibly razor-sharp wit of Pinker never ceases to amaze and amuse me。 Quite humorously explanatory and perfectly well-written。 I can finally say that Steven Pinker is the reason why I study and love linguistics and have a reason to live and laugh in my darkest times。
Julia
，
I can't rate any higher because this was a DNF for me。 I got halfway through and there was some humor and some great examples and analysis， but overall， not what I thought it would be and too academic。 I can't rate any higher because this was a DNF for me。 I got halfway through and there was some humor and some great examples and analysis， but overall， not what I thought it would be and too academic。 。。。more
Mehran Ali
，
Among all the books on grammar one finds arranged in shelves of a bookshop this one has a distinct style。 The authors of classical texts of grammar i。e。， Elements of style by Strunk and White， and On writing by Stephen King， did a great job but they seem outdated in the presence of Sense of Style。 Human minds easily grasp the rules that are explained with justifiable reason and laid down with detailed examples than those bypassing them （even slightly）。 This book gives logical arguments for gramm Among all the books on grammar one finds arranged in shelves of a bookshop this one has a distinct style。 The authors of classical texts of grammar i。e。， Elements of style by Strunk and White， and On writing by Stephen King， did a great job but they seem outdated in the presence of Sense of Style。 Human minds easily grasp the rules that are explained with justifiable reason and laid down with detailed examples than those bypassing them （even slightly）。 This book gives logical arguments for grammatical rules， throws them away if obstructing the fluency of text， and provides detailed examples to assist their comfortable stay in reader's mind。 It also shows the reader a way to pass through strict censures of prescriptivist linguists or， stating in another way， tells reader how to use the language in formal situations。As a drawback lot of stuff in it specifically suits to a linguist， never to be employed in everyday situations。 。。。more
Rian Ramadhan
，
3。5/5I cant understand the detail points in this books， because of couple of things。1。 Well， I do understand English， I mostly read book in English。 But this one is kinda difficult。 The vocab just really not touch the ground。 So when I didnt understand the beginning， I cannot grasp any point until the rest of the chapter。 But still some part are really interesting。2。 Currently I mostly write in Indonesian Laguange。 So for the structure， string， tree of word， I just confuse how to connect it to I 3。5/5I cant understand the detail points in this books， because of couple of things。1。 Well， I do understand English， I mostly read book in English。 But this one is kinda difficult。 The vocab just really not touch the ground。 So when I didnt understand the beginning， I cannot grasp any point until the rest of the chapter。 But still some part are really interesting。2。 Currently I mostly write in Indonesian Laguange。 So for the structure， string， tree of word， I just confuse how to connect it to Indonesian case。 But yeah there's some similiarity between English and Indonesian Laguange。3。 This is not the first of Pinker's book I read。 I like his works， I know his background， and I like whole topic he often discuss about in the internet。 But when I see this book， I hope I will get some kind of mindset about speaking trough word。 But this book is more contextual。 There's a lot of case study （which is great for most of audience）， but not really relatable from my current situation righ now。I maybe will reread this sometimes， when I start work to write in English。 。。。more
Sipho
，
This is a neat writing guide， but the lack of coherent structure and sometimes inaccessible language threw me off a bit。Look， I'm a simple man。 I love reading and I like writing。 But I couldn't， for the life of me， tell you how to structure a sentence in the "correct" way; I just know it when I see it。 And I never was too fussed about learning the distinctions between things like objects and predicates （did I do that right？）。So with that background， I found this book hard to get through。 It felt This is a neat writing guide， but the lack of coherent structure and sometimes inaccessible language threw me off a bit。Look， I'm a simple man。 I love reading and I like writing。 But I couldn't， for the life of me， tell you how to structure a sentence in the "correct" way; I just know it when I see it。 And I never was too fussed about learning the distinctions between things like objects and predicates （did I do that right？）。So with that background， I found this book hard to get through。 It felt a lot like English class in many parts。 Yeah sure， this is stuff writers of the English language NEED to know， but for someone like me: it was super boring。That said， there were sections that were extremely helpful and witty - which is always nice。 The lists of common usage errors of certain words and phrases were particularly beneficial。 So too was the section on writing clearly， so as to not take readers down "garden paths"。 The last few pages of the book were about arguing well and were also excellent。But for all that， it was sometimes nigh impossible to tell where a section started and where it ended。 This might be down to the editing of the paperback version， but the burden of trying to keep up with the author's pattern of thought became very heavy。 Which is ironic given this book is about writing clearly。 。。。more
Ross Blocher
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What up， word nerds！ If you find yourself contemplating the finer points of sentence structure， word usage， and punctuation （and especially if you spend time correcting the speech and writing of others）， this is the book for you。 Steven Pinker is a polymath who writes on language， cognitive psychology and a host of scientific topics: here he applies his erudition and good humor， as well as his experience as Chair of the Usage Panel of The American Heritage Dictionary， to the topic of clear commu What up， word nerds！ If you find yourself contemplating the finer points of sentence structure， word usage， and punctuation （and especially if you spend time correcting the speech and writing of others）， this is the book for you。 Steven Pinker is a polymath who writes on language， cognitive psychology and a host of scientific topics: here he applies his erudition and good humor， as well as his experience as Chair of the Usage Panel of The American Heritage Dictionary， to the topic of clear communication in The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century。 As ever， Pinker offers brilliant explanations that reveal the structure of seemingly arbitrary conventions of thought and speech。 Rather than writing a sop to pedants， he challenges us to think in terms of the reader and how she parses words on the page （for example， you just formed thoughts about my choice to use the pronoun "she": the gender-neutral singular is covered extensively here）。 This book is bound to change the way you think about language and will joyously confirm some of your personal preferences while mercilessly smashing others。 Everyone who cares deeply about the English language should read it。It's a lot of fun （there are comic strips aplenty and laugh-out-loud usage examples）， but it’s not easy reading。 You'll have to put your thinking cap on for this one。 I don't mean to say that it's all subjunctive and pluperfect and modal auxiliary， but those highfalutin terms are invoked where necessary and may come flying at your head。 Pinker dutifully unpacks these concepts， but there are times in which I had to stop and re-read or simply resign myself to duck and not get hit。 I employed one of my new favorite ways of reading: listening to the audio book while reading the text。 This is a delightful way to get into the zone。 Arthur Morey does a yeoman's job of dictating charts and punctuation and describing illustrations， but I'd have been lost without the sentence tree diagrams and the 3-column grids to look at。 If you have to choose one， go with the text copy。Any thorough accounting of the topics addressed would be a massive undertaking， but I'll share a few highlights。 Pinker lampoons our tendency to decry the death of English with new each generation， providing dire predictions of its imminent decline from the 1970s， 1960s， 1910s， 1800s， 1700s and。。。 well， you get the idea。 The CU L8TRs and IMHOs of texting are no more indicative of forgotten formal language than the elided and truncated staccato of telegrams in their heyday。 A key to being a good writer is to be a good reader， and most of what we learn comes from observing masters at work: Pinker provides examples and breaks down what makes them so satisfying。 It's important to use words to form images in the reader's head: "A writer， like a cinematographer， manipulates the viewer's perspective on an ongoing story， with the verbal equivalent of camera angles and quick cuts。" We see how a carefully chosen word can break up cliché， invoke a shared cultural reference， or yield clues that save a paragraph of description。 "The key to good style， far more than obeying any list of commandments， is to have a clear conception of the make-believe world in which you're pretending to communicate。" We are urged to be mindful of our assumed relationship to the reader。 "Classic writing， with its assumption of equality between writer and reader， makes the reader feel like a genius。 Bad writing makes the reader feel like a dunce。" A self-heeding nugget of wisdom: “Omit needless words。” The fault of academese， legalese and jargon is less attributable to intentional obfuscation， and more a problem of "The Curse of Knowledge": our tendency to assume that others already know what we know。 One cure can be to have others read your work， or to wait and then re-read your own， addressing instances in which you've assumed everyone shares your familiarity with a topic， or simply catching constructions that are hard to read aloud。 "The advice in this and other stylebooks is not so much on how to write as on how to revise。"Here I shall break these notes up with a new paragraph; which， Pinker reminds us， does not consistently correspond to any unit of discourse （and can even be， contra an army of grade school teachers， a single sentence）。 Much of the book consists of taking the received "rules" of grammar - don't end a sentence with a preposition， don't split the infinitive， or don't use "like" as "as" - and turning them on their heads。 He provides counterexamples from English's most respected writers， popular songs， and common idioms， and dashes their false-analogies-to-Latin， spurious logic， and appeals-to-authority upon the rocks。 I stuck with the Oxford comma （aka the serial comma， I’ve now learned） in the previous sentence， inspired by the argument in this book that it is typically the clearer construction。 Pinker does not bemoan the loss of sentence diagrams， but employs cascading trees to visualize how our brains uptake sentences as we form meaning from component words。 The order matters。 A given sentence might need reorganization if it forces the reader to hold a thought for too long or to suspend multiple clauses in her head before the crucial information finally arrives。 So much confusion with case- and tense- and subject/verb-agreement arises from those gaps in the tree that are placed too far from their logical partners。 Pinker is sensitive to how language is used in the real world， and willing to let conventions slide when language evolves。 He provides numerous examples of similar concessions: vestiges of previous generations in which usage battles were fought and lost。 And yet， he argues convincingly against select malapropisms and miscarriages of language that he insists will cause trouble for the careful reader。 His attack upon the figurative use of "literally" gave me a good laugh: "Like other intensifiers it is usually superfluous， whereas the 'actual fact' sense is indispensable and has no equivalent。 And since the figurative use can evoke ludicrous imagery （e。g。 The press has literally emasculated the president）， it screams， 'I don't think about what my words mean。'"There are many additional insights and explanations， new terminology （coordinator， subordinator and determiner will be particularly helpful）， things I had never thought of before， and concepts I had previously misunderstood… but hopefully you get an idea of the observations herein。 If you need more convincing， a delightful way to hear Pinker present the salient points is in this 54-minute lecture titled Linguistics， Style and Writing in the 21st Century。 Happy reading， and happy writing！ 。。。more
Andrew
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As people age， they confuse changes in themselves with changes in the world， and changes in the world with moral decline – the illusion of the good old days。 And so every generation believes that the kids today are degrading the language and taking civilization down with it。~ Steven Pinker， "The Sense of Style"Pinker has written a fun and accessible guide to English style and grammar。 Why is some writing good？ And other writing less so？ The book is mostly （two-thirds） a tour of good and bad writ As people age， they confuse changes in themselves with changes in the world， and changes in the world with moral decline – the illusion of the good old days。 And so every generation believes that the kids today are degrading the language and taking civilization down with it。~ Steven Pinker， "The Sense of Style"Pinker has written a fun and accessible guide to English style and grammar。 Why is some writing good？ And other writing less so？ The book is mostly （two-thirds） a tour of good and bad writing， with explanations of why certain passages are exceptionally good or poor。 He rewrites lines and paragraphs to either improve or worsen them， and shows why clarity and beauty has been added or subtracted。 Lots of fun， never snooty， Pinker seems brilliant but pragmatic。There are also lots of fun anecdotes and textual excerpts。 Lots of great quotations:Like:Hanlons’ Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity。Quoting Richard Feynman: “If you ever hear yourself saying， ‘I think I understand this，’ that means you don’t。”George Bernard Shaw:He who can， does。 He who cannot， teaches。The last 80 pages are a glossary， alphabetic， of grammatical terms explained。 That is obviously skippable and is not intended to be read directly， but rather serve as reference material。If I took one lesson from these pages， it is to avoid being monologophobic or a synonymomaniac。 Clarity and concision are everything。 。。。more
Ula Łupińska
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