Omit Needless Books
I can't be impartial on the subject of Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style." I know the book contains some good advice that has helped some people. But I find it too troubling that, through some smoke-and-mirrors marketing, this book continues to pass itself off as something it's not. (It's a century-old classroom guide for the students of one English professor -- not a list of official style rules.)
That's why I'm as irritated as an open sore in a salt marsh to learn of a recent love fest for the "Elements of Style."
And it's why I make no attempt to conceal my bitterness as I say: What next? National Phrenology Fest? Leech-application Awareness Day? Cheney for President 2012?
About June
June Casagrande was born in March and lives in a small house. She wrote a grammar/humor book called "Mortal Syntax" and, before that, one called "Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies." She sincerely hopes you buy a million copies of each.
Connections
Causes June Casagrande Supports
Planned Parenthood, ClimateCrisis.net, the Richard Dawkins Foundation, Pet Orphans of Southern California, KIVA
I knew...
...you'd have something memorable to say about this, June. "...irritated as an open sore in a salt marsh..." Ha! :)
Huntington Sharp, Red Room
Wait! I think I've heard something to add to the events!
They're bringing The Brady Bunch Variety Hour to DVD! Oh wait, they already did that... never mind!
Jennifer Gibbons, Red Room
I agree, but...
Leeches are fine wound cleaners. They deserve a day of their own:)
Hmmmmm I suppose 100 years
Hmmmmm
I suppose 100 years from now when Mortal Syntax has achieved immortal status, some young upstart will say, "What sort of blonde Amish person wrote this drivel?" :)
eric
Actually, Eric ...
... You touch on something that's very important to my work: Everything in "Mortal" is attributed.
Unlike Strunk, I don't rely on my own authority. Strunk was a professor. Professors can appropriately dub themselves authorities. I am, first and foremost, a reporter. And we gots to rely on sources more official than ourselves.
So anybody who's reading "Mortal" a century from now will be able to assess the timeliness of the authorities (mostlyl dictionaries and a few usage guides) cited within.
I've long said that grammar authorities should stop speaking in absolutes and start attributing -- and cross-referencing -- their "rules." Then people could better see the difference between "rules," "recommendations," and "opinions." And there would be a lot fewer saps suckered into believing that you can't split an infinitive. * * * Sangay: I'm gonna take your word for it on the leeches. : )
I wish I could do some smoke
I wish I could do some smoke and mirrors marketing of Plasma Dreams. *sigh*
I guess the real point is you can be especially dogmatic after you're dead. The real trick is trying to write stuff after you're dead and then coming back to say, "I told ya so!"
In any case, bad grammar is one thing up with which we should not put!
:)
Eric
Strunk and White
Strunk and White isn't bedside reading, but it is a single standard for maintaining the consistency and beauty of our language. We descend into chaos when we ignore it, as witness internet chatter.
I hear you, Eric!
And Sondra: I disagree that it's a single standard for maintaining consistency and beauty of the language.
One of my biggest problems with that book is that there are much better standards for maintaining consistency. Dictionaries and respected living manuals like the "Chicago Manual of Style" do a better job.
Re the beauty of the language: There is, indeed, beauty to be found in the simplicity of some of Strunk's writing suggestions. But one could just as easily argue it's destructive to beauty of language. If Cormac McCarthy, Ian McEwan, or Tim O'Brien took seriously Strunk and White's suggestions for sentence formation, we wouldn't have some of their great works of literary art.
"The Elements of Style" is contains some good stuff, but only if it's understood for what it is and not mistaken for true rules.