The book is part personal stories part "here is what I do as a creative writing teacher". Maybe she's a wonderful teacher. The book however seemed more dry than I would have liked.. My favorite chapter was the one about Chekhov.
It’s been a long time coming I read this book over so many weeks. I could’ve read it faster, but let’s just say it wasn’t my favourite book. It’s not as entertaining as the blurb leads you to believe. I decided only to read this book when I had free time as I had: 1. Novels to read. I’m not going t...
"Reading Like a Writer" is an excellent overview of what is sometimes called "deep reading": examining word choices, sentence structure, paragraphs, character development, gesture, etc., at the minute level.Author Francine Prose includes numerous examples to demonstrate her positions (more of them f...
Francine Prose's love of language and literature is apparent throughout the book and made this book very enjoyable. My favorite chapters were the last two chapters which highlight the ways several wonderful authors have broken the rules that are often foisted upon writers in workshops. I'd recommen...
Prose’s love of classical literature is clear throughout the pages of this well-written and informative guide; as the front cover blurb from USA Today put it, this book is a “love letter to the pleasures of reading.”However, it’s also elitist and takes several superior swipes at genre fiction. In he...
Made for a reader, but strong enough for a writer!Not surprisingly Reading Like a Writer weighs a bit heavier on the writerly side rather than the reader. Francine Prose (that HAS to be a pen name) has taught writing and so that is her approach to writing this novel, which by the title sounds as if ...
This is a hard book to review and rate because I have such conflicting thoughts about the content. On one hand, it did make me really think about structure, dialogue, and gestures of my novel. On the other hand, I feel like I learned nothing concrete--just that I should carefully think about those t...
"Reading Like a Writer" both taught and entertained me, exposing me to many authors I knew nothing about, and making me see books in a different way. I love to read (and have been trying to write coherently for as long as I can remember) but the idea of studying the way other authors deal with dialo...
I know I read this book several years ago but I can't find it in my book diary. Nevertheless, the first chapter and the chapter on Chekhov ("Learning From Chekhov") alone deserve 4 stars (as an ardent admirer of Chekhov, I may be biased regarding the latter chapter).I also found a new author that so...
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