DaveNash3 reviewed Simple & direct by Jacques Barzun
Review of 'Simple & direct' on 'Storygraph'
3 stars
Chosen because I attempted read Barzun’s From Dawn to Decadence; his magnus opus on western civilization. Much like From Dawn defends western civilization’s splendor and value, Simple & Direct serves bulwark against bad writing. Barzun gives his take on diction, syntax, tone, meaning, composition, and revision to guide you like a college student through making your writing clear and pleasant to read. He also examples of bad writing and has a few soap box rants about the poor state of writing in our civilization. His exercises throughout helps you learn the key ideas and the ‘Time out for good reading’ passages exemplify how to instead of how not to.