Customer Reviews

Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose

5 star:		(33)
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3 star:		(1)
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Well structured, as it must be, Hale's guide presents both the nuts and bolts of grammar and the considerations of style that cannot exist without a sound grasp of grammar. The book begins each section simply, with the "bones" of the part of speech being explained, puts on the "flesh," and elucidates the "cardinal sins" and the "carnal pleasures" of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and so on. Even when the going gets heavy, as in her discussions of attributive nouns or appositive phrases, her clear, conversational tone smooths the way. She concludes with reflections about voice, lyricism, melody, and rhythm. One of the best features of her book is a glut of choice passages from the likes of Nabokov, Joan Didion, George Orwell, Jamaica Kincaid, and many others. Her well-read reach extends to rap lyrics and the wine labels written by the flip, clever copywriters at Bonny Doon Vineyards. The collection of quotations alone makes this book worth owning. At times the tone is slightly uneven, as when she follows a serious discussion of rules with the casual use of words like "gonna" and "wimps" (apparently she has a reputation for being hip to uphold), and she includes sentence diagrams without really explaining how they operate. Her advice to "go ahead and be ungrammatical if it feels right" may make some sticklers swoon. But these are minor flaws in a manual that is useful for beginners and seasoned writers alike. You close the book understanding how the rich inventiveness of English is rooted in its complex grammar and vocabulary, which are the reasons it can be so flexible, so magical -- the reason, in fact, that language creates reality. Includes a helpful appendix describing other grammar guides.

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I have to admit that I was at first reluctant to pick it up. But I do like to write, and I figured that there might be some helpful information in the book for me. I was SO SURPRISED to find that I was actually enjoying reading the book! Hale's writing is so fun, and the examples she uses are great. You can tell from the title--SIN AND SYNTAX: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose--that this is going to be more exciting than Strunk and White, which I suffered through in high school. Not only will it help you improve your writing--with real world application for careers and the like, not just for students--but you'll have fun reading. Believe it.

This book is probably one of the best grammar books out there, and it is absolutely a "Must-Read" for every writer (fiction and nonfiction, also journalists should read through it). The author is clear and precise in her explanations of grammatical concepts and possibilities, and she makes grammar fun. Some conventional approaches to grammar are challenged in this book, but the author Constance Hale--who currently teaches at U.C. Berkeley--is a qualified professional in her field. She's a maverick and she offers a healthy dose of motivation to be creative with your use of grammar in the new millenium. This book can really help to equip a writer with this certain edge in his or her writing projects.

Hale gives us a guide to grammar and style that is as fun to read as it is instructive. Occasionally the mirth is a bit strained and tiresome, but better to err on the side of entertainment ....

Divided into chapters on words (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections), sentences (subject and predicate, simple sentences, phrases and clauses, and sentence variety) and music (voice, lyricism, melody and rhythm), each chapter is divided into four sections: Bones -- the basics of grammatical usage; Flesh -- putting the grammar into context; Cardinal Sins -- highlighting errors; and Carnal Pleasures -- examples of writing that defy the rules.

The organization is mainly successful and the author uses lots of examples to show both good and bad writing. i learned from the book, re-learned a few things I'd forgotten (when's the last time you saw a sentence diagram?!), and enjoyed the book.

SIN AND SYNTAX should be a text in high school English classes. A generation of enthusiastic grammarians might rise up and wipe out the scourge of dangling modifiers. The mystery of lay and lie would be be solved at last. I teach adults how to turn their great ideas into the novels they've always wanted to write; and while the refinements of plot and character and theme are fairly simple to explain, grammar and syntax bedevil student and (this) teacher alike. But no more. With humor, clarity and excellent contemporary examples, this book helps me explain to my students why, after half a dozen rewrites, their sentences still sing off key, why I nag them about details, why some adjectives work and others just take up space on the page. A great resource book.

It's not often that a grammar book causes grins, giggles, even guffaws, but Constance Hale's Sin and Syntax is not an ordinary grammar book. The entertaining examples, from sources as diverse as Mark Twain, the Bible and wine bottle labels, illustrate the "bones," "flesh," "cardinal sins," and "carnal pleasures" of each grammatical point. After Sin and Syntax, I read children's books from a new perspective. Good preschool books are often peppered with action verbs, strong adjectives and elegant simplicity. Best of all, this grammar book inspired me to start writing again! Choosing the right word is now a puzzle to be solved, and creativity oozes from every email I send.

This book is a basic grammar guide for those of us who may have been out of school for a while, but it's as much about writing style as it is about grammar. The reason I like this book so much is because it is filled with a range of writing examples, from remarkable to awful. The examples of bad grammar, many taken from students papers, had me laughing out loud. The only thing this book is lacking is a reference section where you can easily look up grammatical terms, although the index is thorough. I personally didn't miss a reference section though. This is the sort of light, readable book I wanted.

Ten years ago I flew to Richmond VA to visit my cousin Phyllis who was dying of cancer. I hadn't darkened the door of church for double that time. But in the spirit of love and farewell, I went to church with Phyllis‹uncertain about my relationship with God, but certain I would draw comfort from the familiar poetry of the traditional Episcopal service. Imagine my horror when I began to recite the Apostles' Creed and found that I was out of sync with the entire congregation. By the time we came to the Lord's Prayer, the harsh reality of the situation had dawned on me. A bunch of ecclesiastic marauders had hunted down and rooted out every last tendril of poetry in the Book of Common Prayer.Imagine my delight when Sin and Syntax arrived at my door and I found Constance Hale's none-too-kind reference in the rhythm section (heh-heh) of her book to the modern revisions of the Book of Common Prayer.As a writer and a lover of language, I guarantee that Sin and Syntax is an absolute delight. It's witty, pithy and amusing. It's clear, concise and intelligent. I appreciate Hale's sections on rhythm and melody, and admire how she combines a back-to-basics perspective with a look-to-the- future attitude.I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in good writing.

Most grammar books are dry, able to put you to sleep at 20 paces. This one is not. I found it fun to read. I have recently started graduate school. I found that I had to write a number of papers for each class. Since it has been awhile since I had to worry about commas, semi-colons, and the difference between which and that I needed a good reference book. I picked this one and I use it every time I write a paper.

I'd read other reviews prior to purchasing this book; and will admit to having some misgivings. Having since received and read the book, the doubts I once entertained have gotten their coats and left the party. Her writing style does not detract from her subject matter, the samples given of what she would like her readers to understand are fascinating; altogether making this book a worthy read, and a good source for a person to have on hand.