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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Keyi Insights of the writing methods of great writers, past and present, October 23, 2009
This review is from: Write Like the Masters: Emulating the Best of Hemingway, Faulkner, Salinger, and Others (Hardcover)
The author, an English professor at the City University of New York and Boston College and himself a published writer, analyses the writing and fiction-writing techniques of 21 famous authors, going back to Balzac, Dickens and Melville and as far forward in time as Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. His insights are brilliant. There is a brief biographical sketch at the beginning of each chapter on a writer. And these are quite interesting. But it is the revelations of how each writer worked his or her magic that form the heart of each chapter. Also, there are a lot of quotations and examples from each writer's works to illustrate Cane's points. I would also add that every point in this book on fiction technique is indispensable and should be a part of the fiction-writer's craft--and these days part of the nonfiction writer's craft too. William Cane has taught this material to a generation of budding writers, helping them to improve their own writing. And thoughtful application of insights the author clearly delineates will undoubtedly improve a writer's writing and understanding of the craft. Mr. Cane is confident that his book will advance the reader's writing ability, putting her "light-years ahead" of her fellow writers. One slight negative: I wish the author had included exercises at the end of each chapter that would enable the reader to easily apply the important lessons read in the chapter. That would have enhanced the value of the book every more. Well worth the money. This book has a permanent place on my writing books shelf. And I will ba re-reading it a number of times, probably also taking notes from it. Highly recommended.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Book That Belongs On Any Aspiring Writer's Bookshelf, December 14, 2009
This review is from: Write Like the Masters: Emulating the Best of Hemingway, Faulkner, Salinger, and Others (Hardcover)
Read by itself, cover-to-cover, the book is overwhelming. It details, if only lightly, the writing and story-telling strengths and techniques of various novelists. Taken by itself, this could be quite daunting, not just because of the number of novelists the text discussed, but because sometimes the writing styles of novelists are in conflict with each other. In retrospect, however, this book provides ideas about who to read and which aspects of their writing you should in mind (and perhaps emulate in your own writing) as you read them. I will return to this book, not in its entirety, but in small pieces, as I expand my library and the diversity of my studies in literature, and that is my take on how the book ought to be used. On top of that, I do enjoy the author's basic premise: copying the masters is not only OK, but also worthy of encouragement. Any good engineer knows that you ought to build on the foundation that was laid before. Unfortunately, this is a lesson that seems to have been forgotten or omitted in modern writing classes, where individual creativity is encouraged and emulation of another's writing style is only a step or two removed from plagiarism. This is a great book that belongs on any aspiring writer's bookshelf.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good, Solid advice - buy this if you are a writer, March 12, 2010
This review is from: Write Like the Masters: Emulating the Best of Hemingway, Faulkner, Salinger, and Others (Hardcover)
As a self-taught writer (with prior technical writing experience, but no prior creative writing training), I've read perhaps 30+ books on "how to write a novel" or some aspect of plotting, dramatization, etc. As another reviewer notes, the premise of this book is that it's OK to know and emulate the good writing of the masters. The author provides excerpts that provide good, concrete examples of the writings of the masters along with interesting biographical sketches of the authors. I'd recommend this highly for those who read books about the craft of creative writing. No, it is not a workshop book with writing exercises - but the more one thinks about and studies the craft, the better one gets. One last thing. It's actually an enjoyable read. Five Stars. RK.
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