Exercises In Style by Raymond Queneau (Translated by Barbara Wright) – Book Review

There are few books on the subject of creative writing that so adequately demonstrate the effects of perspective. By telling the same event repeatedly in different methods of projection, the author pushes the reader to examine the varying methods of representation and how each of them can influence the feel of what is being told. The more you read, the more you realise that the actual event itself is insignificant, what really becomes important is the ideas that span from this.

As time progresses you begin to relate the ideas of presentation to different things and different stories. It really works for writers as a great piece to look at and analyse as a force of inspiration; inspiring you as the reader to think of how it may relate to new stories and ideas.

The imagination of this book is vivid, it’s hard to relate it to anything else I've ever read or seen. In fact this book has been so influential that it has even been adapted to the comic book form by Matt Madden, continuing its influence even further into the visual medium.

Without question, this book is a great read for new writers, or even others simply interested in fiction. However, I don’t think that the book is merely limited to this niche, it continues to be an interesting read for academics, or even as a reference for other experienced writers. On its own, it is simply a short interesting read that enables its reader to get their mind going creatively.