Birthday with Style!
April 16, 2009
Well, it's happened! Time goes by so fast, friends come and go in your life, families have disagreements, apartments and homes are moved in and out of, but Strunk and White's "The Element of Style" seems so solid and steadfast. And 50 years old to boot!
Well, it's happened! Time goes by so fast, friends come and go in your life, families have disagreements, apartments and homes are moved in and out of, but Strunk and White's "The Element of Style" seems so solid and steadfast.
And 50 years old to boot!!
I remember getting this my last year of high school. And not thinking I'd need another one in college; I passed it along to my brother. Then I got another one. After college it was beat up, torn and used. I got another one. I'm never without a copy now. Even if I don't use it as often as I used to, it has become something of model. An American Idol, if you will....
Certainly I'm not the only one: NPR today had Barbara Wallraff, a writer, say on their site that "There's a certain Zen quality to some of [the book's rules], like 'Be Clear'. There's a lot being conveyed there in two words, in exactly how to do it. People will spend whole other books explaining [that]. That's probably the most famous dictum from this book."
** Read more on the NPR site (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103140512&ft=1&f=1032) **
So, in this time of upheaval and uncertainty - at least we'll always have "Style".
Happy 50th S & W and Many More!