Book Review: The Elements Of Style [Classic Edition] By William Strunk Jr. & Edited by Richard De A’Morelli [Updated]

TheBreakaway | BreakawayConciousness
Zy Marquiez
May 3, 2017

As a preamble, what follows is a not only a review but a revamped cursory juxtaposition between The Elements Of Style Classic Edition, which is the main book discussed and reviewed, and The Elements Of Style 4th Edition, which is a slightly similar book covering many of the same rules

Having purchased both within the last month, I thought it prudent to comment on some of the differences between both books.  Although somewhat alike, both books still differ in some respects, but both offer ample from which any individual may learn much from.

The Elements Of Style [Classic Edition] by William Strunk Jr. and edited by Richard De A’Morelli is meant as a tribute to the work Prof. Strunk undertook over 100 years ago in creating this book.

This particular book features a forward by Richard De A’Morelli titled “Grammar & Style For The 21st Century”, instead of the one written by Roger Angell in the 4th Edition.  The former is eight pages long, while the latter is only two pages long.  De A’Morelli’s foreword sets the stage better in this book than the previous book.

In contrast, the “Introductory” within the classic edition written by Strunk is of a different taste when compared to the one written by E.B. White in the 4th Edition, which actually quite informative while offering very practical advice, even if condensed.  That said, one great point featured within the Classic Edition edited by De A’Morelli is that the introduction features suggestions on which books writers ought to consider, which will be quite useful for those seeking additional information.

The book blurb does mention that there are some rules which are now obsolete, and there are editorial notes which focus on that in the book.

One really significant improvement in the Classic Edition is that after each Rule is mentioned and examples are shown, it’s much easier to discern which are the good examples and which ones are not.

The Elements Of Style Classic Edition covers a wide range of elements within writing.  From form, composition, mistakes in diction, to a few other common mistakes done in writing, the book gives a very solid foundation upon which writers may begin their adventures.

Overall, given all the book offers in such a small package, it really is a great deal and a high value educational book – any individual working on their writing skills would benefit from having it.

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[Editor’s Note]

In reviewing the book, I made a significant mistake.  I compared both books above, which was fine, but the edited version that the author undertakes is based on a different version of The Elements Of Style altogether.  Given this, at first, I thought the book omitted two rules.  This, however, was not the case.  I was contacted by the author with proof that, in fact, none of the rules that I thought he omitted were in fact omitted that were mentioned in the previews erroneous review. This error has been noted by myself, and I have since sincerely apologized to the author for causing this serious misunderstanding.

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[1] William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White, The Elements Of Style [4th Ed.] pg. 7.
[2] Ibid., pp 7-8.

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About The Author:

Zy Marquiez is an avid book reviewer, researcher, an open-minded skeptic, yogi, humanitarian, and freelance writer who studies and mirrors regularly subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.

His own personal blog is BreakawayConsciousnessBlog.wordpress.com where his personal work is shared, while TheBreakaway.wordpress.com serves as a media portal which mirrors vital information usually ignored by mainstream press, but still highly crucial to our individual understanding of various facets of the world.