brilliant and original, 25 Apr 2002
This book is fantastic. It is one of the most original books that i think i have ever read. The language and dialogue is so wonderful that despite the fact there is no physical or mental description of the characters you are able to picture and understand them through the language.
The book although it has very little plot is some how held together by the fact that we care so much for the characters, and when it finished i couldn't help but wonder what else might have happened on her next visit and whether she had changed.
Zazie, Unkoo Gabriel and all the other cast of characters are just so fantastic and i couldn't forget Zazie after i had put it down.
The book does sometimes employ strange spelling and long words to sentences that often cut into them and occasionally don't flow as well as others, but once you understand what Queneau wanted to do it is understandable and doesn't really matter all that much.
You have to read this book, and don't let the fact that people pigeon hole it with ulysees put you off as it is nothing like it.
Incorrect spelling? Yep!, 27 Sep 2001
...If you want wordplay almost on a par with Ulysses, try this. The film captures its spirit of jest visually but it is verbal inventiveness that makes this book.
stunningly good...and also very, very funny., 23 Jun 2001
this book is fabulous. it's light and funny but also brilliantly written (and brilliantly translated). queneau wanted to write in the mixed-up way that people speak, and with zazie that's exactly what he did. buy it, read it and then put on your bluejeanses and track down the louis malle film of zazie which is also great!
A wonderful book., 26 Nov 2000
This is Queneau's lightest read - an amusing Parisian romp with an admirably foul-mouthed young heroine leading a cast of likeable eccentrics.
If, like the author of the heartbreakingly dreary one-star review below, you are closed to playful experimentation in literature, then of course you should steer well clear of this lively, thoroughly enjoyable book.
1 star is still too many stars., 25 Oct 2000
This book is dire. How anybody could describe it as a classic is beyond me.
Many words are incorrectly spelt throughout the book (albeit deliberately). Whilst this may be used within quotes to indicate accents, dialect and pronounciation it should not be used in the narrative.
By the end I realised that there is no point to the story. It is possible that the original in French is using a clever play on words that just doesn't translate into English...
It would be interesting to hear from somebody who has read the French (original) version.
Hilarious, Mind-stretching and Inspirational, 19 Aug 2002
Okay, so that's a bit over the top. But these stories (one story, told in many different ways, actually) make me smile, make me think about language, syntax, construction and style, and inspire me to have a go myself.
The writer uses a range of styles to explore the differences this makes to the story, and to the reader's perception of the protagonists. This book is a must for anyone who ever tried to write using different voices or in different contexts (for example, a letter has a different tone to a newspaper report, a police statement or a short story, probably).
The stunning realisation that this book is a translation from the French makes the translator seem just as remarkable as the author!
How many ways are there to tell a story?, 18 Jan 2001
Many! any reader of this book will testify so! Playfull, but on certain occasions tirring by its repetitiveness. Enlightning and imaginative, as it illustrates the understanding of one story in many ways, through many prismas, as different characters would describe. A trip I would definitely suggest to everyone.
It is hard to render Queneau's wit into another language., 21 Jan 1999
I have not yet read the English translation Barbara Wright made of "Exercices de style". Someone else said that she "stayed true" to the original version, but I find it hard to believe that she could exactly render Queneau's wit into English. Instead, I exhort anyone who is learning French to read the original version; it is a remarkable opportunity to learn the structure of a foreign language, and to laugh at the same time. Or, if you know Italian a little, try to read the translation by Umberto Eco; as both a semiologist and a writer, he skilfully added new amusing variations on the main theme.
An essential book for writers, 20 Nov 1998
Queneau keeps you laughing so that you almost fail to notice him slipping in a remarkable lesson about language, writing, and creativity. This book forever changed the way I teach my college writing course-and changed me as a writer.
One of literature's greatest jokes!, 07 Jul 1998
Queneau was, among many other things, a brilliant gamester. In this book he takes the most banal of stories and tells it 99 times in 99 different styles. It is a weird book, whose charm grows as you continue. Once you get to the 5th or 6th version of this inane tale, you begin to laugh and gasp and don't stop until the end. Like all good jokes, it is more than a joke. If you delight in language, read this book. If you do not delight in launguage, this book will teach you to. I have read the original French version, and Barbara Wright has stayed true to it in this wonderful translation. Don't miss this gem!
