Style in Fiction: A Linguistic Introduction to English Fictional Prose

Winner of the 25th Anniversary Prize by PALA (The Poetics and Linguistics Association) as the most influential book published in the field of stylistics 1980.

In Style in Fiction, Geoffrey Leech and Mick Short demonstrate how stylistic analysis can be applied to novels and stories. Writing for both students of English language and English literature, they show the practical ways in which linguistic analysis and literary appreciation can be combined, and illuminated, through the study of literary style. Drawing mainly on major works of fiction of the last 150 years, their practical and insightful examination of style through texts and extracts leads to a deeper understanding of how prose writers achieve their effects through language.