• NON-CLINICIAN

The Gloucester Book Club met to discuss ‘The Elements of Eloquence’ by Mark Forsyth, bringing together familiar faces¹ with some new joiners who knew² little of what lay ahead.

The book defines and describes dozens of rhetorical devices.³ It covers, in 39 chapters, techniques ranging from anaphora to zeugma, each illustrated by Forsyth using a vast⁴ array of diverse examples, from Dickens to Die Hard.

To read or not to read?⁵ Everyone enjoyed the book, praising his wit, clear explanations and that each chapter cleverly introduced the next throughout the book. There was much discussion on whether it was useful. A few thought that the book acts as, and at times feels like, a classroom workbook. For some, the text aids analysis, understanding and appreciation of others’ work. Most believed, as …