Theory of Style, by Azorín
When I was a freshman in college, I read an excerpt of a book by the Spanish writer known as Azorín, which was the pen name of José Martínez Ruiz, (1873-1967). Mario Vargas Llosa called him “one of the most elegant artisans of our language.”
It changed the way I thought about writing, and when I lived in Spain, I was able to buy a copy of the full book, Un Pueblecito: Riofrío de Ávila (A Small Town: Riofrío de Ávila), published in 1916.
The excerpt was from Chapter 4, “Theory of Style.” The book is set in Riofrío de Ávila and deals with the experiences of the parish priest, Bejarano Galavis. Chapter 4 describes Bejarano’s theory of good writing style — really Azorín’s. Here is what he wrote (translation mine):
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The snow and the water
Look at the whiteness of that mountain snow, so smooth, so clear; look at the transparency of the water in this mountain stream, so clean, so crystalline. Style is this; style is nothing. Style is writing in such a way that those who read it think: This is nothing. They think: I can do this.
And yet they — the ones who think they can — nevertheless can’t do such a simple thing; this thing which is nothing may be the most difficult, the most laborious, the most complicated of all.
Directly to the things
Bejarano Galavis, in the prologue to his book, puts forth his theory of style. His declarations are categorical. “Clarity,” our author says, “is the first quality of style. We do not speak except to make ourselves understood. Style is clear if it immediately conveys to the listener the things in it without making him pause on the words.”
Let us retain this fundamental maxim: Directly to the things. Without words that slow us down, hold us back, make the road more difficult, we arrive instantly at the things.[…]
Those who aren’t artists, who aren’t great stylists, who haven’t mastered technique, will always fatally tend to dress up their feelings and ideas with annoying accessories and fuss. They will never understand that a style should not be rejected for being simple. “The quality of simplicity as a point of style isn’t a term of contempt but of art.”[…]
And the author adds: “Simple style has no less delicacy or precision than the rest.” “Of all the defects of style, the most ridiculous is the one called overstuffed.”
Obscure style, obscure thought
Everything must be sacrificed to clarity. “Every other circumstance or condition, like purity, measure, elevation, and delicacy, must cede to clarity.” Isn’t this enough? Well, for the purists, this: “It is better to be censured for grammar than not to be understood.”
“It is true that every affectation is reprehensible, but without fear one can affect to be clear.” The only excusable affectation is clarity. “It is not enough to make yourself understandable; it is necessary to aspire to be unable to be misunderstood.”
Yes, the supreme style is serious and clear. But how to write seriously and clearly if one does not think that way?[…] Here lies the big problem. We are going to give a formula for simplicity. Simplicity, the extremely difficult simplicity, is a question of method. Do this and you will suddenly achieve great style:
Put one thing after the other. Nothing more; this is everything. Haven’t you observed the defect of an orator or writer that consists in putting things inside other things by means of parentheses, asides, digressions, and fleeting and incidental considerations?
Well, the opposite is to put things — ideas, sensations — one after the other. “Things should be placed,” Bejarano says, “in the order in which they are thought, and given their proper extension.”
But the problem lies … in thinking well.
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[Photo: Riofrío de Ávila, with the Guadarrama Mountains in the background. It had a population of 1100 in 1916, and 195 in 2023. Photo by Xemenendura.]
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The trade paperback edition of my novel Dual Memory comes out on April 16 and is available for pre-order from your favorite bookseller. Hardcover, ebook, and audiobook editions are also available.
The third book in the Semiosis trilogy, Usurpation, will be published in October this year, and you can pre-order it with links to your favorite bookseller here, in hardcover and ebook.
