What are others saying?

Others are saying that Strunk is pedantic, pontificating, and pretentious; I tend to agree with them. His rules lack explanation and are frequently pointless. In his section on 'Misused Words and Expressions' he includes an article on thrust. "This showy noun, suggestive of power, hinting of sex, is the darling of executives, politicos, and speechwriters. Use it sparingly. Save it for specific application." Why should I? Thrust all you like, I say. Let reader decide if it's misused or abused. The book reads like a textbook; all information is the truth and should be accepted at face value.

All the information does find it's place, however. Gordon wrote "The question as to which book is more effective, to me, seems to be the wrong question. I think that the books swim in different waters. I think what I got from Williams will be helpful, but I don't see myself going back to it again and again. It is very dense and it was difficult to get through. For me, the primary function of Strunk & White is as a reference, or a reminder of things easily forgotten; Williams deals with the most basic level of style--clarity, cohesion, emphasis, coherence..."
Gordon's summary of Strunk's role places the book squarely in reference material. Elements of Style is therefore a book that the writer will open to check a usage or a technical question and not a book that will dictate an entire body of prose.

The blogs I reviewed tell me that each book has a different role, which I believe is accurate. There is a consensus that Williams' book is more difficult reading, and that much of his information is more specific and helpful to improving the majority of a written work. Steve's blog frequently comments on the level of detail in Williams' book and often about how much is too much information. The book makes itself confusing by providing too much information in an effort to make writing clear. The fact that the chapter on concision is 15 pages long while the clarity chapter is almost 30 leads me to believe that certain lengths must be taken to cover a topic fully, in a concise manner or not.