Book excerpt: First published in 1969, Professor Hough’s work examines stylistics – the bridge between linguistics and literary criticism. The book gives a short survey of stylistics from a literary point of view, and tries to answer the question of how much stylistics contributes to the understanding of literature. It brings together continental European work on stylistics and Anglo-American critical writing which has a similar purpose though usually under a different name. In calling the attention of the student of literature to trains of thought with which he is not generally familiar, and with detailed analysis on different literary styles and methods, Professor Hough provides important critical insights.