This week I finished reading The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth. A lively and entertaining guide to different literary techniques, it's not a must-read, but it's a good time. This is the source of the "having deep thoughts is the menial duty of the philosopher" quote I'll probably be using forever.
Another good line, which Forsyth applies specifically to epizeuxis but can be said of many techniques: "It's like a nuclear bomb: immensely effective, but a bit weird if you use it every few minutes."
It's the book that taught me "polysyndeton," a term I've used at least twice since I've learned it (though not, perhaps, to anyone's benefit, since I immediately clarify it with "the deliberate repetition of 'and'," as I might have just said in the first place).
Which is to say, you don't need to know the precise names of literary techniques to use them well. And as Forsyth himself points out, the exact names of techniques are...inexact, to say the least (what I know and love as zeugma - applying a word in two different ways, as in "He took his hat and his leave" - he calls syllepsis, and zeugma is something else in his book: omission of a verb). Still, if you enjoy learning about words, and have a certain sense of humor, you'll probably have fun.
I also appreciate Forsyth's analysis of why a technique can work: for instance, I'm not unfond of litotes because it makes use of irony that is not unflattering to the reader: as Forsyth points out, irony draws on shared knowledge. (Litotes, as you may have guessed, is "affirming something by denying its opposite." Along with the amusing irony and flattering appeal to shared knowledge, I enjoy it for its "have your cake and eat it to" element. When I say "I'm not unfond of this," I'm at once saying I'm fond of it, but also raising the idea that one might dislike it. Here, I say that to wryly acknowledge that the wordy and roundabout litotes is an acquired taste. In fiction, when a romance protagonist admits "I'm not unfond of them" about their enemy, it's part of an enemies-to-lovers or lovers-to-enemies arc that blends fondness and unfondness in a delicious swirl.)
Also, one term that is quite useful and could be more well-known: "enallage," meaning a deliberate grammatical mistake for effect.
