Whether you’re enjoying the latest Harry Potter edition, a romance novel, or a classic work, it’s delightful to open a book by the beach or at home to savor some pleasant prose or poetry.

But I have a suggestion for those who may also want to embellish their writing skills. Why not read a beautifully written, invaluable essay on the nature and beauty of brevity – “The Elements of Style,” playfully referred to as “the little book” by Cornell professor William Strunk, Jr.

First published by Strunk in 1918, with 1959 additions by celebrated New Yorker essayist E. B. White – author of “Charlotte’s Web” – “Elements of Style” stands as a monument to clear thinking – articulately voiced.

The world would be a better place if everybody read this slender volume – if it were read not just by journalists and writers, but by all who write job applications, legal briefs, love letters, or notes to the teacher – read even by those who never write anything.

Even a single reading of this classic essay bestows temporary immunity to bureaucratic gobbledy-gook, technocratic jargon, and the psychobabble put out by politicians, the Pentagon and the pundits. If we all wrote clearly, without resort to weasel words and fuzzy generalities, maybe we’d all feel more at home with one another.

Of course, the terrible problem I face in recommending this book is simply to live up to its injunctions. As the words click from my keyboard, I’m apt to feel Strunk and White peering over my shoulder, remarking on each empty phrase and murky thought.

The 1959 edition leads off with White’s charming introductory tribute to his teacher, followed by a chapter on rules of usage, another on principles of composition, and a concise rundown of “Words and Expressions Commonly Misused.” The final chapter is White’s own “Approach to Style,” advanced through Strunkian rules such as “Do not affect a breezy manner” and “Write with nouns and verbs.”

None of this hints at the sparkling clarity here. It’s a delight to read – and for the first-time reader, may it be experienced as revealed wisdom.

“Prefer the specific to the general” is the essential Strunkian guideline. For example, he says, the sentence “He showed satisfaction as he took possession of his well-earned reward” just won’t do; much better is “He grinned as he pocketed the coin.” And we grin in recognition of truth.

In the clear, crystalline world of Strunk and White, “acts of a hostile character” become “hostile acts,” the word “interesting” is unconvincing, and the phrase “in the last analysis” is bankrupt. Echoing Strunk, White describes words like rather, very, little, and pretty as “leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words.” Need I add dreadful, current leeches like “viable”?

One paragraph appears twice within “The Elements of Style.” Originally penned by Strunk in advancing his dictum to “omit needless words,” White repeats it verbatim in his introduction.

Here it is: “Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.” There you have it, says White. “Sixty-three words that could change the world.”

“Elements of Style” was William Strunk’s attempt to cut the vast tangle of English rhetoric down to size and write its rules and principles on the head of a pin. The original 1918 version was a 43-page summation of the case for cleanliness, accuracy, and brevity in the use of English. Its vigor was unimpaired and it probably set a record for sheer pith that is not likely to be broken.

Following Strunk and White’s lead, many other writers have counseled us about writing. For example, writer, editor and teacher William Zinsser authored “On Writing Well,” praised for its sound advice, clarity and warmth of style. Like “Elements of Style,” Zinsser’s book is well presented and readable, reflecting a love and respect for the language on every page.

I treasure guidebooks like “Elements of Style” and “On Writing Well” for their sage advice, their audacity, and the self-confidence of their authors. I highly recommend them to anyone who wants to compress wisdom into a small space – coming to the point quickly.

Observer correspondent and freelance writer Robert Brake can be reached at oobear@pacifier.com.