Active Users:198 Time:19/05/2024 06:45:45 AM
Yes, those are quite irritating to read Larry Send a noteboard - 05/01/2012 12:48:07 PM
Yes, we just post some of our review articles here as a courtesy, as the main numbers (and comments) are elsewhere.


Which is appreciated, though in the case of you and Adam, I happen to keep an eye on the blogs.

"Formal" reviews are also not in my mind a form of writing meant primarly to be commented on. That's what forums and book clubs are for (I guess there aren't many salons left around, though I've known of three around me). Not that I have anything against discussion arising around reviews, but I think for most it's not the point of writing them, and most of the feedback is requests for clarification or additional information (which can often means the reviewer has not done a proper job, or you're not the right reader for this reviewer). That emphasis on feedback is a fairly recent phenomenon, and a lot of it is a loss of bandwidth, not to mention the loss of spirit of discovery and experimentation surrounding book reading these days. Real lovers of literature love hunting for new writers to discover - it doesn't take much to convince them to pick something up and try it for themselves! What's with all this laziness? When I see people writing stuff on forums like "I've had this book on my shelf for X time now and I would like to know if its worth reading or it's not for me" I feel like banging my head on the desk. What are people thinking? That they'll get bitten by the book if it's not for them? It's right there, you don't even have to leave your home to pick it up, or pay for it. Just pick it up and see for yourself if it's good or not, for heaven's sake!


I would add that sometimes the fun is taking an author one has heard much about (say, William Faulkner) and writing from a viewpoint that many might not have encountered before. I just scheduled a review of his As I Lay Dying that'll go live early tomorrow morning over at Gogol's Overcoat (which launches either today or tomorrow morning). I think it'll be fun writing those sorts of reviews as a way of recovering from years of covering the newer works, several of which I now think are more mediocre than when I first read them.

But yes, I don't write reviews for comments on forums, as that sometimes is like asking a cabbie to comment on Mozart. Occasionally, one might know what s/he is talking about, but the odds are greater that the response will be white noise.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie

Je suis méchant.
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Least Helpful Reviews - 04/01/2012 10:17:44 PM 1153 Views
Nobody responds to reviews. That might be why no one writes them. - 04/01/2012 11:15:53 PM 701 Views
Re: Nobody responds to reviews. That might be why no one writes them. - 05/01/2012 12:14:15 AM 659 Views
Considering that Adam's been getting more page views than Pat recently, he's in good shape - 05/01/2012 12:46:42 AM 684 Views
Re: Considering that Adam's been getting more page views than Pat recently, he's in good shape - 05/01/2012 01:23:30 AM 692 Views
Yes, those are quite irritating to read - 05/01/2012 12:48:07 PM 714 Views
With new books, that's an issue. - 05/01/2012 08:36:38 PM 701 Views
I agree that Wert's reviews are the best on the site. - 05/01/2012 02:46:16 AM 764 Views
Oh no, this is my favorite review! - 04/01/2012 11:41:30 PM 689 Views
"If he wants to be funny he should just do fart jokes ..." - 05/01/2012 01:34:35 AM 788 Views
Some of my reviews were pretty hated. - 05/01/2012 02:21:22 AM 659 Views
*is looking through your reviews on Amazon* - 05/01/2012 10:29:55 PM 613 Views
Best/worst review was for flourescent light bulbs - 05/01/2012 11:50:47 AM 657 Views
I actually liked the Slaughterhouse Five one. - 05/01/2012 10:13:34 PM 621 Views

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