tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post3306544667887212172..comments2024-03-20T19:40:58.078-05:00Comments on The OF Blog: Trying to grasp a (somewhat) poorly-written review, part IIILarry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-81155845574141966292009-02-11T22:53:00.000-06:002009-02-11T22:53:00.000-06:00Nothing much to say other than I guess you didn't ...Nothing much to say other than I guess you didn't bother reading my review of Brian Evenson's <I>Last Days</I>. If <I>that</I> review doesn't spell out the type of book being reviewed, then something just isn't clicking between Text and Reader. The dozen or so "true" reviews I write a year now generally are much more specific than what many post for free, but yes, there are gaps. Still, I can't help but wonder if you're conflating my 1-3 sentence commentaries in with my actual reviews.Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-23547184442036776822009-02-07T05:44:00.000-06:002009-02-07T05:44:00.000-06:00I have to say I see great irony in you doing these...I have to say I see great irony in you doing these extensive critiques of other people's reviews when you yourself are generally one who completely fails to bring across to me as the reader any sense of the book's actual contents. It's all about what a mindfuck of a book it is, how the themes and sensibilities appeal to you, but very little on content. Which to me makes reading some of Pat's reviews, or Ken's, more useful than your own high falutin stuff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-79714548233999323752009-02-01T14:58:00.000-06:002009-02-01T14:58:00.000-06:00No problem - was going to say worlds better than a...No problem - was going to say worlds better than another as well, but I'm trying not to link/refer to his reviews here as much in 2009 as I did in 2008 :P Is that damning with less faint praise? ;)Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-6490280394317225222009-02-01T13:20:00.001-06:002009-02-01T13:20:00.001-06:00Those reviews I leave for the Harriet Klausners of...<I>Those reviews I leave for the Harriet Klausners of the world - you're worlds better than her.</I><BR/><BR/>Well, hell - now are damning me with faint praise ;)<BR/><BR/><BR/>Seriously though, thanks for the kind words.Nethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16963540055415924510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-17053812560295826212009-02-01T13:20:00.000-06:002009-02-01T13:20:00.000-06:00"Those reviews I leave for the Harriet Klausners o..."Those reviews I leave for the Harriet Klausners of the world - you're worlds better than her."<BR/><BR/>Oh, and that's not damning with faint praise, is it? <BR/><BR/>I just start with the base assumption that everybody is better than HK. <BR/><BR/>;)Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16094675116398769415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-71678523573908902772009-02-01T13:03:00.000-06:002009-02-01T13:03:00.000-06:00Ken,Thanks for being a good sport about it. I tho...Ken,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for being a good sport about it. I thought your review was mostly fine for what you wanted to accomplish with mainly the first paragraph sticking out like a sore thumb to me. I certainly understand the difficulties in the process and how best to write something "new" about a book that many peers had already reviewed, so my only real complaint was that reference to tropes that never really was explained.<BR/><BR/>You'd have to write a lot worse than you usually do (as I usually enjoy reading your reviews, even when we have differences of opinion or thoughts on how to present those opinions) if I were to decide it was an out-and-out "bad" review. Those reviews I leave for the Harriet Klausners of the world - you're worlds better than her.<BR/><BR/>Now remember, anytime you want (or others reading this), same thing can be done to mine :DLarry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-79405795110813965212009-02-01T12:45:00.000-06:002009-02-01T12:45:00.000-06:00Well, as Larry has mentioned, in his previous revi...Well, as Larry has mentioned, in his previous review critiques, I have said in the comments that he is free to do so to mine at any time - so this is pretty much a 'be careful of what you ask for' kind of moment. <BR/><BR/>Many of the critiques that are made stem form a different idea of reviewing books - I've alwasy said that I write the kind of review that I want to read. Basically, these are relatively short, lite on the plot summary, and not bogged down with quotes from the book. So, in that respect, the review succeeds.<BR/><BR/>Now I'm not going to claim that this review was my best ever (I only had about a week of reflection before putting pen to paper, I wrote the majority of it on the latter end of a few glasses of wine, and I posted almost immediately after writing rather than waiting a day or two like I usually do). But, I don't think it would have changed much.<BR/><BR/>My real struggles with writing the review came in two main areas: 1) this is the third book of a trilogy and 2) in the world of SFF review blogs, Abercrombie is very heavily reviewed. <BR/><BR/>To the first point - it's always difficult to write reviews for sequels and books in a series. In this case, I just made the blanket assumption that you're really not interested in this review if you are not already familiar with Abercrombie's writing. It may not have been a great assumption to make, but it made framing the review much easier. <BR/><BR/>To the second point - I struggled because I didn't have a whole lot to say that hasn't been said elsewhere already (and often better anyway). In that respect, it's not really a review that I wanted to write in the first place. I wrote it anyway, and part of the result of that attitude is that it was a bit briefer than I usually write these days and maybe a bit sloppier as well. I was also writing this review knowing that I intend to write something about the trilogy in its entirety where I will be more in depth about many of the areas that Larry wants more.<BR/><BR/>There are certainly some valuable critiscms here that I hope will help me better focus future reviews. So, while I'm on the verge of becoming that silly 'author' responding to a review of his work, I'll leave off here.Nethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16963540055415924510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-38284030967621145012009-02-01T10:23:00.000-06:002009-02-01T10:23:00.000-06:00Uroš,I wouldn't have posted this if I didn't recal...Uroš,<BR/><BR/>I wouldn't have posted this if I didn't recall Ken saying that he didn't mind back a couple of months ago or so. But yes, I could indeed do this for many, but the reason why (besides the one I noted above) I did here is because it actually is something that could easily be adjusted without ruining that style of review. Vague generalities opening reviews are often not a good thing (although I'm guilty of this as well in the past - it's something I used to get marked up on early in my paper writing days). Sometimes, just biting the spoiler bullet and providing just <I>something</I> will help a lot of reviews. One doesn't have to go too far and reveal everything, but little hints can help a lot. Then again, I wonder how many people complain about all the "spoilers" I include in many of my reviews, even though most of those are thematic and not plot-specific.<BR/><BR/>Etrangere,<BR/><BR/>Good points on the balance/difficulty. True, I don't write many reviews anymore, since it can take me a week to think it out in my head and a couple of hours to write it. When I'm reading a book I plan on reviewing, I often do write down page numbers or at least commit those numbers to memory.<BR/><BR/>Joe,<BR/><BR/>Reviewing that book was difficult for me as well (took me two months, in fact) and come and think of it, I have another book, <I>Lavinia</I>, that I still have to sit down and struggle through that review. So yeah, I know what you're talking about and I understood many of Ken's choices there. I just wish reviewers in general would drop the marketing-like "twists, turns, grabs, etc. the tropes and..." lines, as those are meaningless without explanation. That was my main beef with that review.Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-46882698307799580212009-02-01T08:58:00.000-06:002009-02-01T08:58:00.000-06:00My review of Last Argument goes up on monday and I...My review of Last Argument goes up on monday and I'm not entirely happy with it. I struggled with what to say, but I knew that if I waited a month to figure it out I wouldn't have posted anything. <BR/><BR/>So, I just wrote until I hit an ending. Turns out I'm a wordy bastard. <BR/><BR/>I know what you're talking about in terms of Ken's vagueness, but I guess I always felt like I knew what he was talking about.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16094675116398769415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-63259833708733083232009-02-01T08:24:00.000-06:002009-02-01T08:24:00.000-06:00Your series of criticising reviews continues being...Your series of criticising reviews continues being very interesting. I think the best advice I find in them is that statements must be justified/exampled, and vagueness avoided. Quotes are good. I really wish I had the reflex while i read to mark out quotes for future references (and iconing :))<BR/><BR/>Summaries are a bit more complicated issues IMHO, because people expect different things. As a reader I really don't care for summaries beyond getting a good grasp of what's the book's about, what kind of genre it is. So I'm annoyed when I find a review that insist on telling me more of the plot; while I want to skip to the "was it good or not" part.<BR/>So I try to keep myself to one line summaries when I do my own reviews (of course I don't do them in a blog as such, so I see them as pretty informal reviews :))<BR/><BR/>I do love indepth reviews, but to read after I've read the books myself, which is a whole other thing, and not a review proper. (The difficulty, then, is to find where the review was... especially when I often wait for a book to be in paperback to do so).<BR/><BR/>So for getting a quick idea of a book and thus decide what I will read, Neth's blog is actually one where I will most often read the reviews.<BR/><BR/>Then there's the balance of time/effort. I believe Neth writes much more reviews that you do :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-64891344034533394142009-02-01T06:14:00.000-06:002009-02-01T06:14:00.000-06:00I've read Ken's review and your critique afterward...I've read Ken's review and your critique afterward and I must say while I agree with you on several points (the review is a bit vague and presumes that the reader is familiar with fantasy genre to the point that he knows what tropes etc. he is speaking of) I still believe you are a bit too harsh with the review. It obvious to me that you two have very different approaches to reviewing; you tend to deliver in-depth reviews, dissecting whatever (as you said it yourself) moves you about the novel, thus making the review as wholesome and personal as you can make it. Ken, on the other hand, writes shorter, more general reviews and it's obvious that he can't pack all the content you want him to into the format he chose. I don't think any of the above approaches to reviewing is superior <I>per se</I>. I myself sometimes curse you for taking too long at coming to conclusion whether the book in question is worth reading or not, but you don't give unambiguous answers and that's ok as well.<BR/><BR/>I'm not even sure what I'm trying to say here, only that Ken is by far not the only one who could be taken under your judging eye...if you took the standards with which you dissected Ken's review to the rest of the blogosphere it would be a bloody carnage out there :)<BR/><BR/>But I agree, we all have more than a little room to improve and reviewing shouldn't be taken lightly, I just hope that Ken doesn't take it the wrong way. :)ThRiNiDiRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11235487104345529619noreply@blogger.com