The two
reviews approach the book from very different angles. The blog review confines itself to a plot
outline, while the Amazon reader review provides opinions about the quality of
the story and the characters.
The
blog review provides useful information to let the reader know what the book is
about. It’s hard to say whether or not
it is giving away too much when it tells us that “Elise and Noel find passion
in each other’s arms,” since we don’t know if that happens early in the story
or is the climactic scene of the book. The
review doesn’t provide any opinion about the book or describe any of the appeal
factors that we’ve been discussing in this course. Overall, it doesn’t tell us anything that we
couldn’t get from the book jacket, a synopsis on Amazon, or other sources.
The
Amazon reader review, on the other hand, doesn’t provide any plot summary but
confines itself to character analysis and opinion. Though it can sometimes be difficult to judge
whether or not another reader’s opinion would jive with your own, this reviewer
notes several important appeal factors – psychologically complex characters,
brisk pace, evocative style. These are
positive characteristics that tell me a lot about the book’s tone, pacing, and
style and would definitely steer me toward purchasing the title for my library’s
collection.
Angela’s
Ashes
The
lengthier reviews for Angela’s Ashes certainly make me see it as a must-have
book for my library. While I think
shorter, quicker-to-read reviews are more practical for making purchase
decisions, I do find in-depth critical reviews useful when selecting a book for
book discussions.
It does
seem unfair that books from mega-publishers that can devote money and time to
saturate the market with pre-pub publicity tend to generate tons of reviews,
while books from smaller independent presses get little or no attention from
critics. A parallel situation might be
Hollywood blockbusters that have film critics waiting in line, while indie
films don’t get as much press. That puts
the publishing giants in a much stronger position to get their books on library
shelves.
Review
Sources
I enjoy
browsing publisher catalogs, but really . . . who has the time?!! My academic library spends very little on
fiction purchases (sigh), and what we do buy is mostly restricted to items
specifically requested by faculty. I
tend to accumulate issues of Booklist
and Library Journal in my car, of all
places. That way they are handy to
browse in the lobby of the doctor’s office or while getting my hair cut – or even
just waiting at a RR stop for a train to pass.
And after all this time, I’m embarrassed to admit that I had no idea
that Booklist has a policy against
negative reviews! I thought of it as
generally less critical than Kirkus,
but never realized that I hadn’t encountered any negativity at all. Since most of my fiction book vetting is geared
toward book club selections, I also follow several online sources like http://bookpage.com/ and http://www.readinggroupguides.com/
that focus on newly published titles that are particularly good choices for
book discussions.
I do
have a pet peeve when it comes to book reviews.
I value reader opinions on Amazon and GoodReads. Published reviews are great, but I also like
to hear from the reading public. BUT, it
drives me crazy when I read a scathing review, only to find in the last line
that the reader didn’t finish the book, or even worse, “I couldn’t get past the
second chapter!” It’s worthwhile knowing
that this particular reader disliked the book enough to give up on it; most of
us have snapped closed an unsatisfying book and laid it aside with a grimace. I just wish the reviewer would tell us that
at the start. If you didn’t like the
book, I do want to know that. But I don’t
want character assessment from someone
who doesn’t know how the character might or might not have developed by the end
of the book. I don’t want plot analysis
from someone who doesn’t know how the storyline resolved itself. To return to the movie analogy, it’s like getting
in-depth film criticism from someone who only sat through the first 10 minutes. And
that’s my rant for the week.
You make a really good point that I hadn't really thought about with the mega publishers being able to devote tons of money for publicity and therefore being able to get more reviews. I probably should have picked up on that, but I never connected publicity to reviews before. I'm sure that is part of the reason so few review eBooks as well. Thanks for the insight!
ReplyDeleteDon't feel too embarrassed. I also regularly read Booklist and I never realized that Booklist has a policy against negative reviews! After reading Carri's week five prompt, I went back and flipped through a couple of back issues of the magazine. Some of the reviews are more effusive than others but no negative ones. I also looked at the names of the reviewers and noticed that Joyce Saricks was reviewing audiobooks.
ReplyDeleteI very much agree with your pet peeve. Sometimes I wish that book reviews had a little drop-down box at the beginning that you had to select how much of the book you had read from. E.g. 1 chapter, a few chapters, half the book, etc etc. Then have it posted right there at the top of the review next to the star rating. Half the time when I go looking for reviews of a book I might buy and read for myself I go straight to the negative reviews, to see if there are any universal complaints. So many times all the one star reviews boil down to "Ugh. I couldn't even get past the first chapter." But you have to read through sixteen paragraphs to get there. It makes me want to punch someone. If you are going to make a statement, either positive or negative, then have a point to it. Don't waste everyone's time with a half coherent rant.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad that the mega-publishers have large amounts of money to invest in a book's publicity while small publishers may invest little or nothing in a book due to the cost. Some of the books from small publishers may be excellent but they go unnoticed because they don't receive much publicity.
ReplyDelete