Something I've been thinking about
My book club is currently reading a novel by a local author. As a "special event," the author will be attending our meeting at the end of the month. When this was proposed, we laughed a little about how we had to be on our best behavior, lest we discourage a first-time novelist.
I picked up the book with some trepidation, and it proved to be justified. I wasn't particularly impressed. Part of it was probably just that it's not my kind of book--I never would have picked it up had it not been assigned. But I also found the characters one-dimensional, some of the situations cliched, and the writing nothing special. All of which I'd be more than comfortable bringing up at a regular meeting. But I'm not sure what I'd say now. At that last meeting the possibility of the discussion being constrained by the writer's presence did come up, but I think we were all hoping we'd like the book and it wouldn't be a problem.
The whole situation is even more complicated because the author is also a Goodreads member. I do appreciate the fact that the site makes that clear by hyperlinking the author's name to his or her page, but it also makes things a little awkward. It's one thing to make a negative remark about a book to a friend, but it's totally different--at least for me--when there's the possibility of the author reading it. Particularly the author reading it and then coming to a book club meeting and associating me with the comment.
I've been a lot more cautious about the whole thing since a former coworker and friend of a friend had a pretty strange experience with another local author (whose book I fortunately liked and who once commented on a post on this blog)--she wrote a dismissive review of the book, only to have the author come back and challenge her about it, sparking a pretty nasty online exchange. I was really taken aback when I read it.
I have always been interested in writing book reviews for publication, and I know that even the authors reviewed in the New York Times sometimes take offense and write bitter letters to the editor. Anytime you publish something critical, I think it's only fair to have to stand behind your words. But I never really thought about how it applies to a casual forum like this. On the one hand, these "reviews" are posted on the free web, for anyone, including the author, to read. On the other, it just doesn't seem like the criticism should carry the same weight as a "real" review. Either way, I definitely think a lot more before commenting on a book I don't like. I guess it's a good reminder that what's on the Internet isn't really private. But it takes some of the fun out of it, too.
I picked up the book with some trepidation, and it proved to be justified. I wasn't particularly impressed. Part of it was probably just that it's not my kind of book--I never would have picked it up had it not been assigned. But I also found the characters one-dimensional, some of the situations cliched, and the writing nothing special. All of which I'd be more than comfortable bringing up at a regular meeting. But I'm not sure what I'd say now. At that last meeting the possibility of the discussion being constrained by the writer's presence did come up, but I think we were all hoping we'd like the book and it wouldn't be a problem.
The whole situation is even more complicated because the author is also a Goodreads member. I do appreciate the fact that the site makes that clear by hyperlinking the author's name to his or her page, but it also makes things a little awkward. It's one thing to make a negative remark about a book to a friend, but it's totally different--at least for me--when there's the possibility of the author reading it. Particularly the author reading it and then coming to a book club meeting and associating me with the comment.
I've been a lot more cautious about the whole thing since a former coworker and friend of a friend had a pretty strange experience with another local author (whose book I fortunately liked and who once commented on a post on this blog)--she wrote a dismissive review of the book, only to have the author come back and challenge her about it, sparking a pretty nasty online exchange. I was really taken aback when I read it.
I have always been interested in writing book reviews for publication, and I know that even the authors reviewed in the New York Times sometimes take offense and write bitter letters to the editor. Anytime you publish something critical, I think it's only fair to have to stand behind your words. But I never really thought about how it applies to a casual forum like this. On the one hand, these "reviews" are posted on the free web, for anyone, including the author, to read. On the other, it just doesn't seem like the criticism should carry the same weight as a "real" review. Either way, I definitely think a lot more before commenting on a book I don't like. I guess it's a good reminder that what's on the Internet isn't really private. But it takes some of the fun out of it, too.
posted by Madame Defarge at 4:03 PM
2 Comments:
Interesting dilemma. Anytime an artist of any genre puts something "out there," they have to know that they're going to be subject to scrutiny. Though I can't imagine what that must be like, having your work read and then torn apart by someone publicly. Once the book is published, it's not like there's anything you can do to change it. Then again, how can you grow as an artist if you aren't ever challenged and criticized. You'd be stagnant, and then what's the point of existing? Of course, you'd have to first see if you agreed with the critique.
On a similar note, there's a website called Rate my Teacher. It's one of the most destructive sites for one's ego. Mike has banned me from looking at it because it depresses me for so long. It's not the concept I despise, so much as the fact that I disagree with the students who anonymously and without a sense of consequence publish their uncensored thoughts. I don't trust them to critique me fairly. Yet I've had students I do respect in class make a critique that, while it offends me initially, I do admit has validity later on. And that, I think, makes me better at my job.
When in doubt, remember the Morrison critique sandwich.
Ah, the sandwich. I had completely forgotten the technical term.
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