tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215036862051955994.post5731052902602215184..comments2023-04-07T23:13:18.502-10:00Comments on Marks in the Margin: On Book ReviewingRichard Katzevhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03466537940588392927noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215036862051955994.post-4603805322359515912012-02-10T05:35:01.823-10:002012-02-10T05:35:01.823-10:00Best not to take them seriously. This means buyin...Best not to take them seriously. This means buying the printed or digital version of the book, giving it a try and deciding for yourself. Always the best policy anyway.Richard Katzevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03466537940588392927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215036862051955994.post-73249316447660778922012-02-09T19:28:53.674-10:002012-02-09T19:28:53.674-10:00There are the increasingly frequent reviews that a...There are the increasingly frequent reviews that are stupid. For example, reviews of Roth's Nemesis were almost all just plain silly. Both review in the Times began with the absurd claim that the reviewer hadn't ever read a book by Roth before -- and then had the chutzpah to review the book without understanding anything about the corpus of his work.barbara harshavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15196860435627109549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215036862051955994.post-69572352011725664082012-02-08T15:53:32.722-10:002012-02-08T15:53:32.722-10:00Hi Barbara: For me the really good reviews are th...Hi Barbara: For me the really good reviews are those that tell me know if I want to buy the book. The reviewer says something that suggests I might like reading it. I suppose this can be done in many ways--the story strikes my fancy, I am informed it is a philosophical novel, the writing is clever, intelligent, or is just as good as the previous writer's works, all of which I've enjoyed, etc. But I am not informed very often when a writer tells me why she didn't like it. It is to be more general than that.Richard Katzevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03466537940588392927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215036862051955994.post-14833529833581721612012-02-08T15:38:47.617-10:002012-02-08T15:38:47.617-10:00Michiko Kakutani may be the best example of nasty ...Michiko Kakutani may be the best example of nasty book reviewing.<br />But add Liesl Schlesinger to that list, too: she wrote a stupid and nasty review of Night Train to Lisbon.<br />So what are reviews good for?barbara harshavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15196860435627109549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215036862051955994.post-58309625296095793752012-02-08T10:01:14.046-10:002012-02-08T10:01:14.046-10:00However less lonely you may have felt, I suspect i...However less lonely you may have felt, I suspect it didn't last long. And there are always other events going on at that same time that may have led you to feel less lonely. Like Federer winning a major.Richard Katzevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03466537940588392927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215036862051955994.post-46813807745936120192012-02-08T09:32:32.692-10:002012-02-08T09:32:32.692-10:00Oh I dunno, I think reading can make people feel l...Oh I dunno, I think reading can make people feel less lonely. I know there have been times in my life when it has. Auden has many things to say about critics including suggesting they provide likes and dislikes about various things not related to books so you can get a feel for the kind of person they are since they are going to be telling you whether or not a book is worthwhile. It's an interesting thought.Stefaniehttp://somanybooksblog.comnoreply@blogger.com