So you think you're not a book reviewer? Think again. If you've ever said something is 'at once' this thing and the other; if you've ripped something apart and qualified your harshness with a 'that said'; if you've used a bunch of verbs (unflinching, rollicking, compelling) you probably have tried your hand at reviewing a book, um, 'seriously'.
My one complaint is that this list does not include that extremely annoying phrase 'clear-eyed'.
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On another note, I'm very upset with all of you. Why aren't y'all instantly responding by making your blogs little havens of sunshine and twittering birdsong in this dark world? Bah.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
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11 comments:
I made an origami penguin yesterday. Really. That said, I am no artist. Of any sort.
i'm playing lexulous -- what's your excuse?
Guilty of having used every single one of those freaking ugly cliches.
Thanks for posting this. Next time I catch myself saying "at once", I am going to kick myself in the head.
kenny: please to put photo. esse est and all that.
tr: you mean, for not playing lexulous with you? i thought i just explained: i have a limited vocabulary - 'shimmering', 'rollicking', 'nuanced' i can do. the rest is all points lost to you.
km: i know. i kinda squirmed also. :D
You shouldn't squirm until you've used visceral and coruscating. Till then, you should just shudder delicately.
feanor: ok, i won't (she said obligingly). but i'm worried that might begin to enjoy all this delicate shuddering too much.
For your tag, can we please have a video of KM trying to kick himself in the head? It's already a clear winner, and it's not even been made.
I don't respond well to competitive environments. Thanks to your not a tag I am back in therapy
paro: therapy=packing? and what did i do?! it was not a competition!
okay,so the book-reviewer is not a woman of wealth but of taste atleast,and ofcourse has been around for a long,long time,so what about some sympathy?
the quality of criticism depends on the work under criticism,more often than not.
That's funny stuff. I'm so scared of writing "traditional" reviews simply because of those cliches. The only one I've done so far is of a scifi book by Todd Keisling, and thankfully, it isn't as bad as it could be.
(My favourite is "tour de force". There's nothing like a bit of French to fancy up your article.)
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