More About Book Reviews

I read a lot of book reviews. I enjoy reading them and, as I noted below, sometimes reading the review alone without ever intending to read the book that’s been reviewed is still interesting and rewarding (kind of like reading an obituary when you’ve never met the person it’s about!).

This actually reminds me of a funny story I read once. A new book comes out, and the book gets good reviews. A person is at a cocktail party, and happens to meet the author of this book. The person says to the author: “Congratulations on the great reviews of your new book.” The author replies, somewhat haughtily: “I didn’t write the reviews.”

Obviously authors would like us to read the books, not just the reviews!

It’s always interesting to me when how I feel about a particular book differs from published critical opinion. There have been numerous cases recently where a book that I thought was mediocre and whose writing I did not admire got great reviews. (I could name examples, but should I? There’s that fear again of criticizing people in print. Maybe I’m just too damned polite!)

Sometimes I get a little belligerent about this when I think reviewers got it wrong (along the lines of: how could they?! what were they thinking?! did they read the damn thing?!), as if it’s a personal insult to me that the reviewer didn’t properly take my opinion into account. But mostly now I just shrug and let it go – and determine to counteract the review by telling as many people as I can, including my students, not to read the book! (He he – I’ll show them!)

On the back cover of The Nobodies Album I found, as is common, praise for the author’s previous books, in this case a long list of quotes of praise for The Dogs of Babel, rave reviews from very respectable sources, like The New York Times, sources with whose reviews I often agree.
Here are some of them:

The New York Times: “A captivatingly strange book… TDOB rises to reach a final moment of pure, stirring grace.”
LR: Actually, now that I think of it, that’s hardly a rave – sounds more like the marketing folks tried to squeeze out a few good comments from a less good review.

From Time Out New York: “A searing portrait of grief that’s also a love story and an engrossing mystery.”
LR: Hmmm… that’s not really a rave either. Why did the marketing people put these quotes on this book? The reviewer did find the mystery engrossing, which is a good thing for a mystery to be (although I beg to differ), but I wouldn’t choose a book described as “a searing portrait of grief,” would you?

More:
From author John Searles (I don’t know much about him but he’s also the book editor of Cosmopolitan magazine) “TDOB is the most unique and imaginative book I have read… Parkhurst is a wonderful writer…”
LR: Well, she is a good writer, and a book about trying to teach a dog to talk certainly does have to be described as unique. I suppose unique and imaginative doesn’t necessarily mean good, although I’d be happy if someone called me unique and imaginative.

Other:
“edge-of-your seat read” (Redbook) LR: Uh uh!
“elegant and ingenious” (Boston Globe) LR: Maybe the latter but not the former.
“Transports the reader to an unexpected and strangely powerful place” NYTBR LR: Possibly true…
“Parkhurst packs a serious literary arsenal...” Entertainment Weekly LR: Don’t agree.

So, how to account for this discrepancy between my opinion and theirs? Is it simply, as my mother would say, that “that’s what makes chocolate and vanilla”? The insecure part of me is tempted to think that I missed something, or that I’m not as smart a reader as these reviewers are. But you know what? After two degrees in English literature and many years in the book publishing business and now a number of years successfully teaching book discussion classes, I think I’m finally able to feel confident in my judgment. I think I’m a smart and insightful reader. So never mind about them—you stick with me!
(posted 10/7, written 7/8)