I was wondering what to blog about this fine, sunny, Monday morning, when I stumbled across (quite by accident) Bill Ward from over at BLACK GATE. Ward, a man who has written more than his fair share of book reviews over the years, has put his own personal book reviewing expertise and years of experience to good use, and written an excellent article: Writing Book Reviews — How and Why. Something of a must-read, I would say, for anyone who is contemplating or has just started out writing book reviews (of any kind) either for their own personal web site, or for publication about the web.
Ward touches on not only what it is that goes into a good review, as opposed to a review that can end up reading either like a child’s book report, or worse, a rehash of the blurb from the back of a novel’s dust-cover. But also what makes a review valuable to readers. To quote:
“The primary element of a book review, then, comes down to the reviewer’s opinion of the book itself. Sometimes this opinion is expressed in neutral terms, and sometimes in personal terms, and it is important to distinguish which is which. The difference arises when one is referring to an absolute standard of judgment versus a subjective one — and this is perhaps the biggest gray area, and perhaps the most reliant on instinct, in any sort of critical endeavor. Is the novel’s uneven pace an example of a failure in pacing for this kind of story, or your own impatience with the book? Is the author’s baroque style purple prose, or just something you aren’t in the mood for? Does the novel fail on points of characterization, setting, or theme — or is it just not the novel you thought you were getting when you looked at the cover?”
I couldn’t have said it better or more succinctly myself. Truly, if you are thinking of becoming a reviewer or, in fact, already write reviews and want to see if your own work measure up? Stop by, have a read, and maybe you’ll pick up a few new pointers on how to make yours that ‘must-read’ review.
