Comments on: Book Bloggers: Are they killing lit criticism, or saving it? http://www.teleread.com/books/book-bloggers-are-they-killing-lit-criticism-or-saving-it/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Thu, 23 May 2013 03:19:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: MarylandBill http://www.teleread.com/books/book-bloggers-are-they-killing-lit-criticism-or-saving-it/comment-page-1/#comment-1217019 MarylandBill Tue, 02 Oct 2012 01:16:04 +0000 http://www.teleread.com/?p=72022#comment-1217019 All of this strikes me as the intellectual elite trying to protect their turf. They understand that reviews are more than book recommendations, they interpret the work as well. If someone reads the review before the work then if they go on to read the work, their perception of it can't help but be shaped by the review they read. In addition, elite literary review is use to controlling what books get discussed. While some books and authors are too big to ignore, the ability of the elite book review section or magazine to decide what to review often can bring prominence to some books while keeping others in shadow. In a bloggers' world, that control is lost since most any book can find some blogger that will review it. Also it is true that some blogs lack depth, but it is also true that many published reviews are very self indulgent towards the reviewers point of view. All of this strikes me as the intellectual elite trying to protect their turf. They understand that reviews are more than book recommendations, they interpret the work as well. If someone reads the review before the work then if they go on to read the work, their perception of it can’t help but be shaped by the review they read.

In addition, elite literary review is use to controlling what books get discussed. While some books and authors are too big to ignore, the ability of the elite book review section or magazine to decide what to review often can bring prominence to some books while keeping others in shadow. In a bloggers’ world, that control is lost since most any book can find some blogger that will review it.

Also it is true that some blogs lack depth, but it is also true that many published reviews are very self indulgent towards the reviewers point of view.

]]> By: Richard Adin http://www.teleread.com/books/book-bloggers-are-they-killing-lit-criticism-or-saving-it/comment-page-1/#comment-1216973 Richard Adin Sun, 30 Sep 2012 10:32:31 +0000 http://www.teleread.com/?p=72022#comment-1216973 I have mixed feelings. At least twice a month I try to read book review blogs but after about 10 minutes, I give up. I keep trying because I keep hoping I will find one that I like. OTOH, 40 times a year I receive in the mail a print copy of The New York Review of Books (NYRB). I don't read every article, as some things I am just not interested in, but I do read most articles and I do peruse the ads in search of books to buy. Occasionally, I will also read the NYRB online. The difference between the NYRB and the book review blogs is the quality and depth of the analysis and criticism. Compared to the NYRB, most book blogs are superficial and thus do not hold my interest. NYRB reviews are often educational about the subject matter in addition to being a review of the book. The NYRB's primary failure is that it is of limited space and so can review only a limited number of books in each issue, unlike a blog which has no similar constraints. It isn't that book blogs are pointless; rather, it is that anyone can be a book blogger and there are hundreds if not thousands of book blogs, which makes it difficult to find high-quality criticism. Because of the cost involved in producing a print book review magazine, a focus on quality is necessary in order to attract and retain subscribers. Are book blogs harmful? Perhaps. The harm is that those who read book blogs and become accustomed to the breezy blog style and lack-of-depth (and lack-of-comparative) reviews find it difficult to spend the time necessary to read and absorb the type of critical review found in the NYRB. Eventually, magazines like the NYRB will cease to exist because of a lack of subscribers. That will be, in my opinion, a very sad day for literary criticism. I have mixed feelings. At least twice a month I try to read book review blogs but after about 10 minutes, I give up. I keep trying because I keep hoping I will find one that I like.

OTOH, 40 times a year I receive in the mail a print copy of The New York Review of Books (NYRB). I don’t read every article, as some things I am just not interested in, but I do read most articles and I do peruse the ads in search of books to buy. Occasionally, I will also read the NYRB online.

The difference between the NYRB and the book review blogs is the quality and depth of the analysis and criticism. Compared to the NYRB, most book blogs are superficial and thus do not hold my interest. NYRB reviews are often educational about the subject matter in addition to being a review of the book. The NYRB’s primary failure is that it is of limited space and so can review only a limited number of books in each issue, unlike a blog which has no similar constraints.

It isn’t that book blogs are pointless; rather, it is that anyone can be a book blogger and there are hundreds if not thousands of book blogs, which makes it difficult to find high-quality criticism. Because of the cost involved in producing a print book review magazine, a focus on quality is necessary in order to attract and retain subscribers.

Are book blogs harmful? Perhaps. The harm is that those who read book blogs and become accustomed to the breezy blog style and lack-of-depth (and lack-of-comparative) reviews find it difficult to spend the time necessary to read and absorb the type of critical review found in the NYRB. Eventually, magazines like the NYRB will cease to exist because of a lack of subscribers. That will be, in my opinion, a very sad day for literary criticism.

]]>