tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post87287208913112055..comments2023-09-16T09:00:31.715-04:00Comments on Telecommuter Talk: Who Are You to Criticize?Emily Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971084813206845680noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-43626256459022999892008-07-02T17:50:00.000-04:002008-07-02T17:50:00.000-04:00Susan, it's so hard to get rid of that inner liter...Susan, it's so hard to get rid of that inner literary critic once she's been trained, isn't it? And when I finish the final draft of the pyromaniac ghost story, I'll send you a copy.Emily Bartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13971084813206845680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-4412673523681787312008-07-01T23:52:00.000-04:002008-07-01T23:52:00.000-04:00PS I'm awful with describing book plots - I always...PS I'm awful with describing book plots - I always have been. so it means I sometimes pick 'the wrong thing' to criticize - I used to get in trouble in university with this. I know the plot, I just can't describe it clearly. So even though you suffer from this too, I was glad to see it! and I want to see your pyromaniac/ghost story!! lol cool...lots could be done with that...Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09095246748581382752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-82245880198633907392008-07-01T23:50:00.000-04:002008-07-01T23:50:00.000-04:00Because I majored in English at university, I of c...Because I majored in English at university, I of course had to learn how to criticize books. Look for the characters, setting, structure, themes, blah blah. It got to the point that when I finished, I had to undo reading books that way. I couldn't enjoy any, because I saw all the flaws! and then the writer part of me would jump in with ideas of how to make it better - I still do that, but fortunately I've undone the LIterary Critic part of me - most of the time. whenever i read 'literature' it pops up again. I like your idea of responding to a book from the heart, which is what I try to do on my blog. I am very aware - as I think you are, because we are both writers - that the writer has poured their blood into their book, so unless it's really dreadful (and we wouldn't finish reading it then anyway!), I try to find something good to say. Slicing and dicing like literary critics do, kills the creative spirit, and i don't want to be part of that. and yet, what i want most of all is an honest response to a book, not a learned distant response - I want that heart response, from myself, and also to anything I write, because it means a real connection was made.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09095246748581382752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-46118501558739256332008-06-29T16:04:00.000-04:002008-06-29T16:04:00.000-04:00Everyone, after all your comments, I'm feeling I c...Everyone, after all your comments, I'm feeling I could write a whole nother post on this. I wish we could all sit around and have a conversation.<BR/><BR/>Stef, yes, a combination of both is what I like best. I think that's what the blogosphere is providing that has been missing in traditional reviews and criticism. And you're right: the psychoanalysis might be amusing or interesting. And there's another plus: it would be free.<BR/><BR/>Dorr, your take is interesting, because you, of course, have to read criticism for your job. You can't really get around it, and thus, that probably makes you more well-versed, which leads to a tolerance level that's higher than mine. And, of course, I'm definitely simplifying and generalizing here. I do like to read criticism that gives me lots of background information and that helps me understand something better.<BR/><BR/>Pete, as I said to Stefanie, you're right: book blogs do a nice job of combining both. Meanwhile, give Faulkner a try (she says, very timidly, always afraid she's leading someone to something he'll hate).Emily Bartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13971084813206845680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-27074649851358372502008-06-28T14:01:00.000-04:002008-06-28T14:01:00.000-04:00Emily, I agree. I think it would be great if peopl...Emily, I agree. I think it would be great if people responded with their hearts and their heads to books they are reviewing, which is one of the reasons I'm enjoying these book blogs. I don't think I've read Faulkner (I'm sure I would remember, even with my bad memory) so will look out for him. Thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-12974673450518687362008-06-28T09:33:00.000-04:002008-06-28T09:33:00.000-04:00I've read a lot of criticism and hated some and en...I've read a lot of criticism and hated some and enjoyed quite a lot -- I suppose, for me, if I know what I'm in for, that is, if I know I'm going to read a fairly dry but probably illuminating piece of criticism, I don't mind the absence of emotion, even though I do love criticism with a personal, emotional element to it (I wrote a post on that recently, about the George Saunders collection of essays). There's a place for the dryer sort of criticism, and the trick is to find the good stuff that actually does help you read the text better (easier said than done, I'm sure). But if a person isn't planning on being a scholar and isn't interested in criticism, then there is no reason to seek it out.Rebecca H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10825532162727473112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-13135171465296618552008-06-28T09:10:00.000-04:002008-06-28T09:10:00.000-04:00Who's to say that writing bout a book from a sensu...Who's to say that writing bout a book from a sensual point of view isn't as valid as writing about it only from the head? Ideally there would be a combination of both. When I run across that kind of criticism I fall in love with the critic and the book being written about. I think you write marvelously about books. And as to what the critics would make of your writing? It doesn't matter, really, though the ones that try to psychoanalyze your could provide some great entertainment :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-12270273849828575662008-06-28T06:32:00.000-04:002008-06-28T06:32:00.000-04:00Linser, oh, I bet it's even worse with art.PMJG, n...Linser, oh, I bet it's even worse with art.<BR/><BR/>PMJG, never even thought of critics getting their friends to write about their work. The really mature part of me wants to scream, "No fair!"<BR/><BR/>Eva, thanks! Don't be afraid of Faulkner. A reader like you should have no problem at all with him.Emily Bartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13971084813206845680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-3698672038331558622008-06-27T16:04:00.000-04:002008-06-27T16:04:00.000-04:00This is such a great post Emily!! And I never, ev...This is such a great post Emily!! And I never, ever took a literature class in college (I did take Beginning Creative Nonfic Writing when I was thinking about a journalism minor, and Beginning Poetry Writing for my art credit) for exactly that reason. And you've made Faulkner a tiny, tiny, tiny bit less scary to me. :pEvahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06703372903532502944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-35710214152986124352008-06-27T13:06:00.000-04:002008-06-27T13:06:00.000-04:00I find it either suspect or comic when I read revi...I find it either suspect or comic when I read reviews and criticism done by authors when their subject is either a friend of theirs or publishing a competing title. I wish I could find the article I was reading the other day about authors who would write glowing reviews of their friends' work, so that those friends would return the favor.Bitterly Indifferenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07550990045862241485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-30638422330667739592008-06-27T09:48:00.000-04:002008-06-27T09:48:00.000-04:00I feel exactly the same way you do about people (...I feel exactly the same way you do about people ("critics") who write about art. I start getting Dylan's song "Ballad of a Thin Man" in my head. linserAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com