tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post8398777521641651938..comments2023-07-03T09:22:01.637+01:00Comments on tasting rhubarb: Stepping backJeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690685768980280402noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-34374609483997610402012-08-16T13:27:14.643+01:002012-08-16T13:27:14.643+01:00In my opinion it is impossible to get "too cl...In my opinion it is impossible to get "too close" to a book. I loved your review because it spoke to me on some visceral level and I knew I had to buy it straight away. The best reviews are like that.Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13443527125531144896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-12084093946056919402012-08-09T17:10:23.603+01:002012-08-09T17:10:23.603+01:00Oh Jean, bless you for the lovely mention. I think...Oh Jean, bless you for the lovely mention. I think that any of us who review books even semi-regularly know how personal and particular our feelings about them are. So reviews can only ever be the account of a unique experience that will never be repeated by another person. Doesn't mean to say they won't push us in the right direction, or give some indication of the kind of mood we want to be in before beginning them. <br /><br />But a well-written review, as yours always are, is guaranteed to resonante with the reader and stick in the mind. No writer could ask for more than that.litlovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10952927245186474480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-82900988105872692202012-08-08T20:00:53.957+01:002012-08-08T20:00:53.957+01:00Lilian, I'm entirely with you on that - of cou...Lilian, I'm entirely with you on that - of course not all my friends like the same books or other works of art, how boring that would be! (though there is sojetimes an intensely shared response and that's lovely, of course). <br /><br />I would see that as an entirely separate issue from what I was trying to clarify my thoughts about here.Jeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08690685768980280402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-59451872364008172142012-08-08T19:51:15.560+01:002012-08-08T19:51:15.560+01:00I missed the review, too, but am going back to rea...I missed the review, too, but am going back to read it. I don't base friendships ever on people's responses to books. Actually I'm fascinated by the way people I like and respect may respond very differently from me to a book. And some of my friends don't even necessarily like my books!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-29497641282547502282012-08-08T18:20:01.894+01:002012-08-08T18:20:01.894+01:00I went back and read the review which I had missed...I went back and read the review which I had missed and I found that it made me want to read the book. I agree entirely with Lucy. I can't deal with violence, but I can with strong emotion. Because I have lived a long time I have encountered grief, but never the kind that comes from the unexpected loss of a life companion -- or a child. That must be the hardest. But a book is so much more than just the subject or story. It's the writing, the feeling, the form. <br /><br />I like blogs that let me get to know the writer, so if I have come to know and love the writer of a blog I am glad to sometimes read about a book that blogger loved. In general, though, I don't usually read blogs that just review books.<br /><br />One more comment: I really admire the picture and the detail in the review post. You specialize in reflections and do them so beautifully.Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04979547096244105508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-83676271693203864422012-08-07T22:30:03.779+01:002012-08-07T22:30:03.779+01:00Oh, don't worry Jean, your review definitely m...Oh, don't worry Jean, your review definitely made me want to read the book -- I just know it will make me sad and so I'll have to find a time when I can take it. I trust your reviews always, from experience; if you care enough about something to write about it,I know I feel similarly.I would always rather read a "personal" response/appreciation than the typical ones in most journals; that's why I seem to prefer reading blogs over everything else pertaining to culture.Bethhttp://www.cassandrapages.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-41731803984376796572012-08-07T13:53:25.562+01:002012-08-07T13:53:25.562+01:00I think I'd be more inclined to read a book wh...I think I'd be more inclined to read a book which had clearly moved and impressed someone whose judgement I valued so strongly than because I'd read a very clever, polished professional reviewer's treatment (not that you aren't a very clever, polished writer of course!). I suppose the exception is if it clearly contained subject matter that I found personally unpalatable - I've got a fairly low tolerance for violence for example, and felt disinclined to read the Stieg Larsson books that you and others reviewed - but grief and loss are not that, for me.<br /><br />I don't much like doing reviews either, or even quite brief reader responses; yours are always excellent but the fact that you don't turn them out routinely makes them all the more persuasive, I think.Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764296105901909328noreply@blogger.com