Thoughts about Book Reviews
On this blog, I shall write a lot of book reviews. That is because I read a lot. My focus is largely narrow - the books on my recent shelf are history (over 50%), biography, and current events/politics/other social sciences. The only books I have recently read outside these categories are the Harry Potter series (which will be commented upon when the next big Harry Potter event happens) and Dilbert/Dogbert books. I also have read two books on stocks, too, but I am not a market analysist, so I would not be giving a service if I commented on them.
When I do book reviews, I look toward the following: Timeliness, information, and interest. Sometimes, there is no interest - I am not going to comment on a book I am working on, "The Ancient Greeks" because there is no popular controversy here. If written about in a popular magazine, it is worth comment. If it was once controversial, like "The Education of Henry Adams," then it shall not be reviewed, because no one cares about the education of a man who died 85 years ago (actually, the book has much more to do with than mere education). Also, works by pundits and talk-show hosts are mostly garbage, left and right.
The most recent in the pundit category I have read are those by Michael Savage, Michael Medved, and Ann Coulter. Both Dr. Savage and Mr. Medved have quite a bit of scholarly background, before becoming talk-show hosts, so they have a lot of perspective to bring in. Ann Coulter is the Mencken of the dayh - only much better looking. And she excels in every quality over the Ann Coulter of the left, Jabba the Hut.
I do read left-wing books, sometimes, too. In order to get both sides of the story, you need to read both sides. This means both sides. Some people only read those sources of those with whom they disagree. After a while, they change positions. Sometimes they read sources of only people with whom they agree. After a while, they cannot argue.
The most recent leftist I read is by George McGovern. It was pretty bad. I do not recommend this book to anyone, at least if you are not on the right side of the spectrum. There are probably a lot more interesting books, if you are a leftist, to read than his very boring and self-congratulating piece of work. I do plan to write a review sometime on him, however, since I can make witty comments what he wrote. I think the review would be more interesting than the book.
This is because book reviews can be a great way to get out your point of view. In mid-19th century Russia, book reviews were enormously popular. Sometimes, they would be longer than the book itself! One man, Theodore (I think that is his first name) Belinsky was known for writing lots of them. He used literary techniques to attack something, and after that, one would understand his socialistic point of view. Unfortunately, he did not live a long life. He is the most famous literary critic - it would be a long, long time before another literary critic would arise who would use his role as a critic to turn it into an overall critique of society, although that man is an American (in a provincial town, Seattle), who is a conservative, who uses radio to get his point across, and who focuses on the fictional mediums of his day, which rather than books, is movies. He is Michael Medved. Like him or not, he is the Theodore Belinsky of this era. And it was a book about the depravity of movies that fully thrust him into the spotlight.
However, I generally do not watch movies. I recently read a headline that those of a slightly younger age group is fleeing the movies. I think that it is because it is very costly to make the kind of movies young adult males tend to like, which is action and adventure. This has always been the case, even long before movies. Besides humor, that is another of my favorite type of movies, but then again, I do not get to the movies much.
When I was young, I wanted to be a history professor. Unfortunately, I am barred from that profession - conservatives need not apply, even to grad school. Even without the MA, or PhD, I am probably capable to turning out good works of scholarship, if I had the time to do so. My current job has really taught me how to do this.
As a result, I got into a book fetish. One of the rooms of my house is a library. I have lots and lots of books - mostly history/social sciences. And, I take a long bus ride to work every day, so I get to read a lot. As such, I have something to comment on, so I will write book reviews on those books that meet the above-criterion.
When I do book reviews, I look toward the following: Timeliness, information, and interest. Sometimes, there is no interest - I am not going to comment on a book I am working on, "The Ancient Greeks" because there is no popular controversy here. If written about in a popular magazine, it is worth comment. If it was once controversial, like "The Education of Henry Adams," then it shall not be reviewed, because no one cares about the education of a man who died 85 years ago (actually, the book has much more to do with than mere education). Also, works by pundits and talk-show hosts are mostly garbage, left and right.
The most recent in the pundit category I have read are those by Michael Savage, Michael Medved, and Ann Coulter. Both Dr. Savage and Mr. Medved have quite a bit of scholarly background, before becoming talk-show hosts, so they have a lot of perspective to bring in. Ann Coulter is the Mencken of the dayh - only much better looking. And she excels in every quality over the Ann Coulter of the left, Jabba the Hut.
I do read left-wing books, sometimes, too. In order to get both sides of the story, you need to read both sides. This means both sides. Some people only read those sources of those with whom they disagree. After a while, they change positions. Sometimes they read sources of only people with whom they agree. After a while, they cannot argue.
The most recent leftist I read is by George McGovern. It was pretty bad. I do not recommend this book to anyone, at least if you are not on the right side of the spectrum. There are probably a lot more interesting books, if you are a leftist, to read than his very boring and self-congratulating piece of work. I do plan to write a review sometime on him, however, since I can make witty comments what he wrote. I think the review would be more interesting than the book.
This is because book reviews can be a great way to get out your point of view. In mid-19th century Russia, book reviews were enormously popular. Sometimes, they would be longer than the book itself! One man, Theodore (I think that is his first name) Belinsky was known for writing lots of them. He used literary techniques to attack something, and after that, one would understand his socialistic point of view. Unfortunately, he did not live a long life. He is the most famous literary critic - it would be a long, long time before another literary critic would arise who would use his role as a critic to turn it into an overall critique of society, although that man is an American (in a provincial town, Seattle), who is a conservative, who uses radio to get his point across, and who focuses on the fictional mediums of his day, which rather than books, is movies. He is Michael Medved. Like him or not, he is the Theodore Belinsky of this era. And it was a book about the depravity of movies that fully thrust him into the spotlight.
However, I generally do not watch movies. I recently read a headline that those of a slightly younger age group is fleeing the movies. I think that it is because it is very costly to make the kind of movies young adult males tend to like, which is action and adventure. This has always been the case, even long before movies. Besides humor, that is another of my favorite type of movies, but then again, I do not get to the movies much.
When I was young, I wanted to be a history professor. Unfortunately, I am barred from that profession - conservatives need not apply, even to grad school. Even without the MA, or PhD, I am probably capable to turning out good works of scholarship, if I had the time to do so. My current job has really taught me how to do this.
As a result, I got into a book fetish. One of the rooms of my house is a library. I have lots and lots of books - mostly history/social sciences. And, I take a long bus ride to work every day, so I get to read a lot. As such, I have something to comment on, so I will write book reviews on those books that meet the above-criterion.
posted by EricMatthew at 5:16 PM
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