Post by Shelby on Aug 28, 2022 16:11:36 GMT -8
I leave reviews online if I buy something and it's exceptionally great or abysmal. I admit it. But that's in regard to cooking pots or t-shirts. What really, really sets me off is when "reviews" come up for art, posted by Joe Palookas who are completely non-qualified to do art critiques.
By art I mean movies, books or even sculptures. There are a couple of blogs I follow where pieces of sculpture are occasionally the focus. More often though, I see movie and book reviews.
In case you didn't know, I studied art, I have a degree in art, I've worked as a professional artist, and I have lifetime certification as a teacher of art. I remember one particular art professor of mine used to love saying, "Well, I wouldn't want it hanging in MY living room," and we'd all laugh. He was mocking the uneducated, making the only judgement they could. Whether they'd decorate their apartment with a particular piece of art or not. Doubtless they'd prefer a velvet Elvis, or dogs playing poker.
So we have a site like Goodreads, which was a place for readers to get together and discuss books. Great. Then it got purchased by Amazon, because now they could get more of a handle on your taste in books than they might get from your Amazon purchases, and readers provide them with free content for the site. But in any case, I don't have an issue with folks posting about how helpful a book on refinishing furniture might be. We can assume that they followed the instructions and either applied them successfully to a project, or ruined something valuable. OK.
But what ticks me off is when I look up the Goodreads entry for a book by a Grand Master like Poul Anderson. Someone who had more awards than you could fit on the average fireplace mantle. An acknowledged icon of the field. And wonks get on there and critique him for character, plot, pacing and story.
You aren't qualified.
You can say, "I liked it. It was exciting." Or "I didn't like it, it was too slow for me." Or "I didn't like the character because I thought he acted like a jerk."
But you aren't qualified to say, "Anderson didn't know how to write. He had no talent. This book IS terrible."
Opinions...everybody's got one. (You can fill in the ellipsis yourself.)
By art I mean movies, books or even sculptures. There are a couple of blogs I follow where pieces of sculpture are occasionally the focus. More often though, I see movie and book reviews.
In case you didn't know, I studied art, I have a degree in art, I've worked as a professional artist, and I have lifetime certification as a teacher of art. I remember one particular art professor of mine used to love saying, "Well, I wouldn't want it hanging in MY living room," and we'd all laugh. He was mocking the uneducated, making the only judgement they could. Whether they'd decorate their apartment with a particular piece of art or not. Doubtless they'd prefer a velvet Elvis, or dogs playing poker.
So we have a site like Goodreads, which was a place for readers to get together and discuss books. Great. Then it got purchased by Amazon, because now they could get more of a handle on your taste in books than they might get from your Amazon purchases, and readers provide them with free content for the site. But in any case, I don't have an issue with folks posting about how helpful a book on refinishing furniture might be. We can assume that they followed the instructions and either applied them successfully to a project, or ruined something valuable. OK.
But what ticks me off is when I look up the Goodreads entry for a book by a Grand Master like Poul Anderson. Someone who had more awards than you could fit on the average fireplace mantle. An acknowledged icon of the field. And wonks get on there and critique him for character, plot, pacing and story.
You aren't qualified.
You can say, "I liked it. It was exciting." Or "I didn't like it, it was too slow for me." Or "I didn't like the character because I thought he acted like a jerk."
But you aren't qualified to say, "Anderson didn't know how to write. He had no talent. This book IS terrible."
Opinions...everybody's got one. (You can fill in the ellipsis yourself.)