Can a review be "wrong"?
- ALynnPowers
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Can a review be "wrong"?
Is it possible for a review to be entirely objective?
Can you miss the point of a book so much that your review just becomes total nonsense?
Just wondering what everyone thinks.
- DATo
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2) I think there are very few reviewers who can perform a totally objective and unbiased exegesis, and this includes professional critics.
3) Sometimes the counter-view interpretation may offer justifiable argument(s); but, sometimes, as a professor of physics once told me, "(DATo), you just have to realize and accept the fact that in this world there are some people who are just born stupid."
― Steven Wright
- gali
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I don't think a review can be entirely objective nor should it be in my view. Reviews should include feelings and thoughts of the reviewer, otherwise it is pointless, and as such it is always subjective.
-- June 16th, 2016, 9:07 am --
DATo wrote:1) It is possible for a reader to entirely miss the point intended by the author and to apply their own interpretation based upon opinions derived from their own life experience, but sometimes the stretch is so taut that it approaches silliness.
2) I think there are very few reviewers who can perform a totally objective and unbiased exegesis, and this includes professional critics.
3) Sometimes the counter-view interpretation may offer justifiable argument(s); but, sometimes, as a professor of physics once told me, "(DATo), you just have to realize and accept the fact that in this world there are some people who are just born stupid."
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"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you." (Mortimer J. Adler)
- ALynnPowers
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I don't think you can agree (or disagree) with a review until you've read the book .
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For me, sometimes I get caught up how I could edit the book and work with the author to make it better, I forget that I'm supposed to be reviewing what's already down on the page. I'm thinking of its potential, not sitting back and enjoying the story fully.
Also, there's no accounting for taste.
- dewberry1985
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- MarieMc
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Everyone has an opinion and most reviews are a persons take on what they read. People are passionate and in our passion, we are not always unbiased, but that does not make us wrong.
I read a book the other day and due to the subject matter it was VERY difficult for me to keep an open mind. My personal instincts were to rant and rave about the topic and explain away why the author was not right in what he/she wrote. I had to talk myself into viewing what the author was really saying and not look so much at the vehicle used to transport the actual 'subject' of the book which was somewhat buried inside the title and a particular event. The author could have really been addressing any situation and asking for the same outcome. It still had a bit of my opinion in the little review I did even after I stepped back and talked myself down.
I personally like to read good and "bad" reviews. I think they give a more rounded idea of the book if all aspects are considered. Bad reviews do not always turn me off to a book either.
We should embrace each opinion that is written just as we should embrace each individual person and allow for there to be variance of opinions. That is what makes the world go round.
to have GOOD day!!
- don-deb-puck
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Every one has a different view of the world, different values and influences in there lives.
So while people may not agree with the reviewers opinion of the book; it doesn't mean the review is wrong. It is the persons honest assessment of the book.
It is like reviews of stage shows, some reviewers dislike the show but if you see the same show you may love it and wonder where the reviewer is coming from.
It is all in the eye of the beholder.
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- Gravy
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Reviews are opinions, and isn't everyone entitled to their opinion?
Anyway, I don't think anyone can be completely objective, nor do I think they should.
The more objective a review, the more I distrust it, if that makes sense.
If the reviewer was able to reason an objective response, how good could the book actually have been? If I enjoy a book, I gush, and I love to see that in reviews.
What is grief, if not love persevering?
Grief is just love with no place to go.
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- Purple101
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