Coffee Cup Reviews

Posted on July 31st, 2007 in Book Review, Editorial by Robb

There always seems to be one flap or another coursing though the blogosphere about the technique and quality of book reviews in today’s various media outlets. Whether it’s a prolific Amazon reviewer who farms his reviews out, or some crazy Swede who reviews books that haven’t been written yet, it seems that there is a never-ending supply of opinions and techniques. In print media, for example, more and more editors are asking for short, 400 word (or less) reviews along the lines of the seemingly ADD inspired thumbs up/down of Rogers and Ebert (or whatever the current incarnation is). Then there are those reviews, like the ones for Locus Magazine, for instance, that border on a critical analysis of the text.

Regardless of which you read or write, what it all boils down to is this…

As a reviewer, which do you prefer to write?

As a reader, which do you prefer to read?

Writing a 400 word review means being able to justify your opinion succinctly without a lot of need for textual support. Most often it revolves around not going into a detailed plot analysis of the story in question, and instead focusing on answering the question “why” by being both as specific and as broad as possible. A longer review usually means examining the plot and any important thematic issues the author broaches. Most often, it seems, a longer review has the same basic content of the shorter review with added textual support from the work being discussed.

Reading a review is totally different. For instance, I read reviews not for information on the book they are about, but rather to see how other authors write reviews. I am actually pretty careful to not read reviews for books that are on my reading list, primarily because I don’t want any “inside information” as to what the book has in store for me. As such, I am a huge fan of the short, 400 word, “I liked this and here is why” type of reviews. I simply do not want any kind of spoilers.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have a good friend who prefers the in-depth reviews that cover plot and theme. She has limited time to spend pleasure reading, and wants to make sure the book sounds like something she is interested in before she picks it up, as she views any time spent reading something she doesn’t like as time wasted.

What we both have come to realize is that it isn’t really the review itself that is important to us. It’s the reviewer. She has her two or three favorites she reads religiously because she has found that they share similar tastes to hers, especially when they are all in agreement. There is a certain familiarity and trust that she has developed with them, and she is in many ways dependant upon it.

I am much the same way, but for a different reason. The reviews I enjoy are much more casual and laid back. Like bumping into someone reading in a coffee shop and just starting up a conversation about the book in his hands. I don’t want him to tell me the story, I want to know if he is enjoying the story. I am more interested in the experience the book is giving him as he reads.

That’s how I try to write my reviews. Oh, I’ll throw up a graphic with some stars or something, maybe even slap a neat little “Must Read” ribbon on it, but in the end it’s my opinion of not only the book, but of the experience I had reading the book. Did I laugh out loud? Did I stay up late to finish it because I just couldn’t put it down? I usually don’t examine plot beyond a very brief overview, as I don’t enjoy reading those kinds of reviews. The rating stars I use are just my way of comparing it to other titles I have read. With any luck, someone out there will find them informational. Better yet, perhaps it will spark a little conversation in the comments, and we can go more in depth about a title as part of a discussion.

After all, what’s the point of voicing your opinion if it isn’t going to be well thought out enough to spark a discussion? I’d much rather do that than lay everything out on the line at once and be done with it.

When to Call it Quits

Posted on July 29th, 2007 in Book Review, Editorial by Robb

Bookgasm calls it the 100 page rule. SF Signal calls it the 33% Rule.

Everyone has a breaking point. Michael May had his around page 150 of George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones (one of my favorites, but to each his own). Personally, my bookmark is still lodged on page 180 of Moby Dick where I placed it over ten years ago (although I do intend to finish it “one of these days,” I swear).

I am an avid reader, working through twenty to twenty-five novels in a year and one hundred or so short stories. That said, I acquire my books the old fashioned way: From a reading list as long as my arm (ok, I admit it… longer than my arm). Most of the books on the list are award winners I haven’t gotten around to yet, or considered to be classics within their genre. Some are recommendations from friends, family, and colleagues, while others I have stumbled across and thought “oooo I forgot about this one!” I say this because, usually, I am not going into the books I read blind. I am not a reviewer who reads, essentially, for a living, picking up the latest releast or ARC and hoping for a byline with an early review. I read because I love reading and my books have passed a certain filter just to reach my perception.

In the rare instance that I do come across a book that begins to turn me away, I tend to shift into a different mode of reading, especially if it is a book I am reading for pleasure. I get much more analytical with it. I want to know why it isn’t grabbing me. I want to know the reasons why something strikes me as “bad” or “un-enjoyable” so I can recognize it in my own work.

Which brings us to an interesting point… What if I was a reviewer? What if, for example, I write a review of a book I stopped reading a third of the way in, is it fair for me to review the book? You bet it is. The fact that I stopped reading is a pretty powerful review. Unless the review is a critical analysis of the book, then it is the experience of reading the book that gets reviewed as much as the book itself. That’s all a reviewing is: Being able to elaborate on “I liked/disliked this book (or movie, or computer game, or toaster, or anything else) because…” and then justifying whatever emotional reaction was generated. Anything beyond that is a critical analysis and subject to a whole host of other constraints.

All told, I think I like the 100 Page Rule. Really, if an author hasn’t hooked me by then, the next 200 pages are going to be… difficult at best.

This Just In…

Posted on July 28th, 2007 in Breaking News by Robb

(originally posted 17 June 2005)

USA Today reports that the NPD Group, a leading market research firm, has reported the favorite snack of children ages 7-12 is fruit. A subsequent study released just hours later confirms that NPD Group employees have no children between the ages of 7 and 12.

How to Panic the ATA

Posted on July 26th, 2007 in Random Thoughts and Stories by Robb

(originally posted on August 12, 2004)

So I had a big update all ready to go and my power went out. This amusing (and true) story will have to suffice for the time being…

I returned from Rochester, NY the other day. Now, the Rochester International Airport isn’t the biggest airport in the world. In fact, it’s surprisingly small for an airport bearing the “International” moniker in it’s handle. Suffice it to say, they can’t afford the big fancy luggage scanners at every ticket counter, so instead they have ATA agents hand search each and every piece of luggage that get’s checked.

Naturally, I am not thinking of this at all as I am packing my bags for my flight home. Included amongst the myriad of socks, boxer shorts, and t-shirts, is a loaf of my sister’s fabulous zuchini bread. Wrapped in tin foil. Stuffed in a zip-lock bag. At the bottom of my suitcase. You can likely see where this is going already.

I am not the greatest traveler in the world. In truth, I am paranoid as hell about missing flights. I missed one once, and it turned into a nightmare, and I simply never want that to happen again. So now I get to the airport at least 2 hours early and just bring a book. I love reading anyway, so I just grab a cup of coffee and relax until my flight. Which is precisely what I did at the Rochester Airport. I arrived a little less than 2 hours before my flight and checked in, dropping off my bag in the line of other bags waiting to be searched.

After heading down to my gate and grabbing a cup of coffee, I settle in and start reading (Wheel of Time, Book 6: Lord of Chaos for those interested). I don’t read more than 2 sentences when over the loudspeaker I hear:

“Will Robb Flynn please come to the United Ticket Counter.”

Being a paranoid traveler, I, of course, begin imagining the worst. Somehow I am being bumped off my flight before it has even arrived at the airport. The flight has been canceled out of Chicago due to rabid Cubs fans storming the airport demanding a trip to the playoffs. They have imposed a height restriction for all passengers, and I need to take the train. Imagine my surprise to arrive at the United Ticket Counter to find not 1… not 2… not even 3… but 4 ATA Agents gathered around my suitcase waiting for me to arrive. I can’t even see my suitcase, to be honest. But I do see my socks, shirts, jeans, and boots laid out on the table around where I assume my suitcase is. The Agent I left the bag with crooks his finger at me and says, “Can you step over here please, Mr. Flynn.”

Pointing inside my suitcase, he asks, “Can you identify that for me please?”

I look to where he is pointing and see my sister’s zucchini bread. Wrapped in tin-foil. Stuffed in a zip-lock bag. I laugh.

“It’s my sister’s zucchini bread! Want a slice?”

Two of the agents start to laugh, one walks away, and “my” agent just sort of smiles and chuckles. “Can you take it out of the tin-foil please?” I do, and show him it really is bread and not a big bag of coke or whatever it was he thought it may be. He smiles, says thank you, and starts re-packing my suitcase. I sit there and watch him put everything back in then head back to the gate to continue my reading.

The story itself is pretty damn funny. But I gotta say, it was pretty dumb of me to pack the bread that way. Kudos to the ATA Agent for handling it the way he did, unlike this schmuck in NJ. It’s a thankless job these guys have, one which likely nets them more grumbling from delayed passengers than pats on the back for keeping us flying safely. And I sure as hell hope he makes more than $6.50 an hour like I did when I was a Supervisor of Security at LAX 10 or so years ago.

Movie Review: Hero

Posted on July 25th, 2007 in Movie Review by Robb

(originally posted 20 September 2004)

Hero (aka Ying xiong)
Cast: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung, Ziyi Zhang, Daoming Chen, Donnie Yen

Director: Yimou Zhang

Writers: Feng Li, Bin Wang, Yimou Zhang

Other than a couple of raving reviews, I hadn’t heard much of Hero when I went to go see it. After watching it, however, I dug around and read about a dozen or so more reviews, all of which were similar to the first 2. The reviewers raved and raved, gave it the highest possible score, and generally equated this movie to the coming of the messiah. Me, I just don’t get what all the fuss is about.

Hero is the story of Nameless (Jet Li) and his quest to assassinate the most powerful warlord (Daoming Chen) in pre-unified China. Told in flashbacks, the storyline itself was simple enough, made complex by the way in which it was told. An interesting approach, but in the end it fell far short of it’s mark. My general rule of thumb… if your story spends more time talking about the past than it does moving in the present, you are telling the wrong story. It’s a rare film that can successfully get away from this rule, and this film isn’t among the gems that succeed.

While I thought that both the cinemagraphic and digital imagery was gorgeous, I felt like I was being bludgeoned with it. Other than create interesting visuals in a mode not unlike still photography, the vast majority of images did nothing to further or enhance the story and, for me, came off as a director (Yimou Zhang) stroking his own artistic ego. In the end, I felt as if I had been beaten with the imagery stick about the head and shoulders for 2 hours… an altogether unpleasant experience.

The actors had a rough go of it in Hero. Due to the structure of the film, there was very little hope for any of them (aside from Jet Li) to really experience any kind of “journey” or growth. While their performances were all rock solid, I felt that they all came off rather flat and 2 dimensional, ultimately hampered by Zhang’s direction and story structure. Jet Li took a huge risk in accepting this role, as it is nothing like what he has done in the past. Li fans expecting his typical martial arts style film will be sorely disappointed in Hero. I do think, however, that it will open the door for Li to more complex character films in the future, as he does an admirable job as the only character to really develop over the course of the story.