A Review of Your Reviews by Cameron McGill
Hello All. So recently I have read some pretty weird reviews, some well written reviews, and a lot of reviews that I highly disagree with and I decided that instead of commenting on the blogs I would create a review of reviews. Please understand that I respect your opinions and if anything sounds offensive or somewhat mean in this review I'm just trying to prove a point, unless I genuinely dislike you. Also, I understand that these are your own opinions and that is completely fine, I just think there are some things you may want to reconsider and/ or revisit after reading this blog.
So the first thing I want to address is how much you guys just love picking on books that aren't all that bad. A LOT of the time you guys are being overly nitpicky and you aren't thinking about the purpose of the book. This is what lead me to want to write a review of your reviews. Some of you are saying things such as "(In a whiny voice that I made up in my head) Oh this book has so little action and its just about what is happening in the main character's head" or "This book is just a bunch of ooey gooey romance stuff." Most of the time, this is unfair criticism. I am going to give you guys three categories that I like to file criticism so you guys can see how unfair you and your peers are being.
Category 1: Valid Criticism. This is criticism that is fair and fairly judges the book. For example, saying that the beginning of a novel needs to be sped up or slowed down because it messes with the pacing of the book is fair and Valid.
Category 2: Invalid Criticism. This is criticism that unfairly judges a book because the judge doesn't understand something such as the goal of the novel. For example, romance novels are supposed to be romantic and cheesy. So saying that a romance novel is too romantic is unfair. Now, can you dislike the book for being romantic, yes, this is completely fair, it just means romance novels aren't for you. However, saying that a romance novel is bad because it is super cheesy an romantic is unfair and stupid because that is the goal of the novel.
Category 3: Nitpicking. This category is a bit different from the other two. If your criticism falls under this categories it means that yes, you aren't technically wrong, but you are trying to make the book sound bad and you aren't having an open mind. A common example that I like to use is the immortality of most main characters. For example, in the Hunger Games, Katniss should have died when she was stung with the venom of all of those genetically modified Tracker Jackers right? Well, yes, she should definitely be dead, but this scene is one of the best in the book and when Katniss gets stung a level of intensity is added to the story. So, to sum this paragraph into a much simpler quote, "Yes, this is right, but it works so stop being mean."
So, now that I have discussed the categories, I would like to talk about what you guys call a bad book. And its not just you guys, its the entire freaking internet. You can find some 35 year old guy who manages to stick their head out of their mum's basement just long enough to find a book and criticize in the case of just about every book. And most of the time, this simply just isn't fair. Now, I've done some research and I have realized that the reason most people aren't fairly judging the book is they aren't applying the book's context and purpose. For example, if a book fails to be funny, touching, or have a detailed story, but the action is good and the book's purpose is to give the reader exciting action, then the book isn't what you guys like to call a failure. Now does this make the book good? No, it doesn't but it also doesn't make the book bad despite what you guys seem to think. Now, can you dislike the book because of the bad story or the lack of emotional moments, yes that is fine but again your opinions of a book aren't the same thing as the value of the book, which is something you guys struggle to recognize or you are just to stuck up to acknowledge your mistakes depending on who you are.
So, I have officially made my first non book reviewing review. I hope you guys liked it and if you didn't, I don't care that much I won't lie but I hope you got something out of it regardless. I hope this review helped you guys recognize any mistakes and/ or flaws in your reviews or gave you enough reason to at least reconsider your judgements. Please let me know via email if you guys have any ideas for non book related blog topics that I could use and if I end up using it I'll slip you a dollar or something. Anyways, hope you enjoyed and if you do have any ideas you can email them to csmcgill@illinois.edu. Thanks, and depending on who you are I hope you have a good rest of your day.
So the first thing I want to address is how much you guys just love picking on books that aren't all that bad. A LOT of the time you guys are being overly nitpicky and you aren't thinking about the purpose of the book. This is what lead me to want to write a review of your reviews. Some of you are saying things such as "(In a whiny voice that I made up in my head) Oh this book has so little action and its just about what is happening in the main character's head" or "This book is just a bunch of ooey gooey romance stuff." Most of the time, this is unfair criticism. I am going to give you guys three categories that I like to file criticism so you guys can see how unfair you and your peers are being.
Category 1: Valid Criticism. This is criticism that is fair and fairly judges the book. For example, saying that the beginning of a novel needs to be sped up or slowed down because it messes with the pacing of the book is fair and Valid.
Category 2: Invalid Criticism. This is criticism that unfairly judges a book because the judge doesn't understand something such as the goal of the novel. For example, romance novels are supposed to be romantic and cheesy. So saying that a romance novel is too romantic is unfair. Now, can you dislike the book for being romantic, yes, this is completely fair, it just means romance novels aren't for you. However, saying that a romance novel is bad because it is super cheesy an romantic is unfair and stupid because that is the goal of the novel.
Category 3: Nitpicking. This category is a bit different from the other two. If your criticism falls under this categories it means that yes, you aren't technically wrong, but you are trying to make the book sound bad and you aren't having an open mind. A common example that I like to use is the immortality of most main characters. For example, in the Hunger Games, Katniss should have died when she was stung with the venom of all of those genetically modified Tracker Jackers right? Well, yes, she should definitely be dead, but this scene is one of the best in the book and when Katniss gets stung a level of intensity is added to the story. So, to sum this paragraph into a much simpler quote, "Yes, this is right, but it works so stop being mean."
So, now that I have discussed the categories, I would like to talk about what you guys call a bad book. And its not just you guys, its the entire freaking internet. You can find some 35 year old guy who manages to stick their head out of their mum's basement just long enough to find a book and criticize in the case of just about every book. And most of the time, this simply just isn't fair. Now, I've done some research and I have realized that the reason most people aren't fairly judging the book is they aren't applying the book's context and purpose. For example, if a book fails to be funny, touching, or have a detailed story, but the action is good and the book's purpose is to give the reader exciting action, then the book isn't what you guys like to call a failure. Now does this make the book good? No, it doesn't but it also doesn't make the book bad despite what you guys seem to think. Now, can you dislike the book because of the bad story or the lack of emotional moments, yes that is fine but again your opinions of a book aren't the same thing as the value of the book, which is something you guys struggle to recognize or you are just to stuck up to acknowledge your mistakes depending on who you are.
So, I have officially made my first non book reviewing review. I hope you guys liked it and if you didn't, I don't care that much I won't lie but I hope you got something out of it regardless. I hope this review helped you guys recognize any mistakes and/ or flaws in your reviews or gave you enough reason to at least reconsider your judgements. Please let me know via email if you guys have any ideas for non book related blog topics that I could use and if I end up using it I'll slip you a dollar or something. Anyways, hope you enjoyed and if you do have any ideas you can email them to csmcgill@illinois.edu. Thanks, and depending on who you are I hope you have a good rest of your day.
Well this is definitely a change from most of the blogs on here, I like how you are not afraid to state your opinions even if they might make someone mad. I like how you do write advice on how some people can change this in their next blog posts. However, I do think that the nit-picky things are okay as long as you explain what you mean when you say things like "little action." Anyway thanks for something different.
ReplyDeleteI really like meta posts, so of course I like this one. I do think that some people (not specifically on these blogs, but on the whole internet) often fall into the invalid criticism group, and it feels good to have someone acknowledge this! I also agree with your other categories and your descriptions of them, and I think this blog post was overall very insightful about the different kinds of reviews. Nice meta post!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your blog post. But I'm still going to criticize it since this is the internet and who would I be if I let you have a differing opinion? There is such thing as too much gooey, cheesy romance in a romance novel that makes it so that it's effectively a PG fan fic with no actual story. This actually doesn't have much to do with the blog post because one of the only things I could nitpick over was the lack of idents, but who would I be if I let a slightly controversial opinion go unscathed. (This comment was made by invalid criticism gang)
ReplyDelete***Part 1*** I don't know what led you to write this so called "Review of Reviews". It is unique and it’s trying to be meta, I'll give you that (if you think about it, I’m writing a review about a review that’s reviewing reviews). Now let’s dive in.
ReplyDeleteYou state that we have our own opinions and that you "respect" them early on in the "review". But then you proceed to tell everybody what is right and what is wrong. Saying a book "is just a bunch of ooey gooey romance stuff" (McGill “A Review of Your Reviews by Cameron McGill”) does nothing to harm anyone. If a blog author says a book "is just a bunch of ooey gooey romance stuff", I am going to assume that the book has "ooey gooey romantic stuff” (McGill “A Review of Your Reviews by Cameron McGill”) in it. A blog author wouldn't say that unless they believe that there was in fact too much "ooey gooey romantic stuff” (McGill “A Review of Your Reviews by Cameron McGill”) in it. One of the reasons why we do blogs is so we can share books that we find interesting, and to tell people which ones aren't so great. Criticizing someone else's review of the book is no different from criticizing someone's taste in food. Saying a romance novel is bad because there's too much ooey gooey stuff is perfectly valid. We all have different ideas of what a book should be and what expectations that book should live up to.
You then move onto what a bad book is. You mention how the entire internet has it all wrong. But if it's all wrong then why does the entire internet believe it in the first place. This raises the question of who's right? Every believes what they believe. To say that they are wrong for believing a book was not up to par is just useless. Just because a book is an action book does not mean all it needs to be successful is action. While that is the genre, readers still want to read a more sophisticated story with intricacies and characters and plot development. "If a book fails to be funny, touching, or have a detailed story, but the action is good and the book's purpose is to give the reader exciting action, then the book isn't what you guys like to call a failure. Now does this make the book good? No, it doesn't but it also doesn't make the book bad despite what you guys seem to think" (McGill “A Review of Your Reviews by Cameron McGill”). If a book fails to be funny, touching, or have a detailed story, but the action is good and the book's purpose is to give the reader exciting action, then the book isn't what you guys like to call a failure. Now does this make the book bad? No, it doesn't but it also doesn't make the book good despite what YOU seem to think. The value of a book is the same as someone’s opinion of the book. The value of the book to the blog author is the same thing as the author’s opinion of the book, that is. You seem to struggle to recognize/are just too stuck up to acknowledge your mistakes. ***Look for Part 2***
***Part 2*** In your very interesting review, you brought up 3 categories of criticism: valid criticism, invalid criticism, and nitpicking. If we look back to your review of Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief from October 11th, you write, “Before I say what I liked about this book, I'm going to be nit picky and criticize it” (McGill “Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief Review by Cameron McGill”). You have directly contradicted yourself. You say how much you dislike nitpicking, then you proceed to openly announce in the Percy Jackson that you are going to nitpick. Hypocrisy at its finest.
ReplyDeleteDespite all of that, my biggest problem with your “review” (I have many others that would make this comment much much much longer) is that you’re extremely rude. “Thanks, and depending on who you are I hope you have a good rest of your day” (McGill “A Review of Your Reviews by Cameron McGill”). You’re just being plain rude, there’s no better way to put it. “Please understand that I respect your opinions and if anything sounds offensive or somewhat mean in review I'm just trying to prove a point, unless I genuinely dislike you” (McGill “A Review of Your Reviews by Cameron McGill”). Saying stuff like that completely invalidates your claim. When I read your review, it sounded like a little whiney baby (the very same voice that you mentioned) who was throwing a tantrum. It sounds like your entire argument is based on your hurt feelings, which makes me less likely to take your argument to heart. Your post is flawed as it talks about how everyone has their own opinion, then proceeds to say that everyone’s opinion is invalid. It doesn’t work. To quote you, “stop being mean” (McGill “A Review of Your Reviews by Cameron McGill”).
Works Cited
McGill, Cameron. "A Review of Your Reviews by Cameron McGill." BloggerFroggerCloggerSmogger, Blogspot, 17 Dec. 2019,.blogspot.com/2019/12/-review-of-your-reviews-by-cameron.html#comments. Accessed 10 Jan. 2020.
McGill, Cameron. "Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief Review by Cameron McGill.", Blogspot, 11 Oct. 2019, https://blogfrogclogsmog.blogspot.com/2019/10/percy-jackson-lightning-thief-review-by.html. Accessed 10 Jan. 2020.
I completely agree- you complain about nitpicking as you are nitpicking yourself. And also- adding on to what Wes said, the 'purpose of a book' doesn't matter. Would you read a really boring 10,000 page action based book just because it has good action? The answer is no. The other aspects of a book- like the subplot, romance, character development, and humor is all important. When you're writing a book, you need to think about these things. A story should be three dimensional-- there should be many aspects to it- and you have to enjoy all of them. If an otherwise good book for instance had a terrible and distracting romantic plot, then I would not like the book as an overall! All of the aspects of a book are important- and when you're reviewing a book you need to include all aspects of it.
DeleteEven though you're getting a lot of hate for this type of post, I still respect it and I thought it was a great idea to put something like this out there. This way, people can see an in depth analysis of what other people think about their posts. I also like how you're not afraid to state your true views on what you think about the blog posts. Anyway, this was a cool post and I thought it was very interesting!
ReplyDeleteThis post was very interesting, but I think there is a critical flaw in your reasoning about what is a good or a bad book. If somebody does not like a book, for example, because it has too much ooey gooey romance, as you said, that is a perfectly valid claim. A reader may argue it distracts from the main point of the story. Additionally, a reader has the right to say they do not like a book for x, y, and z, even if x, y, and z were major parts of the book, like having little action, as you put it, complaining about very little action is perfectly valid. A reader could simply say that they think the book would be better with more action, and that would be it. As other people have said, the "purpose" of a book does not matter as much as what it actually communicates or tells.
ReplyDeleteThis was overall a very interesting post, and I like how you tried something new, even though you probably knew you would be criticized for it. I think you could have been a little less harsh in this post (keep in mind that you're talking about the posts of other freshmen), and I agree with Wes that you contradicted yourself when you talked about how nitpicking is bad, as you did it yourself in another one of your reviews. At the same time, Wes is contradicting himself by criticizing you for criticizing other people's reviews, and proceeding to write a flat-out rant that was probably longer than the original post. In short, let this be a warning to other freshmen -- try not to criticize others, and definitely try not to contradict yourself.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, I agree with your opinions on how a lot of negative reviews aren't really being fair. However, I feel like you are being a little nit-picky yourself. The point of a book review is to help the people reading them decide if they want to read the book themselves. If a book review says they didn't like a book because the romance was too cheesy, they are only saying that so the people reading the review will know not to read the book if they don't like cheesy romance. They aren't necessarily saying that no books should have cheesy romance and that everyone hates it, they are just saying they didn't enjoy reading the book because of the cheesy romance. Aside from that, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this review of book reviews, and it was definitely different from all the other blog posts I've read. I found this post helpful, and I will take your advice into consideration next time I write a book review.
ReplyDelete