HELLO.
"Contrariwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic." Through the Looking-Glass; Lewis Carroll
| Hello. | Goodbye. |
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Through the Looking-Glass; Lewis Carroll |
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Wednesday, December 17, 2008, 9:26 PM
One of the main things I've been doing to while the time away these days is reading Harry Potter. Between the nuggets and I we've got the whole series (I've got books 1, 2, 3 and 4 and Nugget 2 has the other 3.) but N2 decided to take over position of Guardian of the Seven (meaning she got all possessive of them) so I did not really have much chance to read anything properly. (at least, for the last 2) I remember the day I introduced N2 to Harry Potter. We went to watch Prisoner of Azkaban (I remember what the Dowager said about the Dementors - "一大堆黑鬼飞来飞去") and when we went home she asked me what the heck was going on, so I chucked book 3 in her face and asked her to read and TADAH!! And the day she got book 6 (she pre-ordered the last 2) she spent about 5 hours with her nose in the book, looked up after that looking really glum and said "Dumbledore got killed." Me (with head buried in homework): Oh. OK. Nugget 2: DUMBLEDORE. DIED. Me (finally grasping enormity of situation and gasping in horror) : OMG WHO DID IT?? Nugget 2: SNAPE. Me: HUH? I thought he was on Dumbledore's side???! Nugget 2: Wait wait. I read again. (flips through pages) And then later we realized that Dumbledore got murdered and basically the series just took its final pivot ("paradigm shift") for the dark side, after a regular tragedy per book ever since book 4. So I was all pensive about how Harry Potter was one of the few literary masterpieces that heralded the triumph of good over evil. But the most memorable was when she got Book 7. At 7 A.M in the morning she started squealing and jumping up and down on my bed, then went out, answered the doorbell, then came back in, unceremoniously dumped me off the bed, shoved me out of the room and bolted the door. 7 hours later she emerged, smiling triumphantly. "I know who won," she smirked. So after my preview reading - my first reading, usually speed-read or rush-read, as I call it - I left the fact that the series was over to sink in. (I mean, honestly, if Rowling had decided to kill Harry off, the whole series would have gone down the drain??! ) But with 3 words "All was well." that was it. I felt that it was a bit abrupt for all 7, but three months of pondering later, I guess that was the only way for it to go. I think the directors have been doing a really great job with the movies. Honestly, the only thing better I've watched is the Lord of the Rings, but truly, that's another class of its own. I've never noticed that Daniel Radcliffe's acting is wooden (really?) or that the casting is crap. (HUH??!) The only thing I took notice of was the whole Cho Chang fiasco, but that I dismissed as a fangirl controversy. I guess that whenever I read reviews of film adaptations, I get real irked whenever I see reviewers (usually senior, experienced editors) go "Aw. It's crap. Only good for fans, I guess." complete with a snide remark or two about how fans won't realize the "crap" that it is because of obsession. Today, I was reading the review for Twilight and I was like "Two-and-a-half effing stars upon five??!!!" Then there was the review for Breaking Dawn a couple of months back. ("And I was like. Ew. Vampire sperm??") and upon reading it I felt tempted to curse the living daylights out of that reviewer. (effing self-uppity twit, I remember raging about her to the irritation of my mum, the only other person in the house awake when I brought the papers in) My initial argument was that these reviewers hardly know what they're really talking about. It's sort of contemptuous that these masterpieces were reviewed by people (who, ok, unarguably have loads of experience at this job) and for all their experience, have hardly understood the book at all. Like, I really think that the BD reviewer had the book foisted on top of her work stack, and giving a tired, exhausted office-cubicle dweller another bit of work would have killed her altogether. Which really reasoned out why she gave it such a horrible review. But I am often frustrated at how the mainstream press treats such work as - more work, just work to be done. Then very often, it just gets treated like yet another book. Has anyone noticed that most reviews, for crying out loud, often throw rotten tomatoes? But giving a die-hard fan the job isn't the best suggestion either. If not the whole column would be overwhelmed with obsessed (I guess, in some cases, bimbotic) gushing. So giving the job to someone who doesn't know a thing and giving it to a fanatic would not be the best way to get about it. I'm suggesting that reviewers start by giving a more objective review of the work. If it's a series, for the love of all that's holy, at least go further than wikipedia it (actually, wiki IS a pretty good way to get a bird's-eye glance of the series, spoilers aside). The press pays for the books or at least subsidises them, right? So jolly well find out more. I mean, it's a job that you're supposed to enjoy, right? Personally I'd give anything to have a job like that. On the other side, I'd also like to argue that it's not an easy job reviewing. Very often you have to review anything, like it or not. So I take my hat (and hairpins) off to reviewers for that. And it's not easy to give an objective view without seeming as if you're just stating facts, or worse, cutting and pasting from wikipedia. But for crying out loud. I seriously think that, all understanding, empathy and sympathy aside, that Breaking Dawn reviewer ought to get whalloped. I thought her review was nothing short of condescing. On the whole, I conclude that all reviewers, while having to endure the strain of working, should strive to provide objective views of the works they cover. Doing the "I guess it's a good read - for fans." might seem to be an easy option out, but after contemplation, I'd like to say that perhaps it's a statement for the best. As quoted by Twilight author (and idol) Stephenie Meyer: Every individual has their own personal taste and experience, and that's why there are such a great variety of books on the shelves. There are lots of very popular books that I don't enjoy at all. Conversely, there are books that I adore that no one else seems to care about. The surprise to me is that so many people do like my books. I wrote them for a very specific audience of one, and so there was no guarantee that any other person on the planet besides me would enjoy them. |