While in private I have a long list of “I loves” and ”I hates,” I have yet to receive my World's Foremost Arbiter of Taste Award. I have standards for everything from books to biscuits, but they are my standards and, while I can be as judgmental as anyone, I don’t require other people to live by them. However, private faves and peeves aside, I’ve always been loath to review anything in print, unless it is unhealthy, which I did for a supplement when the health site I was writing for asked my opinion on a product that contained an ingredient I was able to document was dangerous to the consumer. As a result, I’m happy to say they did not endorse it.
However, in general, I believe people are entitled to like or dislike what they wish, and they will do so without my input. As the old woman said as she kissed the cow, there’s no accounting for some people’s taste (including my own—I won’t even go into my trash TV obsession). Nevertheless, this question has come up for me as I develop this blog, because it is so tempting to write book reviews. I read books, love them and have all kinds of opinions about them. I love book reviews, yet am too often drawn to or repulsed by a book based on someone else’s opinion, without checking it out for myself. Part of my problem there is that I also love reading reviews, of almost anything and am afraid I am a bit too suggestible for my own good. However, when it comes to giving my own opinion of books, I take as my model John Updike. I lived for his reviews in the New Yorker for their depth and compassion, even when he felt the book in question fell short of his expectations. With each review, I felt I received the equivalent of a university-level lecture on the subject of the book or a wide survey of the author’s work. His reviews made me a better writer, which is not something I can say about most reviewers.
With Updike as my standard bearer, I believe my reviewing skills would fall short. While I wouldn’t mind drawing a reader to a book I praised but she did not like, I cringe at the thought of turning away a potential reader of a book that would be memorable for him, just because I found it wanting. But taking Updike as my mentor, and finding myself unable to resist the urge to comment on other writers’ work, I’m setting myself some rules. Or rather, a point of view.
I have decided to write about books the way I read them. That is, absolute merit aside, what can I learn from them? Most reviews give away the story or analyze characters. I have a different purpose. Some books fail in many ways, yet deliver insights or pleasures that make the whole worth my time. Other books may master craft, but lack the kind of verve I crave in a book. I never come away from a book, whether it appeals to me or not, without understanding something more about this craft that I know will take me several lifetimes to master. I learn as much from someone who handles a scene clumsily as someone who writes with deft. Because I was schooled in reading as a writer, not merely a reader, I hope to bring that experience to my page on books. I will not point you to books you should or should not read, but I hope that I can steer you towards reading with a new eye that may in some way, help your own writing. And so, I am not going to write book reviews, but rather my margin notes. I hope John UPdike is not turning over in his grave.
