The archive has been slow updating but I'm
informed via Candice Ward that 'puerile' and
'get off the pot' are terms now involved in
discussing my view that a book Invisible Tattoos
is better than a review by Alison Croggon suggests.
In disagreeing with that ABR review, I'm really
only echoing sentiments expressed by Morag Fraser
in ABR's October 2000 Symposium on reviewing.
Morag Fraser commented:-
'Trenchant understanding yields so much more for the
reader (and writer) than a parade of superior taste
and sharp (or cruel) phrase making.'
In noting that others (3RRR's Aural Text) also
disagreed with the review and planned to air these
disagreements, I was volunteering information
chanced upon. Alicia Sometimes is also employed
at my local bookshop, she chanced to mention her
view of the review to me on Friday... (That is, some
time after I'd posted my view that the review was
harsh and undeserved).
It so happens I subscribe to 3RRR largely because
I like the music it plays and think it the best of
Australia's independent stations, but also because
I enjoy shows like 'Aural Text'. If anyone other
than Candice took exception to my post mentioning
the nature of the 3 RRR license in response to Coral
Hull's 'I would listen to 3 RRR but I've got a life' - well,
no pejorative reflection on Coral was intended (and I
apologise to Coral if offence was somehow taken), I was
merely writing in defence of the excellent radio station she
dismissed.
If I thought the review unfair, it is after all partly
because I purchased and read the book before
reading the review. It's not the very best poetry collection
I've read in 2000 but it is far from the worst I've read
and I didn't think it deserved Alison's 'sharp (or cruel)
phrase making' by way of review.
Disagree with me by all means (though it would help
your case if you read the book in question) but don't
deny my right to democratically comment that a very
unfavourable review was undeserved. Similarly, don't
deny the right of Aural Text on 3RRR to democratically
discuss whether the review was fair on the airwaves.
Well, that is don't deny these rights if you are
democratically inclined.
Hugh Tolhurst
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