Well, at the beginning, there are a lot of passive constructions, etc,
which suggests that he doesnt want to be as tough as he seems to
'want' to be.
There is much to argue with. Of course, I'd rather review a book I
like, so if I can I pick one, not as a 'puff piece,' but because it's
fun to share something one loves. Some of us are more eclectic than
others in our tastes. those who stick to a fairly narrow field will
tell those of us who dont that we are 'soft,' & that may be true. But
if we react strongly to a poem, or book, whether or not it's quite
'our thing' is that really all that bad? I like a lot of different
kinds of music too.
Teachers who want their students to repeat what they do are cheating
both the students and themselves. That's sad. That's maybe human. One
tries to avoid that mistake (or I did; how successfully I just dont
know).
But then, when I had students, the best of them did have bite, &
fought to maintain their 'purity' or whatever they called it. I
sometimes wanted to wring their necks, but also only wanted them to
think more deeply into what they wrote so they could make it better, &
better able to reach whatever audience they sought. (We do seek 'an'
audience, dont we? or else why write?)
Doug
On 28-Dec-09, at 9:33 AM, David Bircumshaw wrote:
> Yes, Jeffrey, the point stands well. Fieled's piece is also very ill-
> written
> ('I would like to opine that..' etc) - there you are, a 'bad
> review' comment.
>
> 2009/12/28 Jeffrey Side <[log in to unmask]>
>
>> 'On the Necessity of Bad Reviews' by Adam Fieled:
>> http://www.argotistonline.co.uk/Fieled%20essay.htm
>>
>
>
>
> --
> David Bircumshaw
> "A window./Big enough to hold screams/
> You say are poems" - DMeltzer
> Website and A Chide's Alphabet
> http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
> The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw
> twitter: http://twitter.com/bucketshave
>
Douglas Barbour
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http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/
Latest books:
Continuations (with Sheila E Murphy)
http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=664
Wednesdays'
http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-from-aboveground-press_10.html
The artist has no right to waste
the time of the listener.
Eric Alfred Leslie Satie
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