Entry tags:

Decoupaging the text from the wrong perspective?
A blogger buys a used, beat-up copy of Anne Rice's Pandora, ends up not liking it, and decides to get crafty with it. (Well, she also says, "Don’t be mad at me, even if Pandora really is one of the worst Anne Rice novels then it’s still better written than Twilight. Just not by as much as you think.")

Anne Rice finds out.

Anne Rice links to the blog on her Facebook.

You know what happens next.

HOW DARE YOU EVEN COMPARE SHITTY ASS STEPHANIE MEYER TO THE QUALITY WORK THAT IS ANNE RICE HOW DARE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU FUCKING HAG, I HOPE YOU GET HERPES

INSANE. To destroy a book like that is honestly the most disrespectful, idiotic thing anyone could ever do. An opinion is an opinion, but to do that… loved the rich descriptive narrative and historical context and character development (the other reason I read them).

Disgraceful.

This review is garbage. If you get this emotional then you are not reviewing a book, you are having a mental breakdown. I am left wondering not what is not right about the novel by Anne Rice, but what is mentally wrong with the [next comment] Person who wrote this tripe of a review.

“I couldn’t simply write my opinion I had to be a destructive little shit aren’t i awesome?”

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED - GODWIN'S LAW:

"Jose": My dear: Even if you dont like a book i dont get why you have to destroy it, Nazi memories perhaps?

Miss Articulate, the OP: The book was dying anyway, it would have been thrown away if I’d given it to a charity shop and I clearly underestimated the offense people would take. Relating it to Nazi’s is incredibly disrespectful to what people went through during WW2, including my own family so please don’t throw that around. Thanks for the comment.

Jose: It’s merely stating that destroying books is one of the things Nazis did, why get so personal? I respected your apology for offence caused, but that is yet another petty, attention-seeking remark. Did anyone refer to the other horrors the Nazis did? No. Therefore your response is irrelevant.

And there's so much more where that came from.

ETA from sandglass: "The Facebook link itself is worth looking at, too. Rice is replying to comments as well."

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cleolinda
2013-05-05 04:06 pm UTC (link)

I tend to look for common denominators in both good and bad comments. If one person says it's too long, eh. If three people say it's too long, that's something to look into. I also try to identify ahead of time what I think the strengths and weaknesses are (because I think there's always things that don't quite turn out the way we want them to, but we just can't think of a better way to do it), and then see if the responses match up with my own assessment. (A lot of times they do; sometimes they don't.) Or, like, "I don't know if I made that work... okay, looks like I did." Or "I thought I made that clear, but it seems to be confusing people." In their own way, good reviews can be as telling as bad/critical ones, if you read between the lines. I think it helps to read positive responses with a critical eye (towards yourself, not the commenter) but then look for the context of negative/critical ones. If people don't like what you're writing about, that's not really your problem. If they say "I would have liked this, except for XYZ that didn't work," that's the most useful.

Also, ice cream is helpful.

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demonbean
2013-05-05 07:48 pm UTC (link)

Thanks! Good point - "okay, everyone agrees I need more world-building," vs. "well, if you despise fantasy, why did you read it...?" In all seriousness, I thought Miss Articulate's point about, "we're expected to believe in this fantastic love story, even though their love never seems to be demonstrated," was great feedback. Buy-a-pint-of-Ben-and-Jerry's-and-sob-a-little feedback, maybe, but still wonderful.

...now I want ice cream.

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	cleolinda 2013-05-06 03:41 am UTC (link)
	Speaking of which, my new favorite ice cream is B&J's Chocolate Therapy. Chocolate ice cream, chocolate pudding ice cream, and chocolate cookie bits. It helps extra good. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	demonbean 2013-05-07 02:51 am UTC (link)
	Oooooh ... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	kumquat_of_doom 2013-05-06 02:41 am UTC (link)
	I'm just over here, having a small sulky face at the fact that I don't get enough reviews to spot common denominators. I write too much gen and too many oddball crossovers, I think. :\| (Reply to this)(Parent)

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