The rebirth of BookADay continues at breakneck speed. Accordingly, my latest review, American Scripture, has already made its appearance.
When I started doing these reviews, I didn't assign a grade. Didn't want to. Really didn't feel like I was in any position to judge. But Brandi insisted, so I agreed. Fortunately, since they're almost all books I've chosen to read, I haven't really hated any of them. In fact, the one I've disliked the most was actually an assignment. I think that's correlative and not causative. I think.
Truth be told, the middle section of this book bugged the crap out of me. I don't know if this came across in the review, but the book really sags in the middle sections. But I couldn't very well judge the book on that alone. Still, it's a tough call. If you like some of a book, but hate the rest of it, does that fact that you hate any part of it drag it down? Or do you split the difference? In this case, I think the fact that I liked some of it pulled the grade up. I try to be forgiving. The book had worth. And if the good sections hadn't been as good as they were, it definitely would have earned a C. Or worse. I think.
This is why I don't like grading.
Friday, April 07, 2006
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1 comments:
I don't like grading either, but as a reader, I find a book review without some sort of a measuring stick useless.
For me, it's about placement when a book disappoints.. If it's in the beginning, the author gets some leeway with me because I'll assume the writer was just getting warmed up. If it's in the middle and you can save it for a redeemable ending, you could still rank highly with me. If it's a stellar book and then drops dead near the ending, then I'm going to be upset and less forgiving. Sometimes, really angry, leading to hatred of said book.
But, that's just me.
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