The new religion...

I have wittered on at length in the past about book reviews. Specifically, poor reviews and how to survive them if you are the author of the book reviewed. But I discovered (unfortunately) another downside to poor, or shall we say, 1 star reviews. As I wandered Goodreads lonely as a cloud looking up some info for my research I came across a long book discussion on a popular book which I rather liked. The discussion ripped the book and its author to shreds. They approached it as a lesson in how not to write, with exposition on poor character development, telling not showing, etc... and folks, I felt nervous that I had liked the book. Was there something wrong with me? I mean, this level of vitriol surely must have some substance behind it. Was I too clueless to pick up on all these inherent failures? Did that make me a poor reader? Or worse, a poor writer, because I wasn't aware of these faults. I mean, I'd actually enjoyed reading this particular book. Looking at some of the issues raised, I disagree with some of the points made and the evidence for them. I don't see the examples given as particularly good ones of the crime the writer is accused of. With things like show not tell I am a firm believer of having elements of both. Showing all the time can become exhausting to read. I also think one person's poor character is another person's recognizable friend/self. The disturbing thing to me was my reaction. I felt bad I liked the book that had earned such a scathing review. I examined my own skills because of that review. I am still frequently amazed that people get so very angry about books and their content. Maybe it's like where people get highly agitated trying to defend or debunk a religion. And we feel defensive or kindred to that person in response. But I worried about my reaction. I don't want to be too afraid to pick up a book for fear of other people judging me badly on my choice.

And lovely writery friend and fellow blogger Maureen Crisp sent me a most interesting link with a terrific research project examining the number of male main protagonists (compared with female) and male vs. female authors of YA books (after the recent outcry over the perceived dominance of female authors in YA literature). The number of times I've been told we need more stories written specifically for boys, at which I've just nodded, is more than I care to mention. But hang on. The sex of the protagonist, or the genre of story have never stopped me reading something I thought looked interesting. Holy moly folks, I spent years reading war comics followed by years of romance novels. I've enjoyed male writers and male protagonists (Tolkien, Lewis, Dahl, Horowitz, Gaiman, Forster, Hemingway, Dickens, Conrad, Theroux, Hardy, Faulkes), a mix (Gaiman, Rowling, Le Guin, Susan Cooper, Holly Black, Hinton) and female writers of female protags (Alcott, Austen, Bronte, Wilder, LM Montgomery etc...). All I wanted was a good book. I've never been put off by the gender of the main character. After all I'm not allergic to the opposite sex. In fact I'm rather interested in them. Are boys not remotely curious about females? It hasn't stopped them reading the Hunger Games.  Let's not encourage boys to steer clear of reading books where the main protagonist is female. Because otherwise we run the risk of perpetuating a myth we're creating. Lets just help them find good books that they enjoy.