Today over on SF Signal I review the novella Jack in the Green by Charles de Lint.
I do not give it a favorable review, noting briefly some of the significant problems I came across in my reading.
As negative reviews are something you very rarely see from me, it may be of particular interest to you.
I felt comfortable in pointing out what I felt were poor choices with the structure and content of the story in part because the novella bothered me enough that it felt important to detail why and also because I am a big fan of Charles de Lint’s work and I know he is capable of so much more than what this has to offer.
I do hope you will read the review, click here to be whisked to it on SF Signal. And have a wonderful weekend everyone.
this may be a first! I don’t remember you ever giving a “bad” review! Maybe a “not over the top” but never “bad”… hard thing to do when looking at the wonderful are of deLint! But you are always honest and thats a good thing!
wonderful ART… geez one day I will learn to proof read…maybe..nah probably not!
Thanks Pat! I’m not big on giving negative reviews most of the time, and I generally don’t need to as, other than short fiction, I quit reading if I don’t like a story. I do tend to do more low-star reviews for short fiction when I review magazines over on SF Signal, but not usually anything this detailed.
Yes, the art…the book itself…is quite lovely. Which makes the bitterness of my disappointment with the story even more acute.
Honesty is the best policy, as always. There’s a place for honest, if disapproving, reviews, I do them from time to time also. I picked this one up and was very disappointed. The cover art is the best thing. As I said in my comment over there, I’ve already posted it on BookSwap (and it’s on someone’s Want List so I’ll be sending it off Monday or Tuesday. Maybe that person will like it better than I – or you – did.
I agree, Richard. I don’t feel I’ve ever been dishonest in a review, but I have simply chosen to not review items in the past if I felt negative or indifferent about them if I felt that I did not have anything worthwhile to add to the dialogue. In this instance (not my first time criticizing de Lint, who again, is a favorite) I felt like it was worth discussing.
I hate tht feeling when you pick up a book by a favourite author and it turns into a disappointing experience. But De Lint has a lot of books/short stories out there. It’d be more surprising, in a way, if you loved everything by him.
If I finish a book I like to review it. Sometimes I didn’t like it, and I usually say that I didn’t like it, but I don’t like the gleeful “this is really really stupid and you are stupid for liking it” style of review. I may be guilty of it once in a while, but for the most part I’m only saying what my impressions and thoughts about a book are, other people can read the same words and think entirely different things.
Carl, I don’t believe it! Literally I don’t think I’ve ever seen you give a negative review – I will go and read this now. I”ve only read the Blue Girl by CdeLint and really enjoyed it – I really should read more of his but they’re all imports – they don’t seem to be sold in the shops over here – so quite expensive. I suppose there’s always Amazon!
Lynn 😀
It isn’t something I particularly enjoy doing, Lynn. But sometimes it needs to be done.
I love Charles de Lint’s work, overall. He has written some of the most compelling, insightful stories I’ve ever read. But this book, and The Mystery of Grace (which I also reviewed negatively here) were disappointments to me.
The negative reviews are the really tough ones to write aren’t they. It’s so much nicer when you love the book and can write it whilst still glowing with that ‘great book’ feel. I do always really appreciate such frank reviews for that very reason.
Lynn 😀
I love writing reviews when that “great book” aura is still there. Such a pleasurable experience.
I think the problem I have with negative reviews is that it is so easy to complain in the first place. I only feel like it is worthwhile if I can really say something valuable about what didn’t work for me.
I was surprised to see a negative review from you of a de Lint novel! How disappointing, especially with such a lovely cover and an interesting-sounding premise. From your review, it sounds like the themes didn’t live up to either.
It was a book that emphasized the wrong messages, in my opinion.
I have to admit, I was surprised myself that I did have such a negative reaction to it.