A review is the freedom of expression of a reader and/reviewer. I practice that in life.
As an author I simply evolve with reviews and feedback. Feedback helps me make my craft more presentable, helps me polish the nuances and helps me perfect the technicalities.
That is why I rely a lot on beta readers and feedback sessions.
This is the reason that enables me to weed out entrepreneurial statements in the form of feedback and reviews. The entrepreneurs play with the quandary and general statements like, “Your piece needs edits'', “Needs edit”, “There are misplaced articles and prepositions.” “The sentences are clunky.”, and also “I could not read a single page of your book as the file is not formatted properly and words have been breaking in the middle of lines, at page breaks.”, “I can format your file as the words have been breaking here and there.”
I do always ask from this “format” issue raisers to share a screenshot of the damaged file. They never revert. If they revert, they say, “Can’t share the screenshot.”
I laugh. If you are technically so efficient that you can format my files better than I do, then why can’t you share a screenshot of the damaged file?
The “edit” issue group is subtler. They never ask “I can edit.” Instead they put separate ads for their editing business. Besides, they never mention which article is missing and where the preposition is wrong. They always play with generality. Because, when your piece is a hundred thousand word plus document, then it will be cumbersome to hammer every loose piece in place. Thus, with respect to editing, infinity is the limit.
Artificial intelligence has not been as good as it has been since 2020. AI eliminates ninety per cent of proofing errors now. AI is now smart enough to resolve simple grammatical issues. But it still messes up a lot of complex phrases. Besides, language evolves like living beings. Grammar codifies the dominant usages. Often we forget that usage first, grammar later. The reason is that language is used by all, literature is pursuit of many, as creator and as consumer, but linguistics is not attractive to many. Nothing is attractive to all.
However, reviewers can speak of anything from grammar to structure to packaging and everything. A specific review is always more transparent than vague mentions of errors. Mention of errors never downgrades the rating (the stars). Ratings come as a result of wholesome reading experience.
Recently, I have reviewed a book with a lot of mention of its errors. While in the review I have mentioned only Developmental (Back story/world building) errors and Structural (Plot) errors I have ignored the unappealing writing and lack of proofreading. Since, I managed to finish the book even with all the lacunae I have gone for a five star. [I have read far worse books.] I have explicitly justified that even though I was not all praise about it, I find it more or less good writing and hence I was going with five stars.
The author reached out to me and asked me to change my rating to “One star.”
I have denied respectfully and mentioned that I have already justified my rating in the review. Putting my best foot forward, I suggested she should correct the proofing errors with a pointer like what error at which page. She came after me challenging my credentials as reviewer! She wrote, “You know nothing about the rating system.”
Condescension?
Seen that. Digested that. Life has taken me to strange places and to strange people.
I don’t get into rat fights [I don’t want to use cliched phrases “rate race” and “cat fight”, I am trying to create unique phrases with the same effect]. I avoid them. I don’t read to show the Goodreads community that I have been reading. Because, like everyone else, I have been reading since I have become literate. I have read classics during Moroccan leather binding with golden lettering days of books. [Oh! I’m ancient. Yes, I wasn't born yesterday.] I read to make myself happy. I don’t rate books. They are part of my experience. I have discussed them with friends at length.
The particular review I am bitching about was not in want of killing the readership of the book. While it has been honest with its mention of errors in the book, it never mentioned where the book has failed. [More about that in the next paragraph] Instead, the review highlights that even with the inconsistencies, the book is perfectly readable.
If I would have harm in mind then I would have written, “For a fiction of erotic romance genre, this book failled all from ‘Fanny Hills’ to ‘Fifty Shades - Sereis’. Even in ‘11 Minutes’, the 2003 novel by Paulo Coelho, the erotic culture of ‘Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadochism and Masochism’ were treated as passe and perversion. The success of ‘Fifty Shades - Sereis’ was in making the hither to unpopular erotic ways of BDSM maninstream and poplar at household levels. ‘Fanny Hills’ is remembered for its literary nuances where it never named the genitalia by common or scientific words. Instead, it used descriptive words to create perfect sense. This book is neither as arty as ‘Fanny Hills’. Nor is it as powerful as ‘Fifty Shades - Series’. Above all, unlike Mills & Boon, the intimate moments felt to create arousal.”
That is why I am not sharing the name of the book. Not sharing the screenshots of my messenger window.
If I would have put a one or two or three star rating with my review, then I would have been ridiculed to be of ‘vernacular’ culture, of feeble mind and bucolic vocabulary or clunky expressions. That’s what happens in general. Instead of understanding that the language is the vehicle of litterateur and tool of the author, one school always argued that the English should always be of Queen’s, with intermittent bumps in reading for totally unknown words. The other school preached, English should be en masse, ‘chalta hai, yaar’ type. Language of literature can be both and many things else (adverb sense) [I am aware of the phrase ‘anything else’. This is my blog so I’m playing a lot.]
Besides, most of the community moderators [online and offline] set the rules as if the moderators themselves are above the rules. As if the rules are for minions. That is why I prefer not to take prominent part in any community activities.
I reviewed the book as a fraternal gesture. Now, my freedom of expression has been attacked.
I am not worried. Just annoyed, hence sharing.
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Please comment. Share your views Let’s celebrate Freedom of Expression.
