If you Google my name, most of the entries are book reviews I've written for the Montreal Review of Books (MRB).Although my requirements for a "good" book are fairly simple, I'm a hard reviewer to please. I want a good story, well told. I don't really care about genre or style, as long as it feels true and has a satisfactory ending.
The last book I reviewed was "Porny Stories" by Eva Moran. If you read the review, it's rather obvious that I didn't like the final result. Thing is, I had totally forgotten about it until I received a Facebook friend request from the writer herself a few weeks ago.
I was a little wary of accepting at first, worried that it might degrade into a snippy exchange. Not that I know anything about Eva Moran or her character. The doubt came from the fact that most people don't know how to reconcile a negative review.
I accepted the friend request.
Eva had commented on the negative review and her friends (rightfully) pitched in with comments about me not getting it and me being a prude. One even suggested that Eva look me up on Facebook and tell me how it is. They were supporting their friend and it was commendable, but I still felt compelled to leave a message on the thread. To defend my point of view, obviously, but also to underline my admiration for Eva Moran.
Because she did put a lot of work into this collection. I may not have liked the final result, but she is experimenting with a new style and that's a courageous thing to do.
She took the risk. It was published. She is a talented writer. And maybe I didn't get it, but others will. My opinion has no more/less weight that anyone else who's read the book. What's important is not what I think - but that it's being read and that it's eliciting a response.
So read it. Or not! Just keep reading and feeling and responding.
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6 comments:
Indifference is worse than not liking something at all. When you don't like something, at least you remember it.
I try to walk away from every book I read with something positive. And there were at least two stories that I still remember as being good.
OMG, I had forgotten about the MRB. My ex- is the original editor of it, before Ian. I wrote a review, for "Tell You All," and her editing style did not mesh with my writing style.
Fortunately, I thought the book was great.
Glad to inject a little nostalgia in your day :)
The other day, in response to a story I was telling about having received hate mail from a reader, my friend Jenn comforted me with the words "Writing is an act of courage."
She's right, in more ways that one. It takes courage to put yourself out there the way that Eva Moran did. It takes (maybe even greater?) courage to hear what other people have to say when you put yourself out there. And it takes courage to do it all over again.
It also takes courage to do what you did, Adriana: to walk, with an open heart, into a situation that promised to be uncomfortable at best.
I commend you both on your courage.
This whole experience has been an extremely positive one for many reasons. And your comments are part of that, thanks Sarah :)
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