Guest Blogger: John Ottinger III

Reviewing Those “Tough” Books

By John Ottinger III

Bio: John Ottinger III’s reviews, interviews and articles have appeared in Publishers Weekly, Black Gate, Strange Horizons, Fantasy Magazine, SF Signal, Sacramento Book Review, Thaumatrope, and at Tor.com.

So for some strange reason, Pete thought I might make a good guest blogger for this blog. (I have no idea why he would think that.) Being horrible at coming up with worthwhile topics without a prompt, I asked Pete what he would like me to comment on. His response was one I get fairly often e.g. How do I deal with my own bias in reviewing a book I love/hate?

The short answer is: I don’t normally have to.

Long answer: The truth is, there rarely is a book I absolutely love or a book I absolutely hate. Strong emotion is not something I have much of in my life. I was raised a stoic and a pragmatist, and I approach my reading the same way. I love to be entertained by a book, but there are very few that leave me gushing over it. (By inference, you know that if you ever read a review in which I gush, run out and buy it, quick!)

And the same holds true for the opposite end of the spectrum. Just like I don’t salivate over most books, I also don’t generally despise them either. It takes quite a lot to get me to truly hate a book. Lazy plotting, egregious and frequent grammatical or spelling mistakes, or bland characters might turn me against a book. I have also, on occasion, but a book down because it was just not the right time. For instance, I was reading Michael Flynn’s Up Jim River once upon a time. I didn’t know at the time it was part of a series, so I had a little trouble getting into the novel. Once I knew it was part of a series, I set it aside until I can read the prequels. Additionally, I kept finding that the only time I had to read this book was late in the evening when I was very tired, and anyone who has read Flynn knows that one’s full attention is required because it is just so chock full of intelligent writing. So I put it aside and turned to something easier for a time. (I still have yet to finish that Flynn book, but I will, someday.)

But basically, I approach my reviewing with the idea that I will be entertained, that there will be some things I like and don’t like about the book, and that my goal in writing a review should be to point these out, give supporting reasons for my claims, and perhaps point out how others might like the very things I don’t or vice versa. Reading is an experiential art, and reviewing such as I do should reflect that. (Critical essays are another thing entirely, of course.)

Do I ever toss a book; leave it unfinished due to being really horrible? Rarely, and if I do, you won’t even know about it. I won’t write a review or likely mention I even read it. Because I have learned and important lesson of reviewing – time, place, and past experience all factor into the enjoyment of a book. I am a human being (though my wife sometimes disagrees) and therefore I experience the world subjectively. While I try to be objective in my reviews, the truth is that I cannot fully compartmentalize, and if I had a long day at work, trouble in my personal life, or am simply tired of reading the same old subgenre of SF, it is better I put the book aside for a time and come back to it at a more appropriate time. I have an epic fantasy right now that I started, didn’t like, but that I think I would like if I hadn’t just read five epic fantasies in a row. It’s time to take a break and read some steampunk and some space opera, and then return to the book so I can give it the fair shake it deserves in light of its unique qualities. Sure, I may still find things I don’t like, but at least I can more accurately say it was because I did my best to be objective, and not let my personal life or reader’s fatigue cloud my judgment.

I think that is what reviewers need to do whenever they read a novel they “don’t like”. You need to examine yourself carefully, your assumptions, prejudgments, personal life and possible reader’s fatigue. Are you making snap judgments because your boss yelled at you at work today? Did the baby keep you up all night so you were tired when you read the end of the novel? Were you just sick of the same old story elements time after time, and so judged a book not on its own merits but because you had bored yourself with over-reading of a particular subgenre? No matter how objective we try to be, we cannot ever do it fully.

So how do I deal with the “tougher” aspects of reviewing? I look to myself to see if these reason this book is tough to finish or review has more to do with me than it does with the book. Because honestly, publishers want books that sell, and while they may put repetitious content out, they are certainly not going to put out some book that is truly crap (except in rare cases.) If you, as a reviewer, cannot find both the good and the bad in a novel, then isn’t more likely to be your fault than the fault of the author?

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Here at Speculative Book Review, we are interested in having, and actively encourage, guest bloggers to stop in from time to time. Grasping for the Wind is a great place to catch up on more than just books and a site I regularly follow. If you enjoy books, games, movies, comics, art and anything else that might be related to sci-fi or fantasy fiction, then you will certainly find something there to enjoy. Needless to say, John's book reviews alone are worth checking into.