Quote:
Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington
So you take no notice of the cover at all Eric, and you discount the synopsis and also the critiques of books that you choose? How do you choose your books then? I am not being 'fly'....I just would like to know what criteria you use to decide whether a book is worth spending your time on.
I appreciate that every reader will see a different aspect of the same book.
Some will pick up sub plots, others won't.
I don't always pay attention to what the critics write, but I do look at the cover and read what the book is about.
As for the relaxing the rules...I think there was a legal issue about age.(I am sure someone will tell me if I dreamed this...but I think it was in a post by Less)
Apparently the server is an American company and so American legal rules have to be applied with respect to the person's age.
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I do notice the cover of "Playboy" and "Hustler"
But seriously, or sort of seriously, what bugged me was the word "all", in bold, standing out as definative. And I didn't want to get deeply into linguistics and the act of reading; so, I made the comments I did. I didn't want to offend someone whose opinion I respect by climbing into my pedantic pulpit. But language, and the act of reading is something folks take for granted ... most of them anyway. Like breathing. It turns out that it is not that simple. If you read the synopsis, which is nothing more than a stranger's reading of the text, and the critical comments, your reading will be directed along a certain path. This is not necessarily the path you would have taken if you hadn't been coerced by the "authority" of the critic. In other words, you read the book they want you to read. In a sense, they usurp the author.
There is an excellent book on the subject. Terry Eagleton's "Literary Criticism." It's worth a read. And you will probably appreciate his humour. I do recommend it.
Oh, and you don't need to point out the irony of the previous paragraph
