Maintenance Monday
First, I apologize for last week's lack of Maintenance Monday, but sometimes the end of the month gets tricky in terms of all the posts I want to get out, and I didn't want to bombard you. :)
Second, LJ is having issues with its tagging systems, and most of my tags have disappeared. They say they're working on the issue, and by that I really hope they mean I'll get my tags back, because if I have to go back and re-tag 500+ reviews? I'm going to be an unhappy devil. At any rate, if you're trying to find a particular review, please click here to browse by author. Edit 11/8/10: tags are back in business! And I only had to fix one post! Woot! /edit
Last, let's talk about reviews and how your mind can change after rating something you've read.
Redacting Ratings
We've all had it happen: we read a book and walk away with a certain feeling, but as time passes, the feelings change. Some books get better, some books get worse. But what happens when you discover something that totally makes you want to change your review?
One of the blogs I follow on a semi-regular basis is The Book Smugglers, so when I saw their review for Ally Condie's Matched, I was excited (partially because I read and reviewed this BEFORE their review went live! I know, I know… that's stupid and shallow of me…). But I was pretty floored by Ana's and Thea's responses: Ana labeled the book as a DNF, while Thea managed to finish it, but gave a VERY low rating.
Now, their review is a good one. They bring up the prose, which isn't the best in the world and at times melodramatic, and they found the love story boring (me, I was excited because the triangle was done properly with two viable options for the heroine!). I can give them that.
But what floored me was the fact that they kept comparing Matched to Lois Lowry's The Giver, a young adult novel published back in 1993. It's a classic I've often seen but never read, and was never interested in reading, as it looked like the kind of book that would've been forced on me in school (honestly, I'm surprised it wasn't!), and the old man on the cover did nothing to inspire me. Imagine my surprise to learn not only is this book a soft SF dystopia, but also that the Book Smugglers felt that the best parts of Matched were came straight from Lois Lowry's classic!
How true is that, really? If you read through the comments of their review, you'll find that by and large, the people who loved Matched have never read The Giver, and those who hated it have. That's not true across the board, there are some who still liked Matched and who'd read The Giver and didn't feel Condie's book was straying close to plagiarism. Me, I can't make that judgment until I read The Giver, and you can bet I'm going to read it now.
This isn't the first time a YA novel has gotten a lot of hype and praise for its originality only to run smack into a brick wall of readers who've read something that was done before, done better, and makes the YA pale in comparison. Dreams and Speculation discussed this quite thoroughly in her post and comments here regarding how she felt when she learned that The Hunger Games wasn't the wonderfully original book she'd been led to believe, that a cult favorite called Battle Royale was out first and foremost.
It's a tough thing, seeing something that apparently rips off an earlier and potentially classic work. In some very rare cases, the creator honestly isn't aware it's been done before. Just read Robert Kirkman's (creator of The Walking Dead) response to the question of how he felt when 28 Days Later was released: it's the fifth question, not that they're numbered or anything.
In other cases, one really has to wonder if the author of the latter work (The Hunger Games, Matched) is aware of what came before. Regarding Battle Royale, my argument was and is, though it's a weaker argument with time, is that there's a good chance Collins wasn't aware of it (it's not called a cult favorite for nothing!), though at this point, she damn well should be, and should make some kind of statement discussing the similarities. That's what I'd do if I were the author!
With Ally Condie, I'm having a harder time swallowing she wasn't aware of The Giver, even though I haven't yet made the comparisons between the books yet. But Condie's writing YA dystopia: The Giver is classic YA dystopia. Maybe she's like Stephenie Meyer and simply doesn't read her genre (Meyer swears she's never read a vampire book ever), or maybe she has read it and thought that the love story in Matched would make it original enough to rise above the comparisons. Maybe she's been inspired by Lowry, and if one were to accuse her of, erm, unoriginality, she would be shocked and appalled.
I'm not accusing her of it, not yet. But I'm going to get my hands on The Giver, and I have a feeling that once I do read it, my original rating of "Worth the Cash" for Matched is going to drop to "Glad it was Free." I've already canceled my pre-order of the hardcover, because of the Book Smuggler's comparison alone. Maybe I'll read The Giver and decide those two reviewers are reading WAAAAY too much into things, but I'd rather have to buy Matched in the store than have it delivered as a pre-order and end up wishing I didn't have it at all.
I still say Matched is doing the love triangle properly, and I'm currently still interested in seeing where the series goes. That might change with time, but until then, I'll always, always, always love the cover!Book Club Selections
November: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
December: Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
January: VOTE NOW
SIGN-UP: Want to participate in the 2011 Book Club and get participation points for it? Click here.
Book Sale: In order to buy new books, I have to sell old ones. Help me out? :) Details are here.
Follow me on Facebook, and find me on Paperback Swap!
FAVOR!! When I review a book you've read and reviewed yourself, would you kindly provide a link to your review in the comments of mine? I love seeing what others think, and sometimes I see those reviews when they're originally posted, but don't read them as I don't want to spoil myself on something I know I'll read in the future. The problem, then, is I often forget to go back and read the reviews I missed! So please, if you've reviewed something I'm reviewing, shoot a link my way. :)
Giveaways & Challenges
@ Dreams & Speculation, sign up for a chance to win an audiobook the following: Blackout by Connie Willis, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and/or The Broken Kingdoms, both by N.K. Jemisin. For details, click here. Deadline: 11/19
Sign up for Dreams & Speculation's 2011 Book Club: The Women of SF! I've already signed up and will be participating every month. The Women of SF is a great theme with a LOT of variety, so if you're interested in the slightest, go check out the details here.
But if you're worried about reading TOO much SF in 2011, why not balance it out with Jawas Read, Too!'s The Women of Fantasy book club? Another great theme with lots of variety, and Jawa has posted the details here. I know I look forward to participating, and I hope you do too!
Got a giveaway or reading challenge you'd like to promote? Please comment.
Upcoming Reviews: Made to be Broken by Kelley Armstrong, Geist by Philippa Ballantine, The Boy from Ilysies by Pearl North
Currently Reading: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemison
2010 Reading Total: 94 out of 100 (even if I hit 100, I doubt I'll up the goal to 125, because that's starting to get crazy).
2010 Comics Total: 355 out of 365. #356 will be tonight! (clearly, I'm going to read MORE than 365 comics this year, but I'm going to keep up an issue per day the best I can after I meet my goal!)
Second, LJ is having issues with its tagging systems, and most of my tags have disappeared. They say they're working on the issue, and by that I really hope they mean I'll get my tags back, because if I have to go back and re-tag 500+ reviews? I'm going to be an unhappy devil. At any rate, if you're trying to find a particular review, please click here to browse by author. Edit 11/8/10: tags are back in business! And I only had to fix one post! Woot! /edit
Last, let's talk about reviews and how your mind can change after rating something you've read.
Redacting Ratings
We've all had it happen: we read a book and walk away with a certain feeling, but as time passes, the feelings change. Some books get better, some books get worse. But what happens when you discover something that totally makes you want to change your review?
One of the blogs I follow on a semi-regular basis is The Book Smugglers, so when I saw their review for Ally Condie's Matched, I was excited (partially because I read and reviewed this BEFORE their review went live! I know, I know… that's stupid and shallow of me…). But I was pretty floored by Ana's and Thea's responses: Ana labeled the book as a DNF, while Thea managed to finish it, but gave a VERY low rating.
Now, their review is a good one. They bring up the prose, which isn't the best in the world and at times melodramatic, and they found the love story boring (me, I was excited because the triangle was done properly with two viable options for the heroine!). I can give them that.
But what floored me was the fact that they kept comparing Matched to Lois Lowry's The Giver, a young adult novel published back in 1993. It's a classic I've often seen but never read, and was never interested in reading, as it looked like the kind of book that would've been forced on me in school (honestly, I'm surprised it wasn't!), and the old man on the cover did nothing to inspire me. Imagine my surprise to learn not only is this book a soft SF dystopia, but also that the Book Smugglers felt that the best parts of Matched were came straight from Lois Lowry's classic!
How true is that, really? If you read through the comments of their review, you'll find that by and large, the people who loved Matched have never read The Giver, and those who hated it have. That's not true across the board, there are some who still liked Matched and who'd read The Giver and didn't feel Condie's book was straying close to plagiarism. Me, I can't make that judgment until I read The Giver, and you can bet I'm going to read it now.
This isn't the first time a YA novel has gotten a lot of hype and praise for its originality only to run smack into a brick wall of readers who've read something that was done before, done better, and makes the YA pale in comparison. Dreams and Speculation discussed this quite thoroughly in her post and comments here regarding how she felt when she learned that The Hunger Games wasn't the wonderfully original book she'd been led to believe, that a cult favorite called Battle Royale was out first and foremost.
It's a tough thing, seeing something that apparently rips off an earlier and potentially classic work. In some very rare cases, the creator honestly isn't aware it's been done before. Just read Robert Kirkman's (creator of The Walking Dead) response to the question of how he felt when 28 Days Later was released: it's the fifth question, not that they're numbered or anything.
In other cases, one really has to wonder if the author of the latter work (The Hunger Games, Matched) is aware of what came before. Regarding Battle Royale, my argument was and is, though it's a weaker argument with time, is that there's a good chance Collins wasn't aware of it (it's not called a cult favorite for nothing!), though at this point, she damn well should be, and should make some kind of statement discussing the similarities. That's what I'd do if I were the author!
With Ally Condie, I'm having a harder time swallowing she wasn't aware of The Giver, even though I haven't yet made the comparisons between the books yet. But Condie's writing YA dystopia: The Giver is classic YA dystopia. Maybe she's like Stephenie Meyer and simply doesn't read her genre (Meyer swears she's never read a vampire book ever), or maybe she has read it and thought that the love story in Matched would make it original enough to rise above the comparisons. Maybe she's been inspired by Lowry, and if one were to accuse her of, erm, unoriginality, she would be shocked and appalled.
I'm not accusing her of it, not yet. But I'm going to get my hands on The Giver, and I have a feeling that once I do read it, my original rating of "Worth the Cash" for Matched is going to drop to "Glad it was Free." I've already canceled my pre-order of the hardcover, because of the Book Smuggler's comparison alone. Maybe I'll read The Giver and decide those two reviewers are reading WAAAAY too much into things, but I'd rather have to buy Matched in the store than have it delivered as a pre-order and end up wishing I didn't have it at all.
I still say Matched is doing the love triangle properly, and I'm currently still interested in seeing where the series goes. That might change with time, but until then, I'll always, always, always love the cover!Book Club Selections
November: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
December: Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
January: VOTE NOW
SIGN-UP: Want to participate in the 2011 Book Club and get participation points for it? Click here.
Book Sale: In order to buy new books, I have to sell old ones. Help me out? :) Details are here.
Follow me on Facebook, and find me on Paperback Swap!
FAVOR!! When I review a book you've read and reviewed yourself, would you kindly provide a link to your review in the comments of mine? I love seeing what others think, and sometimes I see those reviews when they're originally posted, but don't read them as I don't want to spoil myself on something I know I'll read in the future. The problem, then, is I often forget to go back and read the reviews I missed! So please, if you've reviewed something I'm reviewing, shoot a link my way. :)
Giveaways & Challenges
@ Dreams & Speculation, sign up for a chance to win an audiobook the following: Blackout by Connie Willis, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and/or The Broken Kingdoms, both by N.K. Jemisin. For details, click here. Deadline: 11/19
Sign up for Dreams & Speculation's 2011 Book Club: The Women of SF! I've already signed up and will be participating every month. The Women of SF is a great theme with a LOT of variety, so if you're interested in the slightest, go check out the details here.
But if you're worried about reading TOO much SF in 2011, why not balance it out with Jawas Read, Too!'s The Women of Fantasy book club? Another great theme with lots of variety, and Jawa has posted the details here. I know I look forward to participating, and I hope you do too!
Got a giveaway or reading challenge you'd like to promote? Please comment.
Upcoming Reviews: Made to be Broken by Kelley Armstrong, Geist by Philippa Ballantine, The Boy from Ilysies by Pearl North
Currently Reading: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemison
2010 Reading Total: 94 out of 100 (even if I hit 100, I doubt I'll up the goal to 125, because that's starting to get crazy).
2010 Comics Total: 355 out of 365. #356 will be tonight! (clearly, I'm going to read MORE than 365 comics this year, but I'm going to keep up an issue per day the best I can after I meet my goal!)