Yesterday I reviewed The Tide of
Unmaking. While writing that review, I struggled to both give an
even-handed opinion on the book and keep my critique in check.
(While The Tide of Unmaking
had many, many good points, and had a good rating from me, I'm able
to articulate critique much better than praise.) I actually cut
three or four paragraphs that imbalanced the review by focusing too
much on the negatives. And while writing that review, I kept
thinking, “How fair is this to a hard-working Christian author?”
These
thoughts aren't new. I thought them, in a different way, while
reviewing a book called Behemoth
for BookSneeze. I wrote a 2.5 star review, which I posted both to
Amazon and my blog. What made it worse is that I had gotten the book
for free, and I felt obligated to help out the author in some way.
The review, however, was one of the most negative I had written. My
opinion was, in summary, that it was a creationist tract that was
dressed up like a novel. I know of several people that decided
against buying the novel as a result of my review.
Another
example would be a book (which I'll leave nameless) that I reviewed
for a fellow young Christian writer. It was a negative review, and I
felt bad that I couldn't give it a better rating, but there were
elements in the book that I simply couldn't tolerate.
After
each of these instances, I found myself thinking, “How far is too
far?”
How
far will you go to write a critical review of a Christian book? Or,
as I said earlier, how would you feel if a fellow believer gave your
hard work – Christian
work, at that – a negative review?
It's a
hard question, and there's no easy answers. Most of the reviews I
write are of Christian books. Each of those authors had a dream to
get their baby, their novel, published for the world to see. Those
authors are supported financially by their work, have invested years
of sweat and blood into their work. They've sought to glorify God how
best they can. Can I justify giving them a bad rating?
Some
people would probably say no. And there are people who do that –
who, out of respect for the author, keep to the maxim, “If you
don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.”
Still,
if I followed this principle in my reviews, I feel that I would be
dishonest.
So
what's the balance?
I
think it's different for different people. Some of us may be feel
led to not speak; some of us may feel duty-bound to let loose their
opinion, negative or no.
Here's
what I do. In every review, especially if they're negative, I keep
three rules in mind.
1)
Always balance the
negative with the positive.
Writing
an entirely negative review is just as offensive to me as it is to
the author receiving the review. It shows lack of taste and decency.
Balancing the negative with the positive “sweetens the pill” and
also makes a review even-handed. Pointing out only positives or only
negatives is simply dishonest. There are good elements to almost
every novel. (I'm not in the business of reading novels that have no
good elements, so I don't have to worry about finding elements to
compliment.)
2)
Keep a respectful tone of voice.
Reviews
that have biting sarcasm and a mocking tone of voice never go down
well. When a person uses words like “trash” and “stupid” and
“junk” to describe a book, they're neglecting the fact that they
are called to speak the truth – in love. And even if a person uses
nice words, if they're being sardonic, their nice words are
worthless.
I've
read far too many reviews like this. There's a difference between
critique and “bashing”. (Bashing is reserved for Twilight, so
goes the joke.)
Instead,
I use turns of phrase that are softer and less offensive to
communicate what I mean.
3)
Tell the truth.
As
much as I want to support Christian authors, I don't support
sugarcoating my thoughts. I am charged to use my words well: but
while speaking in love I must not neglect the fact that I am supposed
to be speaking truth.
If
the writer needs to work on their prose, then that's what I'm going
to say. If the author had his or her characters saying cheesy things
throughout the book, then I'm need to let the potential reader know.
Honesty is the best attribute for a reviewer to have.
What
about you? What are your thoughts about writing negative reviews,
especially if the negative review is of a Christian book? Have you
ever written any negative reviews? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
If the authors hear or read your criticism, I think you should put some encouragement for that author after your criticism. Authors learn from criticism. They learn to change some things in the future because of bad reviews. I reviewed a book that had some flaws, but I managed to find some great things that I liked about it to put into the review also. It depends on the book, I think. If you really can't find anything good in the book, just a lot of bad, I do think it deserves a bad review - but with encouragement to the author at the end to put balm on a wound the review might reveal or create. When I say encouragement, I mean something like, "But this doesn't mean that all the books by so and so are bad. This new author may get better with time." or something like that.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?
I find it very hard to review books at all, especially books I don't like. Books I do like, I just rant about, and books I don't....well, I just rant about. I find that I just stink at actually writing a solid review, so I usually shy away from them unless it's required for school or something. In which case, I usually do a book I don't care too much about either way.
ReplyDeleteBut maybe I'll try my hand at it again, with these tips....who knows? :-)
I very much agree. I have had this question, too, but lately I've been too lazy to think it out and have just decided not to write negative reviews right now. Now that I've read this I can't hide behind the excuse that I haven't thought about it... But I am very glad that you addressed it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that a balanced, respectful review is reserved only for Christian authors. Any author has poured some amount of effort into his book whether or not he's Christian. They must think it is worth something or they wouldn't go through the trouble of publishing it... right? (If not then shame on them.) I think that it depends less on whether the author is Christian and more on whether the reviewer is Christian (and if they are asking the question then they are assumably Christian). We act as Christians toward other believers, and we act as Christians toward unbelievers as well.
I have written two official negative reviews in the past. One of them I regret because it definitely falls under the "bashing" category. The other I would stand proudly beside even in the face of a thousand people who really loved the book, because there was no bashing involved, just thoughts that I haven't changed my mind about.
It always helps me with balance when I keep in mind that friends of mine that will be reading the review liked the book that I want to write about. If I come across as a jerk who hated the book and can't find anything nice to say, then even if the author doesn't read the review and feel like curling up to die, my friends who enjoyed the book will feel crummy. I know I tend to take things personally when someone doesn't like what I like, so other people might have that problem, too. So I try to be nice or at the very least intelligent and respectful. Doesn't always happen, but I'm learning and growing.
And one last thought... don't review the book if you didn't read it all the way through. Coming from experience. I stop reading any book that I feel is a waste of time, but I learned the hard way that you shouldn't go and write negative reviews of something if you haven't suffered through the whole thing. Maybe I'm the only one who does that, though. ;-)
Anyway, good thoughts, good post. Keep 'em coming.