An optimal medium for book reviews

The other day I read a very well-written review, by Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise, of Wicker (also called Cast of Shadows) by Kevin Guilfoile. The plot sounds horrific, as Kerrie describes it: "When his teenage daughter is raped and murdered, Davis uses the semen left in her body as the genetic basis of a cloned baby. He hopes that when the baby grows up he will somehow be able to use him to identify his daughter's murderer.
The people who do this work are being targetted by an organisation called the Hand of God, that employs a killer to see that high profile pro-cloners and scientists are killed. Although these pressures, together with the death of his daughter, lead to Moore retiring from active practice, he follows the growth of Justin, the baby cloned from the rapists' semen, with interest, and attempts to track the rapist down."

Although I've read about this book before, I wasn't then inclined to read it: yet Kerrie's review intrigued me, as she highlights some of the scientific and ethical questions arising from the previous paragraph (there are quite a few, obviously!) and concludes, "I didn't "see" the ending of this novel coming. There are things revealed in the final 50 pages that you won't predict, so if you find it a bit of a long read like I did, hang in there!" So yes, maybe I'll overcome my sense of squeamishness and go for it.

But the book didn't let Kerrie go, and yesterday she posted further thoughts about it, explaining that the book is essentially in two parts: one about DNA cloning and the ethical issues; and the second about a virtual 3D world called Shadowland, in which people are represented by avatars in a manner similar to Second Life. Kerrie describes some of the scientific, medical and "virtual world ethics" addressed in Wicker, as well as linking to some media articles about rape, prisons and child abuse in virtual reality.

This post decided me: I'm definitely going to read the book. But I wasn't the only person impressed by Kerrie's thoughts. In the comments, one Kevin Guilfoile writes: "just wanted to thank you for the thoughtful reading you gave to WICKER (Cast of Shadows). And thanks too for those Second Life links. I'm not really a gamer myself, but it is fascinating to watch expressions of violence find their way inevitably into a virtual world and more fascinating to watch the community try to come to grips with it.".....

Doesn't this story show blogging at its best? First, a review of a book that makes the reader want to buy it. Then, the reviewer has thought more about the book, and can write a follow-up post, as well as linking to topical, related issues. And, the author lets us know his take. Perfect.

 

Comments

[Mack]

Your last paragraph is an excellent summary of why blogs have become my primary source of information about books - and I'm a librarian. Rather than being static, a blog post has the remarkable capability of providing a fluid environment within which to discuss a work. The possibilities of establishing new connections continues to amaze me. There is always the possibility that comments can take over from the original post but comments often lead me to other areas that I might not have happened upon myself.

Your blog has led me to Mysteries in Paradise and ultimately to Guilfoile's book. And the fact that Guilfoile can (and did) respond to the review is pretty cool.

[Kerrie Smith]

I was thrilled that Kevin even found my blog Maxine, but I guess he has a Google search looking out for his name. I didn't give WICKER my highest rating, but when I was handing the book over to the next reader, and then also when I was talking about it to the person who lent it to me, I realised how much it had made me think. It also led me to blogging about Second Life and education on my work blog too. http://blogs.educationau.edu.au/ksmith
Many thanks for your good words about my review.

[Martin Edwards]

From a writer's point of view, thoughtful (preferably not excessively negative, of course!) comment about one's books is very helpful, for several reasons. The interactive nature of blogging lends an immediacy to the dialogue which is very attractive. I certainly find that it's useful to reflect on the views of people who are sympathetic towards what one is trying to do, even if they have one or two reservations. It's a good way of learning, and thinking hard about how to approach the current work in progress. It's also (if kindly done) valuable as a motivational tool, something many writers need. I vividly remember the first review - of my second book - by someone who 'got' what I was trying to achieve, which was slightly more than to tell a breezy tale. She was Frances Fyfield, herself a writer of distinction, and though we'd never met, it was exciting to find a reviewer who had actually taken the trouble to understand what a much less well known writer was aiming to do with his book. But that was a magazine review. Blog comments and reviews are much more 'here and now' and that quality has a unique value.

[Maxine]

They were a very good couple of posts, Kerrie, and wasn't it lovely that KG commented! Wow.

Thanks for your comment, Martin. I had that experience a couple of times, in the form of an email and a personal meeting, respectively, from two authors who told me they appreciated my reviews and that I had "got" their books. I was dead chuffed, especially the author who told me that my review of his book was in a frame on his wall! (He was joking, I assume).
The immediacy and interactiveness of blogging and the internet, combined with search, does allow great conversation about books among readers and the author, and it is good to see that more "conventional" publications are opening up their websites to online comments on their material.

Mack, yes, I've found so many excellent books since starting blogging and reading blogs by others. The richness of European crime fiction in particular, has been a revelation to me in the past couple of years.

Martin, I agree that Frances Fyfield is a very good author and an insightful person. I've enjoyed a good number of her books. She was one of the three people discussing crime fiction at a recent Italian meeting (for the launch of Crimini, a short-story collection published by Bitter Lemon press), and I was very impressed by her articulateness as well as her empathy with what this particular genre (modern Italian "crime fiction" writing and how it emerged) is achieving.

[Susan Balée]

Good book review blogs -- like this one, and like Kerrie's -- definitely do add a dimension to the dialogue about literature that can't be replicated any other way (not even a book discussion group, because you wouldn't have the entire wired world able to join it). I don't think blogs should or will replace traditional book reviews, but they complement them. The more reviews, observations, discussions, the better!