HYDERABAD : “As for literary criticism in general: I have long felt that any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel or a play or a poem is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armour and attacked a hot fudge sundae or a banana split.”
– Kurt Vonnegut, Palm Sunday
We live in an age of reviews. Be it an automatic iron press, mixer juicer grinder or a book, everything needs a review. Praise or censure are then individual experience but with a collective message. But in the case of the written word whether in the form of prose, verse or play, the review has a bigger responsibility; to be brutally honest and objective.
Review laced with goodness might drift a reader from the real viewpoint of the book. Sadly, we are living in times when writing is more of a business and book sales, sometime though not always is what decides the popularity of a book. But for a good reviewer, the sanctity of the review shouldn’t be compromised under any circumstances. Remember, one can laud a book to stratosphere but it will eventually have to find its own grounding. Any book of any literary merit ultimately stands the test of time on its own value. Having said that, here are some confessions I am making as a reviewer:
Scream a big NO to multi-tasking
As much as research has proven that women are good at it, I loathe the idea of doing even two things at a time. Reviewing a book comes with utmost focus and requires a certain sense of dedication. A book needs focussed attention to be dissected, be it pulp or literary. I can still remember a dear friend who stated that it was the reviews on the movie Citizen Kane that had drawn him to Orson Welles’ work. He had read them so carefully that he almost felt a personal connection with the reviewers – a circle of sorts, I suppose.
Indulging is a good trait
This is not a method but it’s more like an orientation. To sound more household, like marinating. I choose to pick the book and let the book create its own small world within me. So much so that I will be able to recognise the voice of the poet even in a crowd. Though it’s the superpower of a good writer to chisel and find a true voice, it is equally critical of a good reviewer to be able to understand that voice. Reading and rereading over several cups of chai creates questions that become patches of restlessness which result in analysing the poems with depth and care. When I get a book, I apply Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Namak Halal’ rule. I walk the book; I talk the book and I laugh the book.
At times, it’s a tightrope walk
Being honest is fine but too much honesty can be dangerous. When Paul Theraux reviewed Naipaul’s life in his own biography of the Nobel laureate, he bared facets of Naipaul’s professional and personal life. It opened a pandora’s box and it started a literary animosity that saw Naipaul not talking to Paul, whom he mentored for many years. So, should diplomacy must be the business as usual when reviewing? Not necessarily. But dissecting someone’s work should have certain amount of empathy to understand the writer’s position and context of writing.
But how to review a work of someone who say is very close to you? Say family members, lovers, exes or even colleagues. Criticism here can open old fissures or rekindle new alliances. Subjectivity here can mean judging the person favourably or harshly depending on the present equation. A simple rule I use here is to do a tightrope walk and focus only on the material and nothing beyond that. Praise isn’t too flattering, and censure isn’t too attacking. It’s never easy to be objective in situations like this but then there is no personal vendetta or overbearing but clarity of the objective that helps.
The sacred art
In my job as a content writer I am forced to use the word ‘Free’ because it holds the attention of the browser. That golden rule holds good to me in my personal life as well. The best part is when friends who know I review, send signed complementary copies of their books and it lands in my palms after a gruelling day at work. In those moments, it feels like a privilege. Any book is a labour of love (or sometimes Instagram fame) and to do the right justice to the reader is the onus that is tied with the reviewer.
So, you have just finished reading a review that blows your blistering barnacles. You have never heard of this writer and there you are stalled knowing that you have been wanting to read something similar for a long time. What will you do? In all probabilities, you will go and place an order for the book and wait for the delivery person to bring your little escape. Thanks to the reviewer.
(Poornima Laxmeshwar resides in Bengaluru and works as a content writer.
Her poems have been published in national and international journals. Her full-length
poetry collection ‘Strings Attached’ was recently published by Red River.)