The Good, The Bad and The Unread: Batter Up!

You can throw a book against a wall. You can burn a book. You can put a book in the trash. You can tear a book.

But can you bash a book? Click the saint if you wanna...
::since I live to amuse tara marie::

Main Entry: 1bash
Pronunciation: 'bash
Function: verb
Etymology: origin unknown transitive senses
1 : to strike violently : HIT; also : to injure or damage by striking : SMASH -- often used with in
2 : to attack physically or verbally

On Alison Kent's blog there is a continued DISCUSSION on book discussion's.
Terri comments

Hey, look - a lot of ‘bashing’ is presented in the name of ‘honest criticism’. I suppose thats supposed to make the bashing bulletproof, but I don’t buy it.

I am not sure if she means the book or the author but when I got to thinking about it. You really can't verbally attack a book. Can you? I mean you can say you hated it, that it blow big ol money chunks and you wish it had never been printed. You can say you hated it so much you tore the pages out and shreaded them.

But uh, a book is just that. A book. And don't get me wrong I adore books muchly. They are not alive. You can of course 'bash' a writer but again, if you are speaking of their 'work' that isn't bashing. Is it? I think of bashing an author as a personal insult against their person not their work.

Is that wrong? And how can you judge 'honest criticism'? We can't crawl into another person head. So if they say I thought _____. Who gets to make the decision if they are being honest or not?

Did someone pass out super skert decoder rings and forget to give me mine?

3 Comments:

This kind of goes back to the old "cult of nice" thing where you aren't allowed to make negative comments about anything. And, yes, there are people who will see honest criticism as bashing because it doesn't say nice things about the book/author, while others yell, "Bring it on, baby!" Your mileage may very.

Now, a situation where someone has a blog that regularly takes swipes at a publisher/author, that person appears on a fan board devoted to said publisher/author and immediately starts a negative topic, my first instinct is to call "troll", not say they're bashing. There is a decided difference.

And I think you can bash a book -- a couple of years back, a friend on Live Journal was handed a steaming turd of a book call "Night Travels of the Elven Vampire" published by Publish America (that bastion of literary greatness) and proceeded to take it apart. The review has become somewhat legendary:

http://crevette.livejournal.com/113659.html

I would strongly advise not drinking liquids while reading this as it may prove hazardous to your keyboard and monitor.

By Anonymous, at 4/09/2006 12:13:00 AM
Now, a situation where someone has a blog that regularly takes swipes at a publisher/author, that person appears on a fan board devoted to said publisher/author and immediately starts a negative topic, my first instinct is to call "troll", not say they're bashing. There is a decided difference.

Oh completely agree here. That would be a troll, troll and a troll.

But no the blogger in question is Where's my hero and wasn't the one to start the thread. She just posted to it and was 'outted' by the fangirlie. Which really it was 'outted' a while back on her blog.

And she was a member on the MB before the blog was created. So that isn't a troll in my eyes. But will check out the link ;)

By sybil, at 4/09/2006 12:20:00 AM
Ah, if we are going to use dictionary definitions, then in fact we can "bash" a book...

2 : to attack physically or verbally

Now, I have thrown more than one crumby book against a wall, and kicked it as I went past for good measure. I think that qualifies as "to attack physically."

And, one book comes to mind that I've "bashed" verbally, but it shall remain nameless, as stood alone in my "bashing" I must assume it was just me who hated it.

Hey, look - a lot of ‘bashing’ is presented in the name of ‘honest criticism’. I suppose thats supposed to make the bashing bulletproof, but I don’t buy it.

I have issues with this, can we reverse the logic... If I offer 'honest criticism' of a book does that mean I'm 'bashing'. I don't think so.

And I agree, there is a world of difference between a troll and a basher.

By Tara Marie, at 4/09/2006 05:24:00 AM


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