I hate posting negative reviews because this is a subjective business. However, when you receive books for reviews, you are obligated to post a review and I've procrastinated for months. So let's just say that I really wanted to enjoy STILL HERE by Lara Vapnyar. I happen to enjoy a wide variety of immigrant stories. I was also expecting something funny from the flap copy. One of the characters, Sergey, is making an app to preserve your online presence after your death. It's a good premise and I was expecting some commentary on our virtual selves, what we present to the world, and what happens after we die. Will my blog remain in perpetuity? Will Facebook keep sending memories? Does it even matter? However, the novel focuses more on the relationships between the four Russian characters trying to make it in New York. And I would gladly have followed these characters around if I liked them, but I did not connect to them, nor cared about their future. I couldn't finish this book. I do thank Blogging for Books for a review copy and I'm cross-posting this to Amazon.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Not Reading
I hate posting negative reviews because this is a subjective business. However, when you receive books for reviews, you are obligated to post a review and I've procrastinated for months. So let's just say that I really wanted to enjoy STILL HERE by Lara Vapnyar. I happen to enjoy a wide variety of immigrant stories. I was also expecting something funny from the flap copy. One of the characters, Sergey, is making an app to preserve your online presence after your death. It's a good premise and I was expecting some commentary on our virtual selves, what we present to the world, and what happens after we die. Will my blog remain in perpetuity? Will Facebook keep sending memories? Does it even matter? However, the novel focuses more on the relationships between the four Russian characters trying to make it in New York. And I would gladly have followed these characters around if I liked them, but I did not connect to them, nor cared about their future. I couldn't finish this book. I do thank Blogging for Books for a review copy and I'm cross-posting this to Amazon.
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2 comments:
Thank you for your honesty, Vijaya. Sometimes a book (or a movie, or a CD, or a painting) is just. like. that. :(
i.e. not for you.
I don't review books I don't connect with, unless they are patently horrendously depraved and posses the capacity for serious damage to the consumer/reader. But it is fine to do otherwise and post a review no matter how it struck you. This is what it's about: your personal sensibilities about the product and about reviewing.
Mirka, thanks. I agree that a review reflects more upon the reviewer than the writer of the book.
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