This time, we are
going for one thousand words. I will then try one thousand five hundred words
next. Those last two sentences were just a hack. A cop out, if you will.
Because I am basically cheating on getting one thousand words out there. Like
how I am deliberately spelling out the number instead of the usual 1000. All to
get my numbers up. Sad.
An ambitious
magazine project is looking for people to write book reviews. They want the
reviews extended, and in depth, and up to one to two thousand words (did it
again). This is I trying to see what that looks like. And just how much would
need to be said to make up that number.
So far, my paragraphs
have been short. Is this what my paragraphs would look like were I to talk
about a book I have just read? In addition, do I really have the energy and
attention span to talk extensively about it? Do I have deep thoughts about
books I read? Must I have deep thoughts about them? Can I not just read a book
for the sheer pleasure of it? Enjoy said book, and move on to enjoy the next
one? Who reads reviews anyway? I mean, blurbs are okay. Short and to the point,
they do help to provide a glimpse into the book one is about to read. Of
course, this is all subject to the taste of the reader, and then writer of the
opinion. So, one does not have to agree with it nor take it into account unless
the person has proven right in the past. Highly subjective and what not.
Extended
discussions of a book, on the other hand, those are just bleh. First, there is
all that writing. I mean, this is my fourth paragraph, and I have only just hit
three hundred words. I really have to type seven hundred more? Ugh! So yeah, there
is that long-winded conundrum. And it just feels like so much work. To delve so
deep within yourself and then articulate so in-depth every feeling you had
while reading the book. I feel like it would be asking so much. It would be a
lot like a diary entry. Again, it takes so much fun out of the entire reading experience.
One would have to constantly pause to take notes of your thoughts and feelings
about particular passages. That way, you can accurately record it all as it
happens. You would probably have to remember lines, and then look up references
and what not.
In this next
paragraph, we discuss a problem I had not initially anticipated, but is
essential to this writing project that I am hoping to embark on. I abandoned
this…essay, if you will, for a few days. So now, we have the issue of trying to
recall my train of thought. With any writing – provided, of course, that you
actually have an idea of what you are doing (which I likely may not) - you need
to have a plan of where your writing will take you. Of course, you may change
course along the way, but a rough draft is supposed to be a staple. But I do
suck at this, and therefore I am now stuck. I have no recollection of where it
was I was going with this. The thought had occurred to me when I stopped
writing then, but I had (quite erroneously) assumed that reading through and
editing what I already had down would serve to jog my memory or at least
provide renewed inspiration. Alas, no dice. Up to six hundred words now. Just
under four hundred left to go.
Ah! I remember
where I was going two paragraphs ago. Rereading really does work! Anyway, let
me get to it before I forget again.
These long-winded,
in depth essays, which delve deep into the books, cannot get to that length
without retelling the story. At least, that is what I think. I have never read
any of the critiques, let alone written one. Maybe these analyses would work
with nonfiction or reference books. Especially since with those, you can never
have too much information or insight into the subject matter. However, should
this be done to a novel, that is just one plus pages of spoilers. I enjoyed a
few years of English Literature in high school so I remember the books on the
books. Book reports were expected every term and they all required proving you
really read the book from cover to cover. All this translates to is that a book
review more than… honestly - two hundred words long is a travesty. Whom on
earth wants to know what will happen in a book they want to read? Moreover, let
us not forget the bias a review introduces. If you should choose to go ahead
and read a book you already know all about, you will be going in with a biased
mind. A book is best read with a pure mind. That way all the feelings and
opinions are wholly yours. You are not blinded by bias to scenes or intended
themes. All interpretations are fully your own.
This is all
personal opinion. All of this is just my approach to books. I go in with a
clear mind and let the writing lead me. I am guessing other people prefer to be
led. They need an opinion basis upon which to build their own. Many do not see
spoilers as ruining it for them. I guess these extensive book reviews are for
them. Then of course, there are those – of which I am a part, who do not mind
reading another’s analysis of the book AFTER they have read it. To have someone
properly articulate the feelings they have about the book and/or supply
alternative interpretations of the book. That is the only read I would
personally read a long review.
Anyway, I have achieved
one thousand words. *mic drop*
