Reviews? not really?

[barney5]

Hi

Forgive me as I'm sure this has been discussed. I was here a while ago and just coming back.

I enjoy reading reviews and always come here to hear an opinion on a Blyton book I've just re-read. Having recently finished the entire Famous Five again and now embarking on Secret Seven.

However as a keen book reviewer, how come most of the so called reviews are just a rehash of the plot - even the cheek to say spoiler alert when that's mostly what they are! I want to read about trends, criticism, Blyton borrowing from other plots and other insights and characters. A real REVIEW. Some do this in part but a small part. The book covers and illustrations are great bit otherwise a big disappointment.

I'm sure the retort will be, well submit your own. I'd love to. I'm sure others would too. But the so called reviews are years old and so I could be assumed are classed as definitive?

Surely this site deserves better real reviews. Why not a plot summary area for those that need it and then a considered review? Appreciate this needs resource and admin and judgement to achieve but it would make this site so much more and hugely more enjoyable for fans and experts alike.

Appreciate other thoughts...

[Anita Bensoussane]

Yes, we've discussed that before. My own Adventure series write-ups are really just plot summaries (which is what I thought was wanted when the website was first set up), and others are in-depth analyses originally written for the Journal, rather than reviews as such. That's why we added "blurbs" for many of the main books - so that people could get a flavour of a book without reading the longer account and encountering spoilers.

As I've said before, I'd certainly be happy for my Adventure series write-ups to be replaced by reviews by someone else. No one has written any yet though!

[barney5]

Thanks Anita. I'm revisiting the Adventure series next so I'd be happy to offer a review of each. Though I always found River to be clunky and odd so we'll see what a re-read brings.

It would be clouded by Castle as one of my favourite Blyton books.

Trounced by Secret Island as the best - so I enjoyed your quote...

[pete9012S]

Hi
I was here a while ago and just coming back.

A warm welcome back to the site Barney. How long have you been away?
What user-name did you have then?

Regards

Pete

[Fiona1986]

The problem with reviews are that they are only indicative of one person's opinions, ie the reviewer. The ability to tie in insights from other works would depend on what that person has read. Or are you suggesting that the site should be hosting multiple reviews for each book? There are hundreds of reviews of Blyton books out there if you need variety.

(If you don't want a rehash of the plot don't visit my site - I do criticise, compare and so on, but I can't seem to do it without covering just about every event in a book...)

[barney5]

Hi Fiona

I agree. An opinion is good if it's well founded and backed up. Then it's open to debate. This site can never be an Amazon and after all that's what Amazon is for if you want to trawl lots of reviews; many mostly poor, I liked it / I didn't.

My point was let's have a well considered review rather than a plot summary. An overview of the plot is vital to any review but each part needs a critique or an intro on what it's about and then a critique.

Sorry covering every single plot / event - start of the hols / they went there / strange happenings / dodgy characters appear / mystery develops / mystery solved - is not a review and it's not what many want, particularly here. Read a book review online or in the papers and it's quite different.

OK a summary is good for those new or wanting to remember more but for the initiated we need a bit more surely? Isn't this what this great site is all about?

A review in this sense doesn't need covering every event; that's a spoiler / plot summary more than a review.

[Fiona1986]

The difference is most reviews in newspapers are by professional writers - the reviews here are by fans. The reviews here can't cater for everyone and it would be a mistake to think that everyone who uses this site is "initiated" and therefore not looking for a reminder of the contents. I frequently check the reviews here to make sure I didn't imagine a plot point or to check a character's name without having to trawl through a book.

I think you're being unnecessarily harsh on the various people who have taken the time to write about the books for this site, and your idea of what constitutes a review, or what you want from a review may not be the same for everyone.

Personally I can't stand reviews that critique etc without giving me a clue of what actually happened in the book, but maybe that's just me!

[Boatbuilder]

Personally, I don't bother with professional reviews, at least not before the event, whether it be for books, film or television dramas. After all, what is one man's meat is another man's poison. Just because 'Mr Professional' doesn't like something for whatever reason doesn't mean to say I won't, and vice versa. I just wish to have some idea of what the plot is and then decide for myself if I am likely to enjoy it or not.

[pete9012S]

The book covers and illustrations are great bit otherwise a big disappointment.

I like the reviews supplied by Rob, Anita, Julie, Lenoir etc etc etc.

I also enjoy the shorter, more concise reviews over on Keith's site too.
I will read expectantly other new reviews contributed by those as good, better or even indifferent to the ones we already have.

There will never be an online resource to equal The Cave Of Books - and for Tony's years of dedication and hard work provided free of charge to genuine enthusiasts that helps their research no end,I for one am eternally grateful.

A knowledgable poster named Sobres gave his honest fourpenny worth about aspects of this site many many years ago.
This site has thrived since and then and Sobres....

[Splodj]

What I think works particularly well is when there are two reviews setting out different opinions, as in the first 8 FFO books.

Ideally I would have liked the same 2 people review all 15 books in the series. For example, it appears strange that Imran reviews only 6 when it is clear from what he writes that he has read and ranked them all.

[Katharine]

Sorry covering every single plot ....... - is not a review and it's not what many want, particularly here. Read a book review online or in the papers and it's quite different.

OK a summary is good for those new or wanting to remember more but for the initiated we need a bit more surely? Isn't this what this great site is all about?

Interesting thoughts about the reviews on here and the purpose of this site

I love checking out The Cave here, although personally I don't look at the reviews very often, but if I do, it would be for the art work or like Fiona, wanted to double check something quickly. If I wanted a more in-depth opinion of the books, I would look on the forums to see if one had been discussed there.

It would be interesting to know how many people other than the regular fans who post on the forums read the reviews and base their reading choices upon them. As a massive fan of Enid Blyton's I wouldn't bother to check out a review before I read something by her that I'd hadn't read before, because I know that it's highly unlikely I won't enjoy the book.

If I was looking to read an unknown author, again, I wouldn't bother with reviews - I've seen books that have been highly praised and not enjoyed them at all myself, and if for example I took any notice of a 'professional' review, then I probably shouldn't be reading anything by Enid Blyton anyway.

[Anita Bensoussane]

What I think works particularly well is when there are two reviews setting out different opinions, as in the first 8 FFO books.

I like that too. It's always interesting to hear people's opinions on books, whether or not they match my own, and also the reasons that particular stories mean so much to individual readers. Comparisons between books are fascinating as well, and comments on things like historical detail, language and character development. I often explore that kind of thing in my Journal articles and some of these have been used as reviews in the Cave of Books, e.g. my Six Cousins and Barney analyses. I'm afraid I haven't always been careful about giving away plot details as I tended to assume that most people were already familiar with the books. That's not necessarily the case, of course, and in recent articles I've tried to examine the essence of a story without revealing all the twists and turns.

Ideally I would have liked the same 2 people review all 15 books in the series. For example, it appears strange that Imran reviews only 6 when it is clear from what he writes that he has read and ranked them all.

It would be great if contributors were able to review a whole series but that's not always possible as they may not have the time to read every book - or may not even have access to all the titles. Imran was a child when he wrote his reviews and I expect he gradually "grew out of" Enid Blyton and therefore didn't write any more. Still, it's possible that he'll "grow back into" Enid Blyton at a later stage - who knows?!

Thanks Anita. I'm revisiting the Adventure series next so I'd be happy to offer a review of each. Though I always found River to be clunky and odd so we'll see what a re-read brings.

Sounds good to me!

[Boatbuilder]

If I was looking to read an unknown author, again, I wouldn't bother with reviews - I've seen books that have been highly praised and not enjoyed them at all myself, and if for example I took any notice of a 'professional' review, then I probably shouldn't be reading anything by Enid Blyton anyway.

Which is more or less the same opinion as my own that I mentioned earlier, Katharine.

[Katharine]

Obviously great minds think alike.

[Catbury]

I just came here to open a similar topic; I also like reading other people's opinions. The summaries are great and well written but they are summaries so not really of interest for those people who know the books in and out. Maybe a solution would be to make two categories - summaries and reviews?

I have to disagree with Fiona; stating the difference between a summary and a review is not rude, both are valuable, it's just two different things. Of course a review reflects the writer's opinion; that's not a reason not to publish any reviews. I personally often read reviews after reading a book to find out what other people think; often I agree with them, often I don't.