Particularly, the novel does not seem to have anything wrong, but it is the reader’s task to give his/her own opinion. So I would recommend it because it can be fun for adults and catching for teenagers.
Apr 25, 2014
Text discussion 1
This is the conclusion taken from a review of a science-fiction book. Read it carefully. Do you find anything to question or correct?
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When writing a conclusion in a review the writer should express if he/she recommends the book or not, and he/she should also synthesize what has been written in the previous paragraphs. In this case, the writer recommended the film but he/she didn't include a synthesize.
ReplyDelete*synthesis
DeleteFrom my point of view, if you are going to give a positive recommendation on a book, it is not advisable to include phrases with a negative connotation such as "...the novel does not seem to have anything wrong, but..."
ReplyDeleteApart from that, the reader will always give his/her own opinion which doesn't mean the book is fun or catching. Perhaps the person who made the review meant that the "novel"? had an open ending.
I agree with you Charo. Definitely phrases like "the novel does not seem to have anything wrong, but..." are not the most recommendable ones when recommending something, haha.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, what called my attention the most is that "so" that is supposed to be functioning as an extra-sentence connector, but is not connecting anything at all. I don't get it much. Besides, I think that if you're writing a review, you're assuming your role as a reviewer. In that case is not the reader's task to give his or her opinion, his or her task is to agree or disagree with you.
I agree with you Nico. From my point of view there's something missing when using "so" as a connector.
DeleteWhat called my attention about this conclusion is that the author of this writing is not recommending or concluding his/her ideas at all. What's more, he/she leaves the decision of finding the book as good or bad on the future readers, instead of giving a brief explanation why he/she would read it or not.
When reading this conclusion, my first impression is the writer seems to be ambiguous because on one hand he is not completely sure about recommending this book, he expresses his opinion without covention saying "the novel does not seem to have anything wrong". On the other hand, he recommends the novel saying it can be fun and catching... In conclusion, if I read this, I would not read the novel.
ReplyDelete*conviction
ReplyDeleteThe author is definitely not sure about recommending it or not. He/she needs to have a clear position in order to give the reader clear arguments about what is going to read. Then, it is the reader's decision agreeing or not with the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree. There seems to be some contradiction. Besides, I would not choose the word "wrong" in this case. The reader does not expect that someone decides whether the novel is wrong or not. What he really expects is that the reviewer provides a good description of the text expressing his feelings, perceptions and thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI think that author hasn´t got a clear position about the book. For that reason he said that the reader has the final opinion.
ReplyDeleteNico, my dear partner, I can´t believe what I have just read. I quote "what called my attention the most is that "so" that is supposed to be functioning as an extra-sentence connector..." you are incredible,my friend jajajaja. Really did you notice that? Because I didn´t! (at least at my first sight).What does it mean? Am I doomed with grammar?
Did I remind you of somebody, didn't I? Haha. As far as I remember, an extrasentence connector is a connector that links ideas between different sentences. If the auther writes, "So I would recommend it" in a sentence, he must have said something possitive in the previous one that must be related with the fact that he is recommending it now. And of course you're not doomed with grammar. It's just me and my nerdy style of speaking, haha.
DeleteMaybe the author was not careful enough when he wrote the review. That "so" sounds as if it was spoken rather than written.
DeleteAs a conclusion taken from a book review, I think is quite poor. It is not enough to get the reader interest, at least not mine. Although the author has his/her own judgment and recommends the book, he/she is not being specific about the reasons why he/she chooses to promote it. So bearing that in mind, I believe that any book might be “… fun for adults and catching for teenagers…”
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it is the case, but it gives me the impression that the author has been asked to read the book and write the review. If it had been his own motivation to do it, he/she would have done it better :P
ReplyDeleteHe says that there's nothing to critisize about the story, but if you want to read it, you should judge for yourself; and my conclusion here is that he/she is not sure whether he/she likes the book or not, and for some reason, he/she does not want to state it. He's being ambiguous because his feelings about the book are ambiguous as well.
Or perhaps the confusing use of that "So" is on purpose, to catch the reader´s attention. Although I do agree with all of you when you say that it sounds incomplete. I wouldn´t use "So" the way the author does. The whole review is quite confusing. The review doesn´t help at all to choose that particular novel. It doesn´t explain why it´s good for adults or teenagers. I don´t think the writer enjoyed the novel himself/herself, if he/she had, maybe he/she would have described teh novel a little bit more or have written more details why to read it, or at least ecommend the author.
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, the essential information is omitted in this review. For example, the title, the author's name and the genre. Besides, reviews reflect the opinion of the reviewer because that is his/her "task" (not the reader's!). On the other hand, the intended audience is confusing. I think that a book cannot be written for adults and adolescents since they do not share the same interests.
ReplyDeleteAfter all we've been talking about in class lately, I would give a thought to that last sentence. I mean, adolescents want to be adults, and they get involved in many topics that "are meant only for adults." Furthermore, there are many adults who are interested in things that are designed for children (such as cartoons, films), so why wouldn't they share the same interests with teenagers?
DeleteI agree with you Nico! Teenagers are interested in adult's topics. Besides, I think that reading might be a safe way of facing adulthood. I mean, children usually play as if they were older and through this they learn and experiment a new world. Couldn't be reading a way of playing or experimenting adulthood?
DeleteI agree with cintia when she says that it is the task of the reviewer to give an opinion either positive or negative, otherwise what is a review for. This seems not to be the case with the author of this review. As everybody have said before, it is no clear what is the position that the author has. And another huge mistake is to leave his/her task as a reviewer on the reader. While reading the comments, I can feel that all of us think that it is a very obscure conclusion paragrafh, that does not fulfil the task of telling wheather something is worhtwhile or not
ReplyDelete