On 18 December 2010 20:42, Jean-Marie Poirier <jmpoiri...@wanadoo.fr> wrote: > I must confess I am very disappointed. This little book is much too expensive > for what it is...
I think price should not be considered in judgement; if it's good, any price is fine. The fact that a book, any book, on 1650-1700 Baroque lute music is written is laudable. That a publisher is willing to publish it is even more laudable. I am willing to pay just in the hope that more writers and publishers might consider writing and publishing more. So I paid the price and bought the book (Amazon in Germany had it cheaper than advertised on this list). Jean-Marie writes he is 'very disappointed'. I think he is being extremely polite. Original sources are quoted from secondary sources (modern writer X writes that 17th century writer Y wrote that ...), incomplete listings of things anybody who would be interested in buying the book in the first place knows already, pop-guitar terminology for French Baroque ornamentation (that was a lark, actually), no original insights or theories, guide lines on how to play Baroque lute music on an 11-string guitar ... need I go on? I didn't complain about the less than perfect English which indeed at times is obfuscating the point (is there a point) the writer is making. I am not a native speaker and I know my English is far from perfect, this e-mail being a good example, but still, in a publication like this pretens to be ... Having said all this, I still think any writers should be encouraged to write on 1650-1700 Baroque lute music, and publishers should be rewarded for publishing these books. But, only if these books have some real content. It's a pity this one misses the mark. Widely. David -- ******************************* David van Ooijen davidvanooi...@gmail.com www.davidvanooijen.nl ******************************* To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
