Re: Review on "Holy Warriors" by Edna Fernandes
Victor makes several important points. I have not read the original book. Yet
as Victor points out, I have written books, non-scientific and scientific
articles, which have been published. Hence, I have dealt with many reviewers
and commentators.
Firstly, a book or article is not written for the reviewers. The reviewer
("supposedly" expert) has to keep in mind the target audience of the book and
not his / her PERCEPTION of what the script is /should cover. Books are
written to re-emphasize the known (and this introduction should help the good
reviewers) and further explore FROM the writer's perspective (NOT the
reviewer's) what is the impact of the material/ article/ data that is being
written about.
If the reviewer cannot understand and expand on these aspects, I question the
IQ of the reviewer. Of course I'd expect the reviewer to outline the
limitations of the work, if the author had not done so in the prologue or
epilogue. Any writer embarks on the writing effort in order to FILL a perceived
VOID in the understanding (at whatever level). The writing is NOT undertaken to
exploit the readers and make money. In fact in many cases the writing is
undertaken with full understanding that there is no reimbursement. Yet the
ignorance out there (including the reviewers) motivates the writer(s).
The book / article is the writer's work. Reviewers can write their own book to
emphasize what he / she considers important rather than being a free-loader on
someone else's work. If the reviewer is PRATAP BHANU MEHTA and the writer is
EDNA FERNANDES, the reviewer should APPRECIATE the perspectives of a
minority-group writer. Her script reflects some ASPECTS of the minority group
persecuted by the dominant religious-fanatic groups. None of this came out in
the review. This in itself reflects the ignorance and arrogance of the
reviewer, (not uncommon mistake), whatsoever may his ethnic background.
I hope this rather lengthy response will help and enable future reviewers on
the STANDARDS of good reviewers. For more details and reviewer pitfalls,
please read my three-part article on the "experience of writing 'On Thin Ice'"
which appeared on Goanet.
Kind Regards, GL
---- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Gilbert Lawrence wants the reviewer to be kinder to the author. But a
reviewer's primary task is to be fair, not necessarily to be kind. Like
Gilbert, I too am a published author, with two books of fiction to my credit,
and five or six on specialized aspects of Western classical music. All I ask
of my reviewers is that they be fair.
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> For crying out loud, couldn't the reviewer be kinder to this book and its
> author?
> He tried to claw his way up by stomping on someone else's efforts.
> D'Souza, Avelino:
> REVIEW : While Fernandes' heart is in the right place, the result is a rather
> superficial book that perplexes more than it illuminates.
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