The dangers of the honest reviewer

The eminent Lovecraftian scholar S. T. Joshi on his blog dated June 14th, 2017, mentions  complaints raged against a recent review he wrote on his blog and for Dead Reckonings.  Link.

"It would appear that certain individuals were a tad put out by my review of The Children of Gla’aki, edited by Brian M. Sammons and Glynn Owen Barrass."

Please take a look at this entry to get full details of what occurred. 

This highlights a growing problem, probably exacerbated by social media, for anyone with the temerity to write an honest review.  It strikes me that too many writers today get on their high horse about any review that is anything other than unqualified praise. Not only do they make their displeasure known, but all too often their "fans" and sycophants will mercilessly turn against the unfortunate reviewer.

This is a ridiculous and self-destructive response. Not only, for any fair-minded observer, does this make these people look thin-skinned, self-delusional and pathetic, but it endangers the practice of writing any reviews at all other than unqualified praise, whether deserved or not.

Ask any writer and they will instantly admit that they want reviews. They clamour for them. They want them more than almost anything else. They'll give away free copies in the hope of getting them. Or the hope, let's be honest, of complete praise!

I have heard of reviewers being castigated for, not only giving negative reviews, but for merely failing to give the kind of praise the writer and his or her supporters expected from them.

It's a nasty tendency, one which stifles free speech and in the long run could destroy the ability of most reviewers to be honest.

So far I have never responded to a negative or less than flattering review. I hope I never do. I hope my reaction will continue to be to think, instead, upon what the reviewer has said and take a serious, objective and analytic look at what has been criticised, because, let's face it, the reviewer could be right - and by taking these criticisms under consideration, I could become a better writer. I have done this several times in the past and it's resulted, I hope, in me improving my writing. That's partly how we learn.

To those who can't take criticism, I would say grow up. If not that, then at least have the sense to leave reviewers alone or face the very real possibility you might put people off writing honest (and thereby worthwhile) reviews at all. Stop being online bullies and leave reviewers to get on with their task to write what, in their view, is an honest evaluation of what they have read.

S. T. Joshi on Benjamin Blake's Standing on the Threshold of Madness

Respected Lovecraftian scholar S. T. Joshi had this to say about Benjamin Blake's forthcoming collection of poems from Parallel Universe Publications, Standing on the Threshold of Madness:
"I was most impressed with Standing on the Threshold of Madness. These dark, brooding vignettes do far more than send a shudder up one's spine (although they do that again and again, with elegance and panache). Benjamin Blake has found a way to infuse into his horrific lyrics a keen sensitivity to human emotions, an understanding of the fragility of life, and a bleak portrayal of the evanescence of all existence. This is a volume that aficionados of weird poetry will want to read over and over."

Other comments about Benjamin Blake and his poetry:

“Benjamin Blake relishes funereal lyricism with a spice of surrealism.” - Ramsey Campbell 
 

"Language and imagery rule in this collection of dark visions. Blake has a distinctive voice, rich in surrealism, and he uses it to considerable effect." - Bruce Boston, SFPA Grandmaster Poet 
 

“A plethora of dark and haunting poems that could be likened to a bone chilling symphony overall! Mood enhancing language that will curdle the blood, and excellent, original imagery!” - Marge Simon, Bram Stoker Award winning poet

I Am Providence by S. T. Joshi

I am enjoying Joshi's I Am Providence, which is perhaps the most detailed biography of Lovecraft you could ever hope to come across, but I wish he would resist just now and then from giving his evaluation on every story, travelogue, poem, etc that Lovecraft wrote. And on many stories that other people wrote as well. I like a biography to be factual, not littered with critical comments unless there is some genuine reason for it. I have my own opinion on the merits or otherwise of these stories and I really don't need to have them all compared to how closely they fit in with Joshi's preference for cosmicism. My only gripe so far, mind. Other than this it's a great book and I have learned a lot from it.

I Am Providence

I started reading S. T. Joshi's biography of H. P. Lovecraft on my kindle yesterday. At first I expected to be thoroughly bored with all the ancestral details that obligatorily preface biographies, followed by all the equally tedious details of the subject's early years, their schooling, etc. I was pleasantly surprised to find, though there were the expected ancestral details, that these were relatively brief (possibly because few details are available) and Lovecraft, being Lovecraft, was a prodigious child who soon did things of direct interest with his later life, particularly his fascination, in turn, with all things Arabic (stirred by reading tales from the Arabian Nights), then his lifelong fascination with ancient Rome. Soon, influenced by dime novels, Edgar Allan Poe, and everything else he could lay his hands on to read, particularly from his beloved seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, he was writing short stories which he bound into small hand-made books for sale to his relatives and friends, complete with title pages and copyright details.

So, not far in and already Lovecraft's life is becoming increasingly more interesting.

S. T. Joshi's Biography of H. P. Lovecraft, I Am Providence, Available on Kindle.

S. T. Joshi's monumental, two-volume biography of the great H. P. Lovecraft, I Am Providence, is now available at a much more affordable price on kindle. I'm looking forward to reading this.

Amazon.com for $10.14

Amazon.co.uk for £6.37