Real-Time Reviewing

[Nemonymous]

Did I invent this type of reviewing? (Based on a forty year study of Wimsatt's 'The Intentional Fallacy' and the actual reading of fiction texts with both enjoyment and rigorousness...)

Self-doubt creeps in, just as easily as extraneity creeps in.

Neil Williamson, I think, first called them 'Real-Time Reviews'. Some have also called them 'stream-of conscious' reviews. Others, perhaps with an intentionally(?) pejorative purpose, have called them 'interactive' reviews. They have not yet become fully interactive because most authors have taught themselves to be reticent about reactions to reviews. Which is a shame, as my view (in tune with Wimsatt) is that each reader owns a fiction text, and the author, once the text is posited in the audience arena, is just another reader, equally empowered to comment upon the text he or she once created.

A few authors I've real-time reviewed have not commented at all, either to me personally or publicly.

Many of the authors have commented on the real-time reviews that I've given their books and I quote them here: http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/rec...oks_by_dfl.htm

And yesteday: HERE

[Nemonymous]

Thanks to Roy for pointing it out, but it looks as if I've started a trend. Here's a real-time review on the new Dan Brown from the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/sep/15/lost-symbol-live-reading-dan-brown




My real-time reviewing:
http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/recent_reviews_of_books_by_dfl.htm

[Nemonymous]

Some of my most recent real-time reviews:

18 Mar 10): Pieces of Midnight - by Gary McMahon
(24 Mar 10): Xargos - a novel by Frances Oliver
(1 Apr 10): The Sixth Black Book of Horror
(5 Apr 10): Back From The Dead
(11 Apr 10): Literary Remains - by R.B. Russell
(14 Apr 10): The Terror and the Tortoiseshell - John Travis
(23 Apr 10): Putting the Pieces in Place - R.B. Russell
(26 Apr 10): Solar - Ian McEwan
(3 May 10): Tragic Life Stories - by Steve Duffy
(19 May 10): The Peacock's Eye - by Frances Oliver
(27 May 2010): Remember You're a One-Ball! - by Quentin S. Crisp
(1 June 2010): The Man Who Collected Machen & Other Stories
(5 June 2010): The Tourist Season - by Frances Oliver
(10 June 2010): All Souls - by Frances Oliver
(15 June 2010): Where The Heart Is (Gray Friar Press)
(1 July 2010): The Conspiracy Against The Human Race
(3 July 2010): Margaret - by PF Jeffery
(3 July 2010): Dark Awakenings - by Matt Cardin
(11 July 2010): The Silver Voices - by John Howard
(12 July 2010): Groaning Shadows - by Paul Finch

[Odalisque]

Thank you for your ongoing real-time review of Margaret.

DFLewis: 'Margaret' by PF Jeffery

[Nemonymous]

Thanks for the thanks.

Sometimes some reviews take longer than I expected, others shorter, but I try to post the next part of any real-time review when I sense it is synchronously appropriate - for the benefit of the book being reviewed and for the reviewer (the 'me' at that moment) - even if that means, in hindsight, disproportionate timing and slicing of the review out of sequence with others.

[Odalisque]

I expect that how quickly you post the reviews is some indication of how quickly you're reading the book. Isn't that what the real-time bit is about? Or am I confused?