Boy that was fast
Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times posted her review of the final J. K. Rowling Harry Potter novel - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - online yesterday and two things about her review made me think of C+C Music Factory's 1991 hit song Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...First she states that she obtained her copy of the book from "a New York City store yesterday". Well Potter fans are asking today, what store in NYC is selling this book 3 days ahead of schedule? She went on to ironically write that she was able to buy her copy even "though the book is embargoed for release until 12:01 a.m. on Saturday — is no exception." It has been widely reported that the release of one of the most [if not THE most] anticipated books ever has been heavily guarded, precisely scheduled and eagerly awaited. And now we are to believe that a book reviewer for the Times just happen into a store and pick this book off a shelf? I don't buy it and I don't think she did either.
On a side note, a photographed copy of this book hit the net a couple of days ago. This "version" has not yet been authenticated and it is perhaps and early draft of the book. It's hard to tell until the book actually hits the stores this weekend but the funny thing is that the person who photographed the pages, they forgot to remove the EXIF data from the photo, which included the camera's serial number. In an ironic circle-of life-twist, someone else posted a screencap of the photo's EXIF data online for the world to see. Ahhhh, Technology!
The other thing about Kakutani's review that I find odd is she bought the book on Wednesday and posted a full review on Thursday. I consider myself an above average reader [when it comes to speed] but I'm pretty sure I could cut through a 784-page book in a single afternoon or even a whole day [if I had the time], so how does a book reviewer do it? I'm guessing reviewers give books more of a skim then an actual read which begs the question, why would anyone listen to a book reviewer who hadn't actually read the entire book? Would you read a review for only 20 minutes of a movie? Or 2 tracks from a new album? Even though I don't always agree with Movie, TV and Music critics, at least I'm fairly sure they have actually spent the time taking in the media to form a proper review. I'm not sure I can say the same for this specific book reviewer.
posted by TheWino @ 8:40 AM
1 Comments:
Lee Lee said...
For saying she read it in less than 24 hours, her review is pretty thorough! She uses profound language and is very detailed in her writing. I don't know, maybe she lied and has had a copy of it for weeks. To read all those pages and put together this lengthy, wordy, detailed review seems unbelievable to me, yet again....I don't write for the New York Times either :) Can't wait for the movie!
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