People tend to Google everything - so why write a book review in the dark?
Going on a date with somebody? Google him or Google her and see what they've been up to. That's part of today's dating ritual.
See a bit of history on a TV show and think it's wrong? Google it. If you're wrong, nobody's going to know. If you're right, you can tell your friends, make an enlightened comment on Facebook, or leave a comment on the program's blog or website.
In this Google world, I was surprised to read an online book review today about a well known, award winning book set in another country in another era and find that the reviewer didn't understand some of the political terms in the novel. The reviewer enjoyed the book, but was a bit puzzled by the politics.
This seems to be a common reader complaint: being puzzled by a book due to lack of knowledge that's really easy to look up. Quite often, the author will fill in some of the details about political parties, movements, geographical areas, cities and their histories, etc. as it applies to the plot and to the characters' motivations.
If not, why not Google the name of the political party, town, forest, mountain range or famous person out of the past? You'll know the answer in an instarnt and the novel will make more sense--especially if you plan to review the book.
Now, I don't expect people who are searching for random facts in novels to be a major online force when Yahoo and other search engines track what's trending at the moment. But really, typing "Rabat" or "Tory" or "Virginia Woolf" into search field doesn't take any longer than typing "Burger King Ads," "Hershey Walkout" or "Daniel Radcliffe."
That's my two cents for this Friday afternoon.
--Malcolm
See a bit of history on a TV show and think it's wrong? Google it. If you're wrong, nobody's going to know. If you're right, you can tell your friends, make an enlightened comment on Facebook, or leave a comment on the program's blog or website.
In this Google world, I was surprised to read an online book review today about a well known, award winning book set in another country in another era and find that the reviewer didn't understand some of the political terms in the novel. The reviewer enjoyed the book, but was a bit puzzled by the politics.
This seems to be a common reader complaint: being puzzled by a book due to lack of knowledge that's really easy to look up. Quite often, the author will fill in some of the details about political parties, movements, geographical areas, cities and their histories, etc. as it applies to the plot and to the characters' motivations.
If not, why not Google the name of the political party, town, forest, mountain range or famous person out of the past? You'll know the answer in an instarnt and the novel will make more sense--especially if you plan to review the book.
Now, I don't expect people who are searching for random facts in novels to be a major online force when Yahoo and other search engines track what's trending at the moment. But really, typing "Rabat" or "Tory" or "Virginia Woolf" into search field doesn't take any longer than typing "Burger King Ads," "Hershey Walkout" or "Daniel Radcliffe."
That's my two cents for this Friday afternoon.
--Malcolm
No comments have been added yet.
