…I wish I could ignore it, but I don’t want to…
I try, I really do, to follow the advice and wisdom of other authors, including my writing partners, when it comes to not letting reviews bother me. Our reviews have always been more positive than negative. Sometimes they have given me new perspective. And reviews never matter as much to me as the reader mail we get, which, whether critical or complimentary, seems more from the heart and lacking any kind of agenda. (Well, except for those who blatantly want to “date” either of the two Ts or the J in Timothy James Beck, and I enjoy those letters, too.)
But occasionally, a review dumbfounds me. Like one recently sent to us by our editor. I don’t know the reviewer. I’m not familiar with the publication. But some of his comments just scream for my reaction. If you haven’t read SOMEONE LIKE YOU, you may want to stop here.
The reviewer says, …[the authors] move too quickly into the quirky world of the “Mall of the Universe” and spend every page there. None of the characters leave the mall, save one, and when he does we’re only treated to being told about it instead of discovering why he left…I couldn’t help thinking that I’ve read this story before, like in “The Wizard of Oz”: a character alone in a foreign land, who, with a collection of odd friends, create mischief and havoc. Only here, we don’t travel to the land of Oz to seek out the great wizard…The reader, at least in my case, is left feeling that there was a really good love story, a la “Pretty Woman” here…which…is all but abandoned…
Apparently, this reviewer is upset that we didn’t rewrite “Pretty Woman,” and seems to think that in attempting to do so (we weren’t; we even have Derek make fun of the comparison within the novel), we’ve accidentally written something more like “The Wizard of Oz.”
Only… IT WASN’T AN ACCIDENT. There are a million blatant and subtle references to “The Wizard of Oz” in SOMEONE LIKE YOU. Witches on bicycles; little dogs; the Llvandsons’ destiny changed by a tornado. The characters actually sing part of the movie’s signature song in one scene. Derek has a fantasy of Natasha’s (that witch!) dead feet sticking out from under something after she’s been crushed. Christian needs courage; Vienna isn’t using her brain; Derek and Hunter must learn to trust their hearts. Hunter goes to Australia–a land that is nicknamed Oz–to try to make things better. But as Cart Man tells Derek, everything they’re looking for is in their own back yard. Cart Man himself appears to be several different people, much like Professor Marvel in “The Wizard of Oz.” His cart is even painted with the phrase “Nature’s Marvels.” At the end of the book, Derek is told that his new writing job is to turn the mall into a fictitious Oz-like microcosm…which is–guess what!–exactly what Timothy James Beck just did in SOMEONE LIKE YOU.
Not leaving the mall is the entire point of the novel. Call it fantasy, fairy tale, or allegory, but as in “The Wizard of Oz,” the message is that there’s no place like home and you don’t have to leave Kansas–or Indiana–to find Oz. It’s always there, in your imagination, and any exciting new friends you think you can find in Oz have actually been in your life all along.
As far as the character who leaves the Mall/Oz… Does the reviewer mean Hunter, who tells Garry, Juanita, and ultimately Derek, why he left? Or does he mean Davii, who left for a chance at a different career because he feels smothered in the mall? I’m not sure what further explanation the reviewer expected; it’s all there. But we never see anyone outside the mall because…as I said above, that’s not the point.
Maybe the reviewer can pretend that he was conked on the head and the novel never happened. Or he could rent Pretty Woman.
well, even tho you don’t necessarily care for reviews…
the ISO catalog we got in the mail the other day, they called y’all their “favorite boyfriend fiction author.” 🙂
ISO has always been very good to us and I’m grateful to them because they release in hardcover the particular novels that our publishers have only released in trade paperback. Thus, they are my “favorite boyfriend fiction” book club. =)
What’s interesting here, is that I did notice the Wizard of Oz elements in the novel. There was more depth in those characters, and while I loved Pretty Woman, I didn’t see that in this particular book with these particular characters at all, so this reviewer is just being too attached to something that is plainly not credible. While I mention little blurbs on my LJ about these novels from Timothy James Beck, I never comment too much. I am a literary Professor. I teach literature ALL the time. I read everything. If I ever was asked to write a review, I would talk more about the philosophy behind this particular book, the existencialism of one particular character and the postmodern characters and place of the Mall. All of these people and the places, hotel included, are a wonderful ground for a person like myself to dive deep into a fabulous language of thought patterns, linguistics, philosophies, and the comparison to other stories. That is what ONLY a good novel does. If it doesn’t, then you would never hear me mention it.
The research you do for your TJB books, really shows, so when someone states something different to that, I think, well, they obviously don’t read often enough. Or maybe they are so stuck in some personal subject, trying to see that particular “thing” in everything they do read, you have to just let them say whatever they want, and make a mental note that this is all there is to what they have to say.
*note: why I mention your books on my LJ, I have never offered up a complete review. I was worried you all might get fiesty if I did, and I really like to just talk it up in person, moreso than give a review online. But believe me, I could write a review for all your (All TJB crew) works, and it would be, shall we say, in depth. 🙂 I just enjoy reading them! I learn from them as well.
You can always post reader reviews on amazon.com and bn.com.
Tim and I are members of reading groups that review our novels, and we don’t engage in debates over anything that’s said. We’ll answer questions about the books, but what people enjoy reading is very subjective, making any and every reaction basically unarguable.
However, right or wrong, I hold people who set themselves up as critics in newspapers, magazines, or trade publications to a higher standard of objectivity and detail.
I love the wisdom and intelligence of your response to readers thoughts on your works.
It truly is subjective. If something does not appeal to me,or I do not connect or understand it, it does not mean it is not good literature, a fine story, etc….. Thank you for reinforcing that for me, and being such a wise author.
I always want to be fair to other authors (and I’ve said before on my LJ that I don’t see writers as being in competition with one another). Just because I don’t like a book doesn’t mean it’s not good. It just means it wasn’t for me.
I rarely comment on a book I didn’t like, ’cause I’m not the book police. (Even with Faulkner, I freely admit that I’m too mentally lazy to read him, but love his themes. Anyway, I don’t think anyone gives a flip what I think of William Faulkner.) If I HAD to review a book I didn’t enjoy, because it was my job, I’d try to be informative enough so that readers who wouldn’t be bothered by what bothered me might still give the book a try.
I love novels and wish everyone would read more, so I think authors deserve the chance to find their audience.
So with all the Wizard of Oz references the reviewer can’t help but think of The Wizard of Oz? Dim Bulb, he is not worthy of you, of course that doesn’t help you from feeling bad — cheer up
Thanks. =)
Didn’t John include the note he always includes with mine?
This one reeks of failed unpublished author.
Not this time. But about another REALLY bad review, he pulled a few words out of context and vowed to use them as a blurb for the novel in the future. I love John.
That was exactly my thought when I read the review. It’s more about the reviewer attempting to show that he/she is ever so much smarter than these published writers. So much smarter that, indeed, were the reviewer given a chance to write this book it would be like AWESOME like so much totally like you know Pretty Woman coz we all know that Pretty Woman is the ultimate lit, unlike say Wizard of Oz.
Michelle who tries to be honest when discussing books never forgetting that one wrong word would remove her from the much sought after 21980389329809895 spot on the Thank You page.
That’s just silly, Michelle–you LONG ago moved up to 21980389320000000!
First of all, I use the Phoebe line all the time. 🙂
Second, this particular reviewer simply didn’t get it. Some people are like that. The fact that life and love can take place completely in a mall called “Mall of the Universe” not only is a surreal illustration of the enormity of the mall, but the fact that it’s a world of its own.
The fact that someone doesn’t get a joke, a concept or a book is not a failing of either the author or the reader. You’re just on different planes. To be honest? I like your airline waaaay better.
We know you have a choice and we thank you for flying Timothy James Beck. =)
…and the white lights lead to red lights, which indicate you have reached an emergency exit row.
RED lights? That’s really just another subtle “Derek’s a whore” reference, isn’t it?
And as for the Pretty Woman reference, I guess I missed the part where Derek was a streetwalker hired for the week.
You missed it because his Hugo Boss trousers covered his thigh-high boots.