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Old 06-27-2016, 03:19 PM   #1
Witty Username
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Damning with faint praise?
One of the books recommended for me in my daily BookBub email has this review attached:
Quote:
“The pages turn with ease” (The Sunday Times)
I mean, if that's the best they could say about it...

Any other examples of reviews that aren't actually as good as the publisher thinks?
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Old 06-27-2016, 11:08 PM   #2
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I remember borrowing a book from the library in my teens. On the walk home, I read the back cover which had a review something like:

Quote:
Has the weight of Dune
I remember looking at the book and weighing it in my hand and thinking, "that's about right".
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Old 06-28-2016, 11:43 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Witty Username View Post
One of the books recommended for me in my daily BookBub email has this review attached:

I mean, if that's the best they could say about it...
That seems like a compliment; it's another way of saying it's a "page turner". Why do you regard it as faint praise?
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Old 06-28-2016, 11:48 AM   #4
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Some idioms do not translate well, and may default to a literal interpretation. I did not catch "pages turn easily" as "page turner" either, even after realizing for an ebook it could not be literal. However, it makes sense in retrospect. The reviewer was trying to be a bit too clever...
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Old 06-28-2016, 01:48 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
That seems like a compliment; it's another way of saying it's a "page turner". Why do you regard it as faint praise?
Even though I got "page turner" out of it, it still seems a weak and quaint way of putting it.
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Old 06-29-2016, 06:15 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
That seems like a compliment; it's another way of saying it's a "page turner". Why do you regard it as faint praise?
What Catlady said.

On first reading 'the pages turn with ease' sounds more like praise for the physical construction of the book rather than the writing.
Page-turner is a phrase synonymous with a fast-moving, exciting or thrilling plot/story-line and 'ease' just isn't a good fit for the concept.
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Old 06-29-2016, 07:20 AM   #7
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I agree. Even if you get what the reviewer meant, you can be tickled by an unintended connotation. It's funny. Moreover, even taken as meant, "turn with ease" lacks the compulsive nature of page-turner and is anemic in comparison in any case.
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Old 06-30-2016, 11:32 AM   #8
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If you don't mind the shifting of POV's every chapter, this is a good sci-fi.
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Old 07-04-2016, 09:51 AM   #9
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In the book "1066 and all that", the authors included their own bogus review praise:

‘... We look forward keenly to the appearance of their last work.’
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