eep

[ewein2412]

I was looking up the ISBN for The Empty Kingdom and discovered that it's been seriously reamed by an Ethiopian reader. Very interesting criticism (it's actually a review of A Coalition of Lions, though he doesn't refer to the title). I'm rather taken aback at his notion that my politics are shamelessly Eritrean Apologist.

http://www.amazon.com/Empty-Kingdom-Mark-Solomon/product-reviews/0670062731/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_summary?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

Comments

[estara.livejournal.com]

Well from what I have read of all those debates concerning race and whatever appropriation - the people who are authentic members don't want no books written about them by non-members, they just want certain clichés not supported and authors to listen when they complain...

So even though he's working with a bit of a mistaken impression, you're thinking about his criticism and the result of that will go into future work. No more can be asked for.

[tiboribi.livejournal.com]

Isn't The Last Light of the Sun the Viking one? Does it get that far south?

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

It's Norse/Anglo-Saxon/Welsh, and no, it doesn't go that far south. The Judit is in the Anglo-Saxon analogue culture, but I still wouldn't be surprised if there were some inspiration there. Kay's inspirations aren't always super-direct. I dunno, I'm basing this mainly on a couple throwaway lines about Judit's future.

[meener.livejournal.com]

every review that guy has written has been a horribly negative one! i think he's got a chip on his shoulder.

i have posted the review i made on goodreads when i first read the empty kingdom. i should have posted it on amazon, too!

[estara.livejournal.com]

yay!!

[ewein2412]

Really good question! I suppose because it doesn't step outside the boundaries of known facts, but adds in conjecture rather than actually *changing* things?

[ewein2412]

some people do think you just shouldn't write outside your known culture. But yes, I do feel that I'm making a small contribution to the Western world's general knowledge of his culture and I'm sorry he feels I'm misrepresenting it. (Other Ethiopian readers, thank goodness, have felt differently.)

[ewein2412]

well I have just sent you Der Winterprinz. Up until last year the German paperback edition was still earning me royalties--the only edition of the book to have been in print for over ten years! And it is a beautiful little book, with vignettes illustrations. My favorite edition.

It is interesting to see what they've done with the formal and informal direct address. The French translation was very sloppy about it.

I thought you needed this for your collection... Pass it on to a deserving teen if you have too many books!

Tanita Says :)

[(Anonymous)]

I'd worry more if the majority of us over here were big readers. ;)

In grad school one of my professors always said to write as if your relatives were illiterate - nine times out of ten they don't actually read your work anyway. I'm sure it'll hold true in this case... unless you're published by a UK publisher this time?

[ewein2412]

♥

that was a very sweet thing to do!

Re: Tanita Says :)

[ewein2412]

probably good advice, if a little dangerous. most of my relatives DON'T read my work!

[nwhyte]

Amazon reviews are one of the more poisonous spaces that I have encountered on the internet. That was one of the reasons I recently deleted all of mine.

The unbiased reader of this particular review will rapidly conclude that the reviewer is projecting his own obsession with Ethiopian / Eritrean history onto your writing!!!

[ewein2412]

a very noble move indeed! You are right, the Amazon reviews are plagueful. And it is so counterproductive for a bookseller to allow negative attention to be aimed at their own "products." It was like pulling teeth to get Amazon to delete a spurious review of one of my books that ranted about George Bush and had absolutely nothing to do with me.

Amazon's comment system is also frustrating, as there's never any notification. You have to be kind of obsessed to keep an exchange going.

I am a real fan of Goodreads. I never reviewed books until it came along--felt I couldn't appropriately ream those I disliked on my blog. But an actual review forum is so much more appropriate and forgiving.

Incidentally, one of the annoying things about this particular review is that it's posted against the wrong book--he's clearly referring to A Coalition of Lions.

[estara.livejournal.com]

Oooh! Thank you ^^!!

I'll decide whether to pass it on when I see the edition *is book-greedy*, but if not I can offer it as a prize to one of our reading competitions at school or for some other pupil-rewarding service ^^.

Did you sign it? If I donate it, I'm going to say donated by the author and write about it in a pr-action for the school (and an article in our yearbook) and for you ^^.

You know, I think that's the best thing to show my appreciation of your kindness - you'll get some pr and our school gets the cachet of a personal connection to a living book author *grin*.

*checked Amazon* Darn, I was hoping you had some other German editions I could advertise at school with the donation... it's not worth it if you don't see any of the money.

[estara.livejournal.com]

Well, I can still link to your English site and all... it's just that I teach at a middle school and the likelihood that the boys will buy original English books is very near zero.

[estara.livejournal.com]

I can understand that for you personally, but what if you want to raise support for an author on one of the biggest book markets in the US - didn't they say that Amazon is the biggest independent bookseller in the US?

If I get comments for my reviews I just don't react. As long as I haven't posted anything inappropriate my positive review won't be deleted and any further reader can decide for themselves if it's true.

I think the not so well-known authors who get discovered via casual browsing and recommendations can use all the positive reviews they can get.

[estara.livejournal.com]

"some people do think you just shouldn't write outside your known culture."

It didn't seem the majority view in the discussions I read, mainly because that might mean that the prevalent culture in the 1st world technical countries, i.e. white Caucasian with European origin - would remain the culture that everyone knew about and the rest would be brushed under the carpet.

[nwhyte]

My own books are long out of print, so I have no personal agenda of promotion. But I don't like Amazon's business methods, which verge on abuse of their monopoly, so people who want to read my reviews can do so elsewhere.

[ewein2412]

I'm not sure that's the best argument for the cause, though it may be true.

I think you're right--in general people agree it's unavoidable and can be done right. But there's a discomfort about it. I recall a white reader and fan recommending my books as appropriate "POC" literature "if you don't mind white authors."

I kind of took offense at that--is the implication that an individual should value books about his or her own cultural group only if they're written by a "member" of that culture?

And where do my gay Jewish father, multiracial sister and nieces and nephews, and Scottish residency fit into the picture of me as a White American?

sheesh.

I am not ranting at you, btw, only at the status quo!

[ewein2412]

i didn't sign it because I ordered it direct from Amazon.de. But I'll send a signed bookplate you can stick in it! Also, I've got rather more of the hardback in German than I will ever know what to do with, so I could send some copies of those along if you like.

[estara.livejournal.com]

Well, I didn't mean as a writer, but as a fellow reader to support other writers (I don't think an author writing a glowing review about his own book would be taken so seriously).

I don't like their business methods either, although - like you said on the page you linked - as a consumer I recognize the advantages of buying there, but not writing reviews if you want to support another author simply ignores the prevalent powers they have, because people like us remain customers there.

[estara.livejournal.com]

Maybe I should clarify that I never write reviews just because I want to, but always with the aim of getting others who read them to buy - or not buy - a book I have read.

[estara.livejournal.com]

^^ The problem is that you have people who feel they know better or can judge about something better than you everywhere - just like your aside in the comments above said - that you're now worrying about Glaswegians or Germans ^^. It was written with a humorous or ironic bent, but I don't think you would have mentioned it if you didn't feel some ambivalence about the reception.

And this is not even talking about a culture plainly not your own, like Ethiopia. So while I believe it pays to be aware of criticism, especially if many members of the culture don't like an aspect of the portrayal, but it doesn't pay to worry about pleasing everyone completely. I don't think a person can do that, whether in writing or anywhere else.

With the rising awareness of cultural appropriation the careful ally or wanna-be ally will want to make it clear that a book is not written by a member of the culture most written about in the book, though.

My personal favourite piece of crack literature is the martial arts/Australian heroine/Chinese legends book series by Kylie Chan - I totally devour it for the fun, fast-paced action and the hefty romance, but I bet if a true Hong Kong Chinese read the book they'd be doing more than roll their eyes at the Mary Sueness of the heroine who saves everyone's bacon, so that all the good guys (and even the king of the demons) love her, while she solves all their problems.

I LIKE!!!

[estara.livejournal.com]

WAH!! But let me at least reimburse you for the shipping costs, if you do!

Re: I LIKE!!!

[ewein2412]

don't be silly! just keep telling people to read my books.

xx