When I first started this blog it was a typical capricious moment; at a time when I somehow had the quaint notion some text activity of mine on the blogosphere might actually serve some kind of (auto)didactic revolutionary purpose. Academically, I think it was a sign of still needing to “grow-up”, which is not to say I turn my back to revolutionary purpose. On the contrary. However, an order of humility and affirmation is warranted. I’ve made that point. ‘Why are you so negative about everything?’ A comment maker asked AV at a time when I left the blog to drift far out on the sea of my priorities.
A blog should be useful to me and potentially to others who stumble upon it in a search. Now one thing I have to do as part of my work is review books, and most of them “academic”. But the thing with me and reviews, I’m not so good yet at the publishable quality academic book review. I either get too intense into the material and so start writing a paper, or I procrastinate and wait too long until after reading the text, which is the biggest sin of book reviewing. Yet, when I have taken the time to write 1000 words book reviews on some text I always arrive at helpful reference text for myself.
After analyzing this somewhat paradoxical situation it occurred to me that my problem, in part, is that I have little extrinsic motivation to write the reviews as a matter of course precisely because they are not destined their selves to be published, and so then it becomes yet another “chore” aspect of research work. Meanwhile, I have this blogspace. Why not write my reviews as for blog publication? This will encourage me to develop a style for reviewing texts that I like, give me a sense of destination with the texts thus making no longer a “chore” of research, but part of the more enjoyable, creative stuff, and in addition to serving me as described above, perhaps also serve others.
Now, I do not want to get into a textual bias or a logocentrism. The theme is not delimited in any dogmatic or orthodox way by an epistemology, method, or ontology. Ultimately, I envision reviewing all the media which moves through my library. But for now, I’ll start small, and start functional, and make the first review of a book I just finished reading and taking notes from.
3 Comments
We are – if I may speak on “our” behalf, or perhaps write in the Burkean style of no first person pronouns – pregnant with anticipation over your (hopefully) upcoming review, which we are certain we shall have to read multiple times to even get the gist of.
To be sure, that is, as a matter of course, due to our own inadequacy and not to any reason of your writing, Auntie.
Great article defintly informative.. I’ll be reading more of course.