BOOK REVIEW

Evaluating a book is an exercise in comprehension, background knowledge, judgement and writing skills.

Your task is to produce a well written account of your reaction to the book – to comment on its merits and demerits. To describe or summarise the content of the book may be helpful.

The first step is obviously to read the book, not the summary of the book or a set of study notes. Read actively rather than passively. That is think constantly about what you are reading, argue with it, challenge it, predict the next turn in the plot or argument or so on. Jot down notes on your responses while reading. Once you have finished reading, make notes of your overall impression. If necessary you can do some further reading, for instance a book that gives the historical background of the novel or a critical essay of the novel.

Above all be fair and sincere. Don’t Praise a work simply because other readers and even experts have done so. Don’t criticize it unnecessarily. Don’t condemn a book simply because you disagree with it or just because you dislike the type of work it is. Try to look at it from the perspective of the author’s intention for a better understanding.

The type of book you are most likely to write a review are biographies, book of history or current affairs and above all novels. While reviewing  novel one must focus on these points:

PLOT:

Try to define and categorise the plot, a straight adventurous story or a science fiction or a fantasy. Don’t summarise the plot, but evaluate. In evaluating a plot, address these questions:

1. How unusual or original is the story?

2. Are the incidents believable or far-fetched?

3. Is there any controversial content?

4. Is the plot perfectly intelligible or occasionally impossible to follow?

5. Do the incidents follow one another in strict chronological order or does the author jump to and fro in time?

6. Is the reader is inspired to keep turning the pages?

7. Does the author attempt to create any suspense?

CHARACTER AND DIALOGUE:

Are the characters ‘real people', convincingly rounded, combining good and bad qualities. As for the dialogue, does it seem appropriate to the speaker and to the situation in which they find themselves? Does it add anything to our understanding of the character.?

SETTING AND THE DESCRIPTION:

The description matter should be interesting and convincing. It should evoke a vivid picture of a place or a person in the reader’s mind. The historical setting should come alive, that lets the reader’s to enter into the world of the novel.

THEME

A good novel should compromise a single dominant theme. It may be a simple theme such as guilt, courage, hypocrisy or a complex theme such as the conflict between love and duty. One must consider whether the theme has been convincingly illustrated by  the plot and characters.

THE AUTHOR and OTHER NOVELS

One should note whether the novel reflects the author’s life, does it share themes with other novel of the author and how does this novel compare with similar novels produced by other writers. 

STYLE, TONE and POINT OF VIEW

The overall impression of the novel is to be recorded. One should check out whether the novel is charming, sentimental, patronising or is it gloomy or witty, satirical or humorous so on. Focusing on these attributes and writing a review will bring effective results.

 

---HAPPY LEARNING----