# Review a book while totally missing the point **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 7, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947 "2012-09-07T03:23:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/1 "2012-09-07T03:23:49Z")
Example: _Crime and Punishment_ ruined the surprise by revealing the murderer’s identity at the start of the story! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/2 "2012-09-07T03:47:32Z")
The all-time classic in this category is from [Field & Stream](http://www.booktryst.com/2011/12/when-field-and-stream-magazine-reviewed.html). > [@](#): > > "Although written many years ago, _Lady Chatterley’s Lover_ has just been reissued by the Grove Press, and this fictional account of the day-to-day life of an English gamekeeper is still of considerable interest to outdoor minded readers, as it contains many passages on pheasant raising, the apprehending of poachers, ways to control vermin, and other chores and duties of the professional gamekeeper. > > “Unfortunately, one is obliged to wade through many pages of extraneous material in order to discover and savor these sidelights on the management of a Midlands shooting estate, and in this reviewer’s opinion this book cannot take the place of J.R. Miller’s _Practical Gamekeeping_” (Ed Zern, _Field and Stream_, November 1959, p. 142). ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/3 "2012-09-07T12:46:37Z")
Critic Tom Paulin once said the following about Terry Pratchett: > [@](#): > > A complete amateur… doesn’t even write in chapters. Which is proudly quoted on the back of many a discworld book. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/4 "2012-09-07T13:09:01Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Critic Tom Paulin once said the following about Terry Pratchett: > > Which is proudly quoted on the back of many a discworld book. And then he did write _Going Postal_ in chapters, complete with in Victorian “In which…” headers, just to annoy him. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/5 "2012-09-07T13:30:21Z")
A thrilling adventure story which breathes life into of the imagined worlds of children. Never does the author forget that “boys will be boys”. _The Lord of the Flies_ Clearly demonstrates the folly of allowing farm animals to manage their own affairs. _Animal Farm_ ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/6 "2012-09-07T13:44:05Z")
An interesting study of the tensions between modern and traditional attitudes to life as an ambitious churchman faces difficulties in both finding a wife and maintaining an advantageous relationship with his principle benefactor. Pride and Prejudice A charming and uplifting novel which continually demonstrates the importance of looking always on the bright side of life, and shows the rewards of positivity. Candide ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/7 "2012-09-07T13:54:21Z")
An amusing story about a midget’s wedding ring. Lord of the Rings ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/8 "2012-09-07T14:16:33Z")
Did you ever wonder what would happen if bunnies could talk? Meet Fiver the dreamer, Hazel, his big brother, and their friend Bigwig, fuzziest of them all. Together they hop into adventure! Watership Down ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/9 "2012-09-07T15:19:34Z")
Entrepreneur struggles with workforce retention during a labor shortage: Schindler’s List ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/10 "2012-09-07T15:23:39Z")
A college student gets a crash course in contract negotiations. Fifty Shades of Grey ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/11 "2012-09-07T16:24:09Z")
The story of one family’s struggle to cope with the cultural change of surviving in the wild. The Jungle ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/12 "2012-09-07T16:46:02Z")
The narrator committed the murder. You’ll never figure it out. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/13 "2012-09-07T21:04:15Z")
Great Britain is under the control of a secret, undemocratic, hereditary cabal, AND IT IS NOT THE ROYAL FAMILY! The Harry Potter Series. ---
**Author:** ![Tara57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Tara57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tara57)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/14 "2012-09-07T21:56:00Z")
Someone stop Jonathan Swift from eating all those babies! ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/15 "2012-09-07T22:34:05Z")
Heart-warming and nostalgic family story about a single father and his children. Set in the Old South, it centers around his thoughtful lessons on which local birds the children can or cant kill. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/16 "2012-09-07T23:20:39Z")
[http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get\_topic;f=95;t=000486;p=1](http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=95;t=000486;p=1) The Lady Chatterley example quoted by Exapno Mapcase above is often quoted as an attempt at a serious review, but was in fact a joke. Bloody good one, mind. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/17 "2012-09-08T01:46:12Z")
> [@Slade](#): > > [http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get\_topic;f=95;t=000486;p=1](http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=95;t=000486;p=1) > > The Lady Chatterley example quoted by Exapno Mapcase above is often quoted as an attempt at a serious review, but was in fact a joke. Bloody good one, mind. If you click the link I gave you’ll get a full history of the hoax. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/18 "2012-09-08T08:55:24Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > If you click the link I gave you’ll get a full history of the hoax. I didn’t realise that. Apologies. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/19 "2012-09-09T02:16:21Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > Heart-warming and nostalgic family story about a single father and his children. Set in the Old South, it centers around his thoughtful lessons on which local birds the children can or cant kill. Okay, I’ll bite - _To Kill a Mockingbird_? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/20 "2012-09-09T06:10:09Z")
A young girl enters a contest. She found what she least expected to find… love. The Hunger Games [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947.md?page=2)