# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/21 "2012-09-10T18:31:14Z")
A partially autobiographical, partially allegorical, partially historical book written a long, long time ago that chronicles the rise and fall of several cultures, and their struggles with the forces of Hatred, Love, prejudice, oppression, slavery, jealousy, anger, envy, greed, and demagoguery. People today have fashioned their lives (and sometimes their clothing) after this book. Several movies exist based on this book The Bible You were expecting Star Wars IV: A New Hope? ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/22 "2012-09-10T18:33:15Z")
> [@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. Song of the South? ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/23 "2012-09-16T00:51:40Z")
_House of Leaves_ bogs down tremendously in the middle with numerous branching, circular footnotes and text inserts. It borders on being difficult to navigate or even find one’s own place. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/24 "2012-09-16T01:13:05Z")
Be yourself. Moby Dick ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/25 "2012-09-16T12:25:51Z")
“Equal parts ghost story, political intrigue, doomed romance, and murder mystery…” These are real quotes from the advertising material for a current production of HAMLET (Writer’s Theatre in Chicago), cracked me up totally. ---
**Author:** ![Snerky\_Snerk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Snerky\_Snerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snerky_Snerk)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/26 "2012-09-16T13:28:59Z")
A Hiker’s guide to America. In this remarkable series of books, you will travel from the Eastern Atlantic coast, to Maine in the West. Across deserts and through forrests, you will read of an America you never dreamed existed. Along the way there are ghost towns to be explored, small communities almost frozen in time, and unbelievable landscapes. This is a wonderous account of one man’s journey, the people he meets along the way, and most of all, America. 5 stars. The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/27 "2012-09-16T14:17:56Z")
> [@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. Charming side-story about the children befriending a local retarded man. (yes, Mockingbird; tho Song of South shows you were getting there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/28 "2012-09-16T14:18:19Z")
A fictionalized investigation of the overriding and determinate role of seasonality and weather in human relations. A Song of Ice and Fire ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/29 "2012-09-16T15:49:23Z")
A couple more non-original ones: > [@](#): > > A young girl, lost in a surreal landscape, kills the first person she meets. She then joins forces with three, psychologically damaged strangers in order to kill again. The Wizard of Oz.And: > [@](#): > > How unlike the home life of our own dear Queen! Anthony and Cleopatra (I think. Possibly Macbeth. Supposedly uttered by a theater-goer during the Victorian era.) And, somewhat in similar vein, there is, of course > [@](#): > > Other than that, how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/30 "2012-09-16T17:26:46Z")
While the book boasts a magnificent cast of colorful characters, from our protagonist the aardvark to his eventual confrontation with the zebra, I found the writing to be lacking in cohesion. The plot was difficult to determine, and at times I got the sense that the author felt a desperate urge to impress us with his knowledge of common and uncommon terminology alike. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/31 "2012-09-16T18:12:16Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > While the book boasts a magnificent cast of colorful characters, from our protagonist the aardvark to his eventual confrontation with the zebra, I found the writing to be lacking in cohesion. The plot was difficult to determine, and at times I got the sense that the author felt a desperate urge to impress us with his knowledge of common and uncommon terminology alike. You owe me a keyboard, or at least some wipes. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/32 "2012-09-17T01:46:50Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > While the book boasts a magnificent cast of colorful characters, from our protagonist the aardvark to his eventual confrontation with the zebra, I found the writing to be lacking in cohesion. The plot was difficult to determine, and at times I got the sense that the author felt a desperate urge to impress us with his knowledge of common and uncommon terminology alike. Oh, that’s good! Best one yet, IMO! ---
**Author:** ![President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/President_Johnny_Gentle)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/33 "2012-09-17T02:17:42Z")
A man must choose between his older sibling and the woman he loves. In the end, he realizes that his love for his family member must take precedence. 1984 > [@typoink](#): > > _House of Leaves_ bogs down tremendously in the middle with numerous branching, circular footnotes and text inserts. It borders on being difficult to navigate or even find one’s own place. Funny, I thought it was just another dry and boring story about a haunted house. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/34 "2012-09-17T02:47:34Z")
The author jumps from one topic to another, and gets bogged down with endless moralizing, often contradictory. The main character - often heard from but rarely seen - seems to be everywhere at once, defying logic. And the book’s at least ten times as long as it needs to be. The Bible. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/35 "2012-09-17T09:08:19Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > A young girl enters a contest. She found what she least expected to find… love. > > The Hunger Games I for one don’t think this review misses the point at all. The damn things were pretty much just a window dressed love story IMO. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/36 "2012-09-17T09:23:27Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The author jumps from one topic to another, and gets bogged down with endless moralizing, often contradictory. The main character - often heard from but rarely seen - seems to be everywhere at once, defying logic. And the book’s at least ten times as long as it needs to be. > > The Bible. Oh, you got me there, you Collectivist! ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/37 "2012-09-17T10:53:47Z")
Not only did this book offer no new insights into our hobby, would it kill the publishers to include basics like Scottish timetables, a check list of current rolling stock or perhaps some nice illustrations(like the re-engineered class 57) ? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/38 "2012-09-17T11:26:39Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > I for one don’t think this review misses the point at all. The damn things were pretty much just a window dressed love story IMO. Hrm, I haven’t read them, but from my viewing of the movie and from what my wife confirms is more explicit in the first book, the “love story” is basically manufactured by the protagonist in order to get support from the audience. Is this not so? ---
**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 17, 2012, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/39 "2012-09-17T11:38:03Z")
A morality tale that will teach children the consequences of gluttony. The Very Hungry Caterpillar The paranoid author’s dystopian view of the future, mercifully, has been proven to be completely obsolete. 1984 ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947/40 "2012-09-17T20:31:07Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The author jumps from one topic to another, and gets bogged down with endless moralizing, often contradictory. The main character - often heard from but rarely seen - seems to be everywhere at once, defying logic. And the book’s at least ten times as long as it needs to be. > > The Bible. Literally, (ouch) There are at least a dozen “major” authors. (Moses, David, Solomon, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, the Major Prophets)) and an equal number of “minor” authors (The minor Prophets, Jude, and James). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/review-a-book-while-totally-missing-the-point/633947.md?page=3)