Busy-busy

[altivo]

Now that Summer Reading is really over with, things have slowed down a bit at work, though I've been battling an unresponsive vendor much of the last week.

More demos to do tomorrow, must prepare this evening. So I'm going to cheat and rather than do a full entry, just post a link to a review that I wrote today of a furry book:

Review of Nurk: the Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew by Ursula Vernon (ursulav)

Comments

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

A horse cheating? You'll have to hand in your equine liscence ;)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'm unlicensed. The US considers horses irrelevant. We don't use oil, hence this administration of oil barons has no use for us except as cheap meat to sell to Italy and Japan.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Yes there are a lot of equine prostitutes about in those countries, they like size.

[songcoyote.livejournal.com]

Hooray for Nurk and for Ursula! I adore her work, as you well know.

My only question is: why 4 apples and not 4.5 or 5? You didn't seem to bring up any direct criticism in your review that would reveal why it wasn't a "perfect" book for its genre. Not that I fault your rating - just wondering about the mental process involved in it.

Have a joyous weekend, and know that thou art snuggled even from afar :)

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

[altivo.livejournal.com]

As with Brian Jacques' Redwall stories, I gave this one four apples because it lacks, in my opinion, the depth and living spark of the works to which I've awarded the full five. A four apple book is still an excellent and entertaining read, but a five apple book has moral or personal elements that touch the heart or soul directly.

Ursula's little book is funny, Nurk is entertaining as a character and there's nothing to dislike about him. On the other paw, Ben Goodridge's Tay or Tim Susman's Melinda have to deal with and adapt to the really big issues of life that we all encounter in one form or another, and they do so successfully. ;D

[songcoyote.livejournal.com]

That makes sense - thank you for illuminating your thought process. I can see how stories predicated on a more "good vs. evil", black and white morality would not get the full 5, and similarly, stories that are excellent but "merely" fun hang around 4 or so. Or something like that.

(If that seems an oversimplification of your criteria, it's just because I'm trying to encapsulate an interpretation of someone else's ideas, an inherently imperfect exercise, yet one in which I continue to enjoy indulging. It's certainly not meant to trivialize your approach!)

In a similar vein: The Incredibles might therefore receive a higher rating than, say, Lion King, because the former touches our real lives more directly and clearly? (Not that Lion King fails entirely to include some lessons useful in daily life, but The Incredibles is richer with them and easier to connect to, at least in my opinion.)

Or alternately, Nurk vs. Digger. (Though on second thought they are a little hard to compare; they have such different approaches and audiences. I'll do it anyway :) Digger takes specific time to talk about morality, social issues, religion, etc. - far more than many webcomics. Maybe Digger vs. um... well.. most webcomics, actually :)

And now I'm out of time for today, so I'll end that before I dig myself in too deep. Once again, have a great weekend!

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

[altivo.livejournal.com]

You more or less have the idea. A five apple rating is reserved for work that I think will survive in the long term (or at least should) while a four is somewhat more shallow and ephemeral in this case. A four might also indicate significant minor flaws in the work, but none so serious as to make it unreadable. In Nurk's case, it's the former, not the latter.

I've given threes to things I think should be read for one reason or another, though they may not be the nicest reading experience for many people. Anything below a three I'm not likely to post here because I don't feel it's my place to wax that critical. I just assume someone else will come along and post a more favorable review based on their own opinion and interests.

My limited experience with Digger leaves me unable to rate or comment on it other than to say "I didn't get it" when I looked at it, and there seemed to be an excess of violence at the time (which may have been an aberration, I don't know.)

There is much about Ursula Vernon that I can't pretend to understand. The glimpses she gives us of her personal life, for instance, are on the edge of the alien for me. Some of her art falls into a similar category, though I have no problem with the things that are just witty or bizarre, like biting pears or killer radishes. It could be that Nurk has content that went right over my head, though I suspect not.