Poor Critic

[Delta40]

I don't get it
why should I?
is this jumble of words true art
or just soggy weet-bix?
I never read what's on
the back of the box
so who am I to critique?
I might write the wrong review
and seem like such a dumb bum
to you
There, I just told the truth.

[PrinceMyshkin]

A lot better than what I read on the back of my cereal box! Fun. Thanks.

[MystyrMystyry]

This expression 'poor critic' - does this refer to someone we all know and love?

I think it's more an honour if anyone around here says anything at all after your post - it says they were moved in whichever capacity to speak to the author

But I have an interpretation of this little ditty - it is in fact an excuse that we've all used for retaining our reticence

Now however much I hold in esteem certain poets and poetesses and particular poems, I find myself unable to comment on how utterly incredible the work was - could it be that I don't want to seem to fawn? And I certainly don't want them to know I've read and re-read and pored over their miraculous words more times than I care to count - and will continue to do so until the sky turns green

There's a feeling that if you say something you're giving the game away -


(if you know what I mean ;) )

But how would this be misinterpreted by the famous author? Probably he would think I was taking the piss and it would be far from my intention to bring about confusion - they may never recover nor compose again

So instead we retire from the wider Litnet scope and say nothing - now a quick review of Water shows a remarkable view score, but an even more remarkable view-to-comment ratio

I don't know how 'views' are tallied - if you have to be registered before they count, if you must be logged in, or what - but if it's the case that anyone can read them the actual view scorecard may be considerably higher

But I've left the path - there are some exemplary critics whose criticism is more often on the mark than off, and these can earn fortunes from the right employer - but you should never ever feel guilty about keeping your silence or seeming dumb - you only need one unanimous success before you can put everything else down to an off day

If, when attempting a review, your interpretation is 'wrong', it doesn't make you a ninny - it makes you an equal genius because you're seeing a side that the author most likely failed to

Never forget that the author - all authors! - don't know everything their creations contain - that the sundry seemingly off-beat remarks are in fact what keeps it alive, that the misinterpretations are actually as valid as those the composer intended (if on a slightly smaller scale)

So there!

[tailor STATELY]

LOL. Even critics learn from there (sic) mistakes.

I wrote the following nothing in response to a number of blatherings I made a while back about my critique skills. The title, (and poem?), "I,I,I,I..." an homage to Ozzy's "Crazy Train" goes beyond the mark, but, I liked it.

"I,I,I,I..."

casting the first stone
yet sinless be not I
help me dear Lord
to gain true repentance
for having a critical eye

1-6-2010

Hopefully I'm learning as much as a critic as I am a wannabe-poet.

Still blathering,
tailor STATELY

[Delta40]

LOL. Even critics learn from there (sic) mistakes.

I wrote the following nothing in response to a number of blatherings I made a while back about my critique skills. The title, (and poem?), "I,I,I,I..." an homage to Ozzy's "Crazy Train" goes beyond the mark, but, I liked it.

"I,I,I,I..."

casting the first stone
yet sinless be not I
help me dear Lord
to gain true repentance
for having a critical eye

1-6-2010

Hopefully I'm learning as much as a critic as I am a wannabe-poet.

Still blathering,
tailor STATELY

alas critiquing is not my skill. 'How many times must I ask you to clean your room?' is as close as I get!

[MorpheusSandman]

I've always fancied myself more as a critic than an artist. I feel more confident and more at home when I'm discussing what I see in others' works more than when I'm creating my own. I think there is a definite art to criticism, just as there's an art to rhetoric, to seeing and understanding the world around you, to logic, to communication. I don't think critics are necessarily more knowledgeable about what makes good and bad poetry (or any art), I just think they're better at expressing what qualities they see, like, and don't like. And, yes, critics learn from their mistakes. I write now for two online film sites (Cinelogue.com and fpscinema.wordpress.com; both as Jonathan Henderson) and I occasionally look back over my older stuff (before I wrote for either) and cringe. It's not necessarily because I'm wrong, but simply because I realize I could've stated this better, or gone deeper with that, or shouldn't have said this, or whatever the case is.

That said, I think everyone should practice criticism. To me, criticism is just a form of answering your own questions, a desire to know why you feel what you feel, why you think what you think, and how that connects with whatever it is that provoked that feeling. I abhor mental stop signs, those points you reach in your mind when you stop asking and trying to answer "why?" Ignorance is bred in the fodder-filled beds of undue certainty. So as long as you're TRYING to answer those questions, and expressing it as criticism, I think you're on the right path. It's better to be wrong and learn from it than to fool yourself into thinking you're right and never putting yourself in a position to correct it.

[deryk]

Hesitation poses as defeat. I love it.