The Third Shelf Down: Literary Criticism and Discussion

Being the bibliophile that I am, I thought it might be a reasonable idea to start putting some reviews out there. Or that seems to be the basic idea, in any case. This post is mainly just to give a little background and insight into my own habits, to help the more discerning readers detect the biases that I myself am unable to eliminate in my work.

To start off, it's best to understand that I am the type of person that will basically read anything that's put in front of me. I tend not to be terribly picky in that sense- anything is worth a try, at least, but my opinions afterward can vary greatly. As such, I tend to read things even if they are by an author I greatly dislike, and to be perfectly honest I am somewhat doubtful that those reviews will be posted as often. I am often quite scathing when irritated.

As to my personal taste, it varies. I tend to drift towards the more experimental, as I find the originality involved fascinating. As a result I quite like titles along the lines of Calvino's If On a Winter's Night a Traveler. I also have a bit of a passion for magical-realism- Kafka, Murakami Haruki, and company are all enthralling to me. Other titles I am considerably fond of vary without much of a common thread, although many of them do contain a fair amount of philosophical musing. The Little Prince, The Divine Comedy, and many others fall into this category. On the more contemporary end, I've recently enjoyed the works of Jesse Ball (Samedi the Deafness, The Way Through Doors) as well as some slightly more mainstream works like The Book Theif. I will make a conscious effort to include both contemporary and classical titles in my reviewing cycle.

Speaking of the reviewing, I think it's best to move forward an explain a bit. I like to give scores out of 100. For literature, I tend not to have a specific rubric, but thoroughly explain my reasoning instead, as I feel that the pure written word is more of composium of elements rather than a building constructed of multiple blocks, if that makes any sort of sense. On the off chance that I ever do include a review of some other sort of medium- film, music, or perhaps even manga if the mood and title are appropriate- then a rubric may be included due to the visual and/or sonic elements. In any case, the average score is aimed at 50, rather than, say, 75, so it would be best not to think of things as succeeding or failing in the sense of the American school system.

In any case, if you did happen to stumble across my page here, welcome, and I hope you enjoy the work. I cannot promise any sort of regular schedule, but I'll make an effort for an inclusion every 1-2 weeks or so. As I live and study in Japan, things can get hectic at times.