The term overrated is itself overrated, or at least over used. It's snide, and self aggrandizing.
After reading The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac I was perusing online reviews and eventually was reading reviews of Kerouac's most well known novel On The Road.
Most of the reviews were poorly punctuated one sentence bits of finality.
"I loved it.
Hated it.
Pretty good inspirational read
And the dreaded OVERRATED"
I I don't understand why anyone would even bother to post an opinion on something like literature or a film if they weren't going into detail about why they liked it or not. It doesn't add anything to a discussion, and usually these boards are anything but discussion, and it only acts as an outlet to express a limited opinion. One word/sentence reviews, while succinct, are a waste of time and effort for both the author and writer.
Instead I would like to promote actual discussion online. Explain your reasons for why you loved Kerouac's prose or thought it was hamfisted and plotless.
An interesting occurrence on this particular board was the complaints that Kerouac didn't use a plot. I wonder if they understand the definition of the word. Plot = storyline. There is definitely a narrative flow, albeit untraditional there is a story.
Retire the term overrated, because enjoyment is still subjective. You don't like something that so many others loved and were affected by personally? Using the term overrated comes across like you are invalidating all those people's opinions. Maybe I'm stretching a bit, I simply don't like that term, it's lazy.
No more one word/sentence reviews. If you like something do not be afraid to break down the reasons why! The same must be true if you didn't like a film, an album, a piece of literature and so on. If you only have the time for a brief spot, just don't bother.
I don't want to be negative all the time with these diatribes and I assure you that I am very much at peace and would simply like to spark discussion! No more blanket statements! I would be a happy camper.
1 comment:
You should look at the wikipedia article on the history of English. One thing it discusses is the difference in root words. Usually, simpler words are Germanic in origin, while ostentatious words like "ostentatious" tend to be Latin. It's interesting how formal and written English tend to rely on the Latin versions, whereas everyday people tend towards Germanic versions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Germanic_and_Latinate_equivalents_in_English
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