And the reviewer's perspective is dependant on his intelligence. Because if the guy is dumb he will *never* gain any perspective. At least not an interesting, balanced perspective.
Well, absolutely. But at the same time, if someone hasn't read any fantasy/crime/horror/science fiction/romance/19th century fiction/whatever, then they might have an interesting perspective but they're not really going to achieve a balanced one, no matter how smart they are. In general I'm not sure it's possible to separate; I can't think of many reviewers I really respect and think are intelligent who haven't read widely, nor can I think of any that I do respect who aren't perceptive but have read widely.
Naivete reflects on the intelligence of the reviewer, freshness on his experience.
I'm using 'naive' because that's what I use in my day-job: treatment-naive patients. It's not intended to be pejorative. Substitute 'fresh' if you like; I just don't like that word as much.
And like I said, swings and roundabouts. Naive and experienced readings both have their plus points, but in general I prefer the latter, particularly for places like the NYT.
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Date: 2005-08-13 04:14 pm (UTC)Well, absolutely. But at the same time, if someone hasn't read any fantasy/crime/horror/science fiction/romance/19th century fiction/whatever, then they might have an interesting perspective but they're not really going to achieve a balanced one, no matter how smart they are. In general I'm not sure it's possible to separate; I can't think of many reviewers I really respect and think are intelligent who haven't read widely, nor can I think of any that I do respect who aren't perceptive but have read widely.
Naivete reflects on the intelligence of the reviewer, freshness on his experience.
I'm using 'naive' because that's what I use in my day-job: treatment-naive patients. It's not intended to be pejorative. Substitute 'fresh' if you like; I just don't like that word as much.
And like I said, swings and roundabouts. Naive and experienced readings both have their plus points, but in general I prefer the latter, particularly for places like the NYT.