November 2009
4 posts
“Better the rudest work that tells a story or records a fact, than the richest...”
– John Ruskin in The Seven Lamps of Architecture by the man himself
“I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an...”
– Samuel Johnson in The Life of Samuel Johnson by [his gopher] James Boswell
10 tags
A.O. Scott's Teeth
I said in this review that I thought the New Yorker film review should be the most righteously accurate film review there is. That was a little unfair given that the current holder of that title is another of those heir-apparent rags that are obligated to be excellent in some ways simply because of the size of their reputations. I don’t mean to make the New York Times blush by going on about its...
6 tags
The New Yorker Can Do Better
This article concerns the first half of David Denby’s article, “Gods and Victims” for The New Yorker which ran on Oct 5, 2009.
*A caveat: as with all reviews that score under 7.0, my criticism below only applies to this one example of the writer’s work. Reviews over 7.0, conversely, speak to the overall skill of pen and fortitude of intellect of the writer in question.*
I find the New Yorker’s...