h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'd like to see a section dedicated to reviews.

After the sudden proliferation of literary and film conversations on Ask h2g2 I realised that some people out there sure do read a lot. It would be nice if, perhaps as part of the Post, you could type in the name of a book/film/play to find out what like minded people thought of it before investing your hard earned cash. Yes I know this is really what the help button is for but this get buried in forums and are hard to track down. Where as, if some bored person was to trawl through even just the six or so conversations that have just about run out of steam on Ask h2g2 then we could have Good, mediocre and bad ratings on a large proportion of the books from the local library.

If we ever get a poll function on h2g2 then this would be a useful application for it. A mini review of the book/film which you could either reply to or vote for/against if you wish to agree or disagree.

I think this would count as factual as far as the guide goes because it is like looking up Canterbury and deciding wether to go there or not.

Therefore in the interest of saving me money I whole hartedly recommend a review section somewhere on h2g2. (If there already is one that I just havent managed to find the can someone sign post it better).

Thik of it, the ratings could go from: Too cool for a Beeblebrox to Stinkier thn a pile of Dingoes kidneys. The possibilities are endless.

I'm waffling.

I'll go now

FABT

I'm quite keen to see some well-written reviews of films and books.....only they appear quite irregularly. Too many people think that breaking down the story of a book or a film constitutes a review; this is not the case.

To me, a review should include enoug of the story to explain the review, and the rest ought to deal with how well the telling of the story was executed, whether the characters made sense, how well-paced the material was, references to other works by the same actor ( writer, director, cinematographer) to show their development as professionals......if any glaring errors,w hat were they.....and if the work had its heart in the right place. I've forgiven many awful moments in film because the film genuinely meant well; others I've raked over the coals because the film didn't care.

There's time and space amidst the pages of h2g2 for this to happen in depth, so a brief summary is neither necessary nor desireable if the piece is well-written.

Fruitbat

Yes!

somebody read my post. Even though it was full of typos.
I agree with what you said Eric, I often feel , when watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (for example), that certain things about it are awful but I watch it becaue there are moments of sheer genius and class, not because I am entirely rivited by the plot. This is the case with many of the things I watch and read and so I would, like you, appreciate a review of the quality and style rather than an extended plot summary.

FABT