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

Ali,

Thanks for your review... As you say, I appreciate honesty, but was disappointed to receive such venomous and disparaging feedback.

I'd toyed with the idea of responding to your posting, but finally decided that, from one literary enthusiast to another, I would at least try and justify the 'jumble of complicated words' that seems so grievously to have offended you.

I'm new to this website,and unfamiliar with its contributors. After reading your review, however, I took the time to look at some of your own writing, at least to assess the calibre of the person judging me so critically. I have to admit, the pieces I read were extremely well-written, challenging, and enjoyable. I've no doubt that you have an exceptional ability as a writer, and I can only compliment you to this extent.

However, I was disappointed that someone of such literary pedigree would be so intolerant of another's style. I'll offer a caveat here - it was probably a mistake to enter the piece under the 'short story' banner, when (as I'd attempted to qualify in the introduction) it's really an extract from a novel. But your appraisal of the piece, whatever its failings, came across as condescending and potentially hypocritical. If anything, can I ask that you don't treat any other user of this website in such a heavy-handed fashion?

I'm embarking on my first purposeful foray into writing, having read the Classics at university (perhaps contributing towards the antiquated and 'aggrandised' style). I understand all too well the concepts and conventions that are assimilated into a piece of writing, even if I may fail to produce such work myself. However, I find the criticism that the passage was unnecessarily verbiose far too wholesale a comment to be taken seriously. Words don't just jump out of the dictionary. My writing at least tries to create something cohesive and fluent in both sense and metre. I use 'pompous' words as my medium. Essentially, that's the narrative voice through and through - a dislikeable, pompous twat who criticises everything but himself; a mysogynist, a hypocrite. A product of human frailty, tragic in himself. Please don't disparage something at face value because you think the writer is incapable of controlling the words at his disposal.

Essentially, I have to take responsibility for wrongly posting the work - it's not a stand-alone story, but part of a psychological portrait of the narrator amidst the pathos of the human condition (incidentally, Incipient Mediocrity was a rapidly churned out and self-effacing title, reflecting the individual's tragic attempts at greatness). Trite? Over-egged? Maybe. But it's a concept that's dear to my heart, having studied such texts as the Iliad and Ovid's Metamorphoses. Your comments were honest, and helped me assess my own approach to writing, but I just wonder how much thought went into your overt condemnation of my work.

I don't mean for this to come across as aggressive or critical, because I've respect for your own creations. Thanks if you've read this far (I hope I've not broken some unwritten rule of the website by responding in person like this), and I'd be grateful for any further comments should you wish to make them.

Ali

Oh dear...

Like I said, I don't like giving negative reviews - partly because the reviewee tends to take them too much to heart, and regard them as a personal attack.

But take another look at the final paragraph of the piece you posted and try to re-read it objectively, perhaps you will see what I mean.

My review wasn't an overt condemnation of your work - I have only read one story of it, after all. I attempted to provide a frank, and hopefully useful assessment of the work as seen. Its called criticism.

As for your academic record - from reading the piece you posted you have a strange idea of metre for a classicist. I have a degree in Ancient History and studied the classics extensively at University - I still do. I am doing another degree now. If crowing about your undoubted intelligence and dropping names like Homer and Ovid is supposed to aggrandize a response to a review, then I'm afraid its wasted on me.

This site is extremely useful in helping new writers hone their skills, critiques are not always positive. Please take my criticism in the spirit it was meant. As I said in my review, you have obvious writing ability - but on the evidence thus far seen, and in my opinion, you are trying far, far too hard.

Cheers,

Ali.

Ali,

Thanks for your reply. As you rightly point out, my work needs improvement. I can identify far more closely with your subsequent comments, which are just a little more specific. I'm not averse to criticism, just as long as I can see where it's directed.

As for the name-drops... I agree that it would be a little gratuitous if it wasn't a genuine comment. As a classicist yourself, I expect you'll agree that the mortal condition is the principal theme of the Iliad, and is implicitly attributed to the narrator in Ovid's Met. I used these references because they're relevant to the work I'm trying to produce, and because they are a huge point of reference for me.

I'll concede the point about metre. That wasn't a specific reference to the classical metres I'd studied, but I'm trying to create an arrangement of sounds and rhythms. Sometimes it fails.

I'm genuinely grateful for your insight. It's good to have an objective and (however hard to stomach) brutal appraisal of one's work. The more I've written since producing that passage, the more I've found that trying too hard isn't the answer, and I'm yet to produce anything of the same intensity.

At the end of the day I've nothing to gain by blindly defending my work against what was after all an honest review. Name-dropping, crowing etc. was never my intention. I'm in a job where all my colleagues come from the same educational background as myself, and it's just meaningless to brag about such things. I meant it simply to be explanatory.

I'm sure you'll agree with me that it's best to draw a line under this topic. More words have probably been exchanged than were in the passage, and you've better things to concern yourself with than another writer's work.

I'll just reiterate my thanks, and wish you well in your history / classics degree. I've been out of the game for a couple of years now, and miss a good argument like anything!

Ali

Sorry, just to clarify... The below wasn't intended as an argument!!