Michael Orthofer: commitment

Transcript context

…I quote: “Passable ultra‑lite fare.” Here’s another one: “Typical Carlotto tale of justice in a flawed world.” So there’s something reductionist. Here’s one — you were very enthusiastic — “Nicely done.” I know those are shorter capsules for broader, more detailed reviews, but this mix between the blasé and the enthusiasm and how willing you are to just retreat into like, “Eh” — that’s what I find so intriguing about Literary Saloon. Is there anything you would say to that? I hope people use the site in that way. In a way my reviews presuppose familiarity with the site. I assume that people — they look up a couple of reviews, and they get an idea of what this person is doing. The capsule reviews, I think, are a counterbalance to the longer reviews, in which, often, I will be more enthusiastic. This ultra‑lite novel — I gave it a B. It’s perfectly competently done, but it’s just a vacuous, problematic — there’s so little to it, but it’s still perfectly readable. I hope I explained that fully in the review itself. You did.…

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