What I Want to Know from the Back of a Book

Posted on by theageofthediary

Back of the book:

“Splendidly written.”                 “Delightful.”                      “Thought-provoking.”

 “A thrilling read!”                     “Riveting plot.”                

“A brilliant novel.”        “You must read this book!”       “A wonderful book.”

“An imaginative work worthy of high praise.”

“Pages filled with great insights.”         “Enchanting!”              “An excellent novel.”              

–those kinds of blurbs do nothing for me.

What I want to know is what the story is all about. Blurb makers should know that one man’s Shakespeare is another man’s Twiglight. That’s why it doesn’t matter if some big shot critic likes it, what matters is if I like it. I will judge the book, not by what other people have said, but through a glimpse into its content.

The same is true with movie trailers. Filipino movie trailers predominantly come in two ineffective forms: one that drags on for so long that you already know the whole story (so really, what’s the point of watching the movie? There will be no surprises), and the other kind which is a shot of random people or famous artistas coming out of a movie theater gushing generic statements like, Panoorin ninyo, ang ganda! 

I’m not jumping on the bandwagon. What I’d like is a little respect for my own intellect, for my own taste. Tell me what it’s about. Tell me what it’s all about. Then, I’ll decide if it’s worth my money and my time.

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2 thoughts on “What I Want to Know from the Back of a Book”

  1. A real page turner! Hard to put down! A break neck speed story from cover to cover! I think we all have fallen for a book or two touted like that on the back of the book, only to be disappointed.

    I always buy the latest book by my favorite authors, as I am never disappointed. Sometimes, I like a reading break with a novel by a new author, so I buy something different from time to time for a change of pace. My main activities involve the use of a computer but I also take a break from the laptop and put an actual book in my hand to read at least two times each day.

    Have a great week!
    ~ Gary ~

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    1. Yes sometimes those blurbs can really mislead people. I also buy books from my favorite authors. I often want to buy books from unknown authors too, but sometimes I just have no money to take on such risks. What I usually do is I turn to second hand books. If I find a cheap second hand book, then I can buy more books from unknown authors. Or if the blurb at the back has a good description of the contents of the book, then I buy it even though there are no guarantees that it will be good. Oftentimes my purchases have been good, but if the blurbs are vague praises and stuff, then I don’t have enough information about the book, so I decide against buying it.

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