Post 5 - Review of the Story

Post 5 – Review of the Story

 

The first two reviews listed on Amazon both gave the book 5 stars, the top rating.  They said the story was good and once you start it, you can’t put the book down.

The third review gave the book the lowest rating.  It offered no specifics, said only that it was the worst book the reviewer had ever read, a middle school student could write that well.  It also says the reviewer read the entire story.  If the story was that bad, why did the reviewer read the entire story?

When I wrote the story, I attempted to arouse the curiosity of the readers so they would want to continue until the problems mentioned at the beginning were all solved.  Apparently, the story succeeded at that, even for the reviewer who said it is the wost book she ever read. 

I know nothing about that reviewer, except she apparently has a very high opinion of her knowledge concerning the rules for good writing.  When Mark Twain read a scathing review by a pseudointellectual literary critic, his response was to thank the critic for the review that he was finding useful, and he said that he was using it as toilet paper. 

Twain’s novel, Huckleberry Finn, was banned from many public libraries as literary trash because it did not follow the rules of good writing, rules that the self-proclaimed experts of his day considered sacred.  That novel now is recognized as a literary breakthrough, it broke the shackles that bound early American literature.

I am no Mark Twain, but I also admit that I do not follow the rules that are important to many literary critics.  My major experience is in technical writing, so I write to express, not to impress.  I take the reader from the beginning to the end, with very little literary flourish.  A technical writer is a minimalist, avoids unnecessary words that give the reader nothing useful.  I also have experience in telling folklore stories.  When I complete telling a story, I stop writing.  I have noticed that many novel writers do not realize when their story ends and they keep going after the story’s purpose has been reached.  I consider that a mistake.

I am eager to learn from constructive criticism, but I do not find anything I can learn from the information this critical reviewer posted on Amazon. 

I wish her success with her own writing, whether she strictly follows all the rules or not.  She can write to follow the rules, or she can write about a subject, or she can write to tell a story. I was writing to tell a story to readers who are curious about the Mayan Mystery, that's all.  The rules were merely a necessary aggravation, some I followed and some I did not.

 

 

Self-review by the author.

 

This story has two themes.  The title theme is ‘The Mayan Mystery,’ that is mentioned early but it is not the major theme.  ‘Finding purpose’ is the major theme, and the reader discovers that theme later.

At the beginning of the story, Kelli, the main character, has a severe problem that is bothering her so much she tries to run away from it.  The reader does not know the problem, Kelli believes she does.

When Kelli reaches Belize, she meets Dot, an elderly lady with two problems, Dot is trying to find the answer to the Mayan Mystery and she is also on the brink of financial disaster while trying to care for her disabled husband.

Throughout the story, these two characters each struggle with their personal problems.  Kelli offers to help Dot find the answer to the Mayan Mystery, and as the two of them study the ways of the ancients, they apply what they learn to their own problems. 

They discover the answer to the Mayan Mystery.  Then, each of them finds a new purpose for their life, a purpose they had realized many years previously, but each had become distracted and had wandered off onto another path.

The story begins with Kelli searching for an answer to her problem, it ends when she realizes that her problem is that she has strayed from her purpose and she makes the decision to return to the path she should have been following,