Book Review ppt

2. Presented by,
S.ARUN JOSEPH.
M.L.I.Sc 4th semester.
No : 1
D.L.I.S.
University of Kerala.
Seminar on

4.  Books, once considered the
pinnacle of human civilization
 So what’s a book review? And what
makes a book review good or bad?
 A book review is a form of literary
criticism in which a book is
analyzed based on content, style,
and originality

5.  A book review can be a primary
source opinion piece, summary
review or scholarly review
 Such a review may evaluate the
book on the basis of personal taste
 There are many special journals
devoted to book reviews and they are
indexed in special databases such as
Book Review Index, and Kirkus
Reviews

6. A book review is a description,
critical analysis, and an evaluation
on the quality, meaning, and
significance of a book, not a
retelling. It should focus on the
book's purpose, content, and
authority

8. 1) Write a statement giving
essential information about
the book: title, author, first
copyright date, type of book,
general subject matter, special
features (maps, color plates,
etc.), price and ISBN.

9. 2) State the author’s purpose
in writing the book.
Sometimes authors state their
purpose in the preface or the
first chapter

10. 3) State the theme and the thesis of the book.
a. Theme: The theme is the subject or topic. It is
not necessarily the title, and it is usually not
expressed in a complete sentence. It expresses a
specific phase of the general subject matter.
b. Thesis: The thesis is an author’s
generalization about the theme, the author’s beliefs
about something important, the book’s
philosophical conclusion, or the proposition the
author means to prove. Express it without
metaphor or other figurative language, in one
declarative sentence.

11. 4) Explain the method of
development-the way the
author supports the thesis.
Illustrate your remarks with
specific references and
quotations

12. o Description
o Narration
o Exposition
o Argument

13. 5) Evaluate the book for interest,
accuracy, objectivity, importance,
thoroughness, and usefulness to its
intended audience. Show whether the
author's main arguments are true.
Respond to the author's opinions

14. 6) Try to find further information
about the author - reputation,
qualifications, influences,
biographical, etc. - any information
that is relevant to the book being
reviewed and that would help to
establish the author's authority

15. 7) If relevant, make note of
the book's format - layout,
binding, typography, etc. Are
there maps, illustrations? Do
they aid understanding?

16. 8) Check the back matter. Is the
index accurate? Check any end
notes or footnotes as you read from
chapter to chapter. Do they provide
important additional information?
Do they clarify or extend points
made in the body of the text?

17. 9) Summarize (briefly), analyze,
and comment on the book’s
content. State your general
conclusions. Pay particular
attention to the author's concluding
chapter

18. Book review magazines

19.  American Book Review
 Black Issues Book Review
 The Bloomsbury Review
 Book Review Index
 Book review
 Booklist
 Bookmarks (magazine)
 Bookseller and Publisher
(Australian magazine)
 Bukla Magazine
 Children's literature
periodicals
 Claremont Review of Books
 Fore Word Reviews
 Jewish Review of Books
 Kirkus Reviews
 Library Journal
 The Lion and the Unicorn
(journal)
 Literary Review
 London Review of Books
 Los Angeles Review of
Books
 Midwest Book Review
 The New York Review of
Books

20. Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens
Get it from
Amazon.com: Oliver
Twist

21. I had read several abridged "kiddie" versions of Oliver Twist when
I was in middle school, and as a teen I was semi-addicted to the
1960's musical adaptation Oliver! so I thought that I knew all
there was to know about this famous British literary urchin. Not
so. Actually sitting down to read the full version of Oliver Twist
has shown me that the original story is much more clever, and
much darker, than I had anticipated.
Young Oliver is born in a workhouse, and although his single
mother dies in childbirth and leaves him with no one to give him
true care or attention, Oliver thrives, in a certain sense. He grows
up in this workhouse, and the horrors of his childhood can seem
all the worse because of the light comic tone of the narration.
Charles Dickens is always a wonderful author for pointing out
hypocrisy, cruelty, and social injustices, but though it's good to be
made aware of the evils of the day, it can still be hard to read
about children starving and being beaten. 9-year-old Oliver's
situation is so dire, it's a relief when he escapes to London and
finds himself trapped in a life of crime! At least when he's with the
criminal gang of pickpockets, he gets to eat.

22. Notes on Oliver: I notice that Oliver speaks just a tad on the
aristocratic side, when compared with the other boys in the book.
He just doesn't have the same penchant for slang and sauciness as
his peers. On this read-through, I also perceive for the first time
that Oliver himself isn't all that interesting. He's 100%
sympathetic--you want to save him and nurture him, but aside
from his general goodness, he's a bit of a blank canvas. He's so
incorruptibly pure, it's like it doesn't occur to him that anyone
could possibly be deceptive or dishonest, which is why he's no
good at thievery even after receiving some training.
One thing that hasn't changed for me while reading the book: I'm
still ridiculously fond of the Artful Dodger. He wears a jauntily
tilted hat and a gigantic tail-coat with rolled up sleeves, and he's
altogether grubby, which makes him look like the coolest
homeless middle-school-aged kid in literature, aside from
Huckleberry Finn. He's got this big store of worldly knowledge
and Oliver relates to Dodger like he's a bizarre type of grown-up,
but as you're reading, you know that Dodger's really just a kid.

23. Things that surprised me: There's an entire main character in Oliver
Twist that didn't appear in any adaptation I read or saw until now--
Monks, Oliver's half-brother! Wow. I scarcely know what to do with
the fact that there's this whole important person in the book itself, and
yet he's so ultimately inconsequential to the heart of the story. Monks
isn't much of a villain when compared to the murderous, abusive
awfulness of Bill Sikes, and just adding more family drama to Oliver's
origin story isn't all that interesting. I think the adaptations had the
right idea when they removed him.
Favorite quotes:
"It's all over, Mrs. Thingummy!' said the surgeon at last." (pg. 3)
'A clean shirt,' thought Oliver, 'is a very comfortable thing; and so are
two pairs of darned stockings; and so is a penny; but they are small
helps to a sixty-five miles' walk in winter time.' (pg. 63)

26.  A book review .(n.d). Retrieved on April 17, 2013, from,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_review
 The following are. (April,2009). Retrieved on April 17, 2013,
from, http://www.lavc.edu/library/bookreview.html
 Book review magazines.(n.d). Retrieved on April 17, 2013,
from,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Book_review_magazines
 Book Review: Oliver Twist.(April,2012). Retrieved on April
17, 2013, from,
http://tigersallconsumingbooks.blogspot.in/2012/04/book-
review-oliver-twist-by-charles.html