Pooka wrote:

That raises an interesting issue, that of our obligation to both readers and other writers. However, I would find it hard to objectively review a story if the story is not one I find interesting. If anything, let the reviewers each focus on the kinds of stories they like, by genre or story code. I could never rate a snuff story highly no matter how well it was written. The subject is totally non-erotic to me and I could not give a balanced review.

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I understand your point and agree with it to some degree, but once you have started the story and have decided to at least read a significant amount of it, I think it is appropriate to review it.

A restaurant critic should be able to review Greek food, for example, fairly, even if he or she doesn't particularly care for it. A film critic ought to be able to review "Ten", "The Ten Commandments" and "Ten Little Indians" even though it is unlikely that he would appreciate each of those three genres to the same degree. And we experts in erotica (aren't we? <g>) should be able to separate the "writing" of a story from the "subject matter";

(That's not to say that the personal erotic thrill felt by the reviewer of a story should have no bearing on a review; it's certainly a factor. But the quality of the writing should be an important factor, too).

I opened and, somewhat to my surprise, kept reading a very-well written story here that involved bestiality a few weeks ago. Not my kink at all -- but is my kink better than that author's? The setting and the characters were really well done; I gave the story a nice review even though it wasn't erotic to my taste at all.

Snuff stories are very sensitive to some; and I certainly don't search them out. But the death of a character should not in and of itself be opprobrious, I don't think, in a proper setting. A story of a thrill killing utterly without literary value is another matter, of course; that's what the reviews should do -- make distinctions between the two for the potential reader's benefit.

The stories that disappoint me most are the ones whose codes suggest that the story IS in line with my tastes -- in terms of M/F, degree of violence, degree of consensuality, etc -- but still leave me uninvolved because they're poorly done.


Boccaccio

PS Is it "Pooka" as in the Jimmy Stewart film, "Harvey"?

(Harvey was a "pooka" or "pookah" a giant white rabbit (unseen by all but Stewart) who served as something of a benign guardian spirit over the eccentric character played by Stewart, offering timely advice now and then.