I don’t know what stars align on Tuesdays but it seems to be the day when a good deal of my writing gets published. It has happened often; it has happened again today.
First, I have a review of Nick Carr’s The Shallows on the Thoughtwrestling blog today.
I also have a brief piece on accountability and transparency in government in today’s Fredericton Daily Gleaner titled, Tell me no lies and show me your ledgers.
That piece, the accountability one, seemed to take forever to write despite how brief it is and how apparently slight it appears to be. I wrote it on Sunday when the weather in Fredericton was wet, warm and incredibly muggy, leaving me feeling tired and sluggish and lobotomized. Writing felt like trudging through sticky mud. But it got done …
As for the review of The Shallows … It brings up an interesting question. I point out at the end, in a note, that I haven’t finished reading the book. I’m at the midway point. But I don’t read quickly and, perhaps more significantly, I am most engaged and eager to talk about a book as I’m reading; less so later when I’ve moved on to another.
Is it right to review something when you haven’t completed it? Is it even a review? Maybe it’s better to refer to it as an assessment (though that essentially means the same thing). I don’t know.
What do you think?
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