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The best thing I can do here is quote lines of criticism that I've never forgotten. Terry Eagleton on Wuthering Heights: 'the institution of the family is founded upon a potentially anarchic force – sexual desire itself – which it must nevertheless strictly regulate.' This is a bit of insight that can be helpfully applied not only to Wuthering Heights but to most fiction, films, and theatre, to say nothing of daily life.
WHAT MAKES A FINE CRITIC?
Clarity, of vision and style. Fearlessness, which is not the same thing as aggression, vanity, or bumptiousness. A sense of humour, including about oneself. The refusal to get into a rut, and indeed the ability to recognise and avoid a rut. A love and a deep knowledge of the relevant art form or cultural activity should go without saying, and if it doesn't, then you're in the wrong business and should get out immediately.
DO YOU ACCEPT MOST BOOKS ON OFFER, OR ARE YOU SELECTIVE?
I write a regular fortnightly column of four short reviews of fiction for the Fairfax press, and it is my job to review what the literary editors choose to send me. Of what they send me, one or two books in ten will be quietly allowed to fall by the wayside. With that, as with long-form reviewing, I will turn down a book if I don't feel happy about reviewing it for any reason (know and like the author; know and dislike the author; don't know enough about the topic/genre/whatever; already overcommitted), but that happens much less often than not.
DO REVIEWERS RECEIVE ENOUGH FEEDBACK FROM EDITORS AND/OR READERS?
I think that depends entirely on the reviewer. Some people need a lot of editing, some people need validation, and some people could use a little feedback from readers other than their immediate fan club. Some don't need any of those things.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF NEGATIVE REVIEWS?
It depends entirely on whether or not they are justified. I don't like hatchet jobs, especially if they were written to show off.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT REVIEWING PEOPLE YOU KNOW?
Uncomfortable, but I've been around these literary traps for so long that I know an awful lot of people in them. And social media, especially Facebook, has made this problem even more difficult. I will turn down a book if I think I have too much of a history with the author, for better or worse, to get any critical distance on it.
WHAT'S A CRITIC'S PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY?
The avoidance of laziness: not to skim, not to fudge, not to gush unless you really mean it, and not to phone it in. A book deserves to be carefully read and seriously considered by all of its reviewers, regardless of the final verdict.
Kerryn Goldsworthy won the 2013 Pascall Prize. A former Editor of ABR (1986–87), she is one of Australia's most prolific and respected literary critics.
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