Links for 2011-08-30

"Now, it's true, the storm did not particularly batter New York City. And I think anyone with an ounce of compassion and decency would view that as an overwhelmingly good thing. A major hurricane battering the largest city in America would be a bad thing.

But declaring immediately as Irene passed that it had done no damage, that it had been of no consequence, seemed rather haughty. After all, Irene had not merely struck New York City. It affected states as far south as North Carolina, and as far north as the Canadian border (not to mention Canada itself). And declaring this while rain was still falling on New York City seemed especially egregious; as those of us whose memories stretched back five years and 364 days could remember, the worst damage to come from a hurricane doesn't always present itself immediately."

"UK-based writer Damien Walter took exception on Twitter to my notation a few days ago that science fiction fandom was cheerfully ignoring condescending critiques of this year's slate of Hugo winners, which precipitated a lively exchange between the two of us on the subject of criticism. For those of you who want to check out the back and forth, it's all there on Twitter; have fun with it.

What I want to do now, however, is talk more generally about the fine art of criticism, when to listen to it, and how to have it listened to. These thoughts come from my own two-decade experience as a professional critic (primarily in film, although I have also been a pro critic for music, books and video games), and also my experience in the last decade of being critiqued on my written work. So there's a little bit of perspective from both sides of the fence."