instead of one giant review, I'm going to post (much) shorter "impressions" here in this thread.
I think the purpose of a review/impression should be to help others make the decision if the book is worth buying or not. All this stuff about paper thickness and cover quality, and quotes and italics, are not very helpful in this respect. I think if you take time to write something, you could have done a much better service by writing a few words/impressions about the actual content rather than concentrating about packaging. Just personal opinion.
You know the saying: don't judge a book by its cover? Yes?
- Bantari
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WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!
RobertJasiek wrote:Poor Ed. He seems to intend writing a lot about the book and is scolded for not already having finished...
In this case, my apologies. I got mislead by the ass-backward approach. I seriously expected to lead with the important stuff and and then fizzle down to paper thickness.
But, of course, you are correct. Again - my apologies.
- Bantari
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WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!
Not really impressed with impressions on the physical nature of the book. Still waiting for impressions on what the content of the book is about, who the book is suitable for, how the book might help people improve their game, etc.
I think book reviews are normally mainly written for the audience of potential book purchasers rather than for the publisher of the book to provide minor corrections in subsequent editions.
I do not base book buying decisions on whether there are poorly placed italics or quotation marks. If the content is worthwhile, those are very forgivable. On the other hand, I have bought some old Chinese books before where some of the diagram pictures depicting moves in go games were utterly unreadable because of poor printing. That would be something worth mentioning as a caution to potential buyers.
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RobertJasiek wrote:I am a native German. I write the books in English.
It definitely still shows, but I noticed that the quality of your English in your last books has improved. ... TBH, it’s still not enough for my taste, sometimes it is really painful to read it, especially if one can imagine your German thoughts behind a sentence. (I’m also German, but I began speaking English at age of four, reading/writing DE and EN at age of five.)
I was also offered a free copy in exchange for an evaluation. I instead decided to buy the book by myself with the intention of writing an evaluation. I read the book and made extensive notes as Ed did. But I failed to post the evaluation. I didn't want to be a nitpicker but on the other hand Robert's English often irritated me. ( I admit, mine is not too good either, but I don't write go books ). I am only 6 or 7 kyu and I don't feel strong enough to comment much about the content. It definitely helps me to get another understanding of the game and of how to fight and the goals behind fighting. At the same time I feel I learnt a lot of the same practical things but maybe in another way, with another approach from Attack and Defence. So in line with Bonobo I think the book is worth reading but you must be willing to digest sandpaper ( Though probably Bonobo is correct that the English has improved). The physical quality of the book is good enough and I don't mind too much about the typography as the diagrams are very good. Easy to read with good explanations and error free ( or at leat almost ).
@Robert: My barber advises me to sit dead still when he shaves me.( poorly translated from Dutch )
I guess I should clarify that, no matter how critical I wrote about their language and typography, RJ’s books (not only this one) are worth reading, they have highly educative content, and I have the impression I learn a lot from them.
Regards, Tom
“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali
cyclops wrote:I didn't want to be a nitpicker but on the other hand Robert's English often irritated me.
Hi cylops, I also find this an important area. Originally, I was going to start with this, since this was in fact the first thing I noticed after the excellent paper quality. But I have not yet found a nice way to present it. So I wrote my other impressions first.
cyclops wrote:My barber advises me to sit dead still when he shaves me.( poorly translated from Dutch )
May I ask what's the original Dutch version (I know zero Dutch; I'm just curious), and what does it mean (also curious ).
lemmata wrote:Ed, is it possible to edit your later posts into the OP? That might make it easier to read later.
Hi lemmata, Thanks for your suggestion -- that's not my original intention, but perhaps it's possible. Later. Maybe much later. A detailed read and analysis of the book may take me a long time -- I mean months or years. (See also this thread .) So for the time being, I'm keeping this bloggish-journalish "impressionist" style.
Ed Lee wrote:May I ask what's the original Dutch version (I know zero Dutch; I'm just curious), and what does it mean (also curious ).
Als je geschoren wordt, moet je stilzitten. When you get shaved you'd better sit still. ( Obviously a good advice unless you want your throat to be cut ). Meaning: When it is your turn ( to be criticized / to be evaluated / to be analysed) you'd better wait quitly until it is over.
It is meant as an advice not as a demand. If the barber asks a question the victim answers very politely and briefly ( mind you ). A too long answer might be cut off;)
Hi cyclops, Thanks. Very interesting. For some reason I had not imagined the shaving of facial hair. I only visualized shaving of the scalp -- so a bad result would be a funny haircut, not blood on the throat.
Fighting Fundamentals is the first and only book I have that is written by Robert.
Based on this book, my general impression is that Robert is quite thorough in his Go research, and that he works very hard and has put a tremendous amount of effort into it. These are good qualities.
In general, when he introduces a new term, concept, or idea, he either defines it or gives an explanation of it. Then, he shows some examples. The examples can come from a local or whole board position. In some cases, he gives examples from pro games.
In some cases, his definitions feel strange or unnatural to me. I give some examples in the next few posts.
).