Don't Simply Believe What You See First

I chose the predictable route and examined One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on Amazon. I found two versions of the book on the site, and I read both of the pages. To be honest, I have never really paid much attention to book reviews. I normally pick up a book to read by friend's recommendations or I read the back of the book. Do you read book reviews before reading the actual book? The site includes reviews by official publications:

"A glittering parable of good and evil." —The New York Times Book Review

"A roar of protest against middlebrow society’s Rules and the Rulers who enforce them." —Time

These short reviews compared to reader's extensive posts decreases the helpfulness. They are really vague also, so they do not provide much substance.

The book distributor website offers a nice function that shows you the highest rated reviews first, so all of the ones on the front page are positive. It is really interesting to see that readers do put in a lot of time crafting their response. They provide background information about Kesey to contextualize the gist of the novel and some recap some of the novel too and they finally write their own take on the novel and what they took away after reading it. Reading the insightful reviews really does make me excited to read the book. Some examples:

"I recommend you run, not walk, to get this book."

"I was, forever inspired and ultimately liberated in mind to finally realize that you can take away a man's life, but never his freedom."

Some of these people are really selling the book. Naturally, I wanted to find some bad reviews amongst all this praise. Quite a few gave the book one or two stars because of its tragic nature:

"Great reading, but for God's sake don't read it when you're depressed."

One of the bad reviews was from a mother who picked up the book after her son read it for a high school English class. She gives it discussion merit, but essentially despises the book because evil triumphs in the end and that depressed her.

From examining both sides, I think Amazon should not only show the higher rated posts on the front page because the lesser rated posts does have merit. I completely understand why the mother did not like this book, and I feel that is a very important aspect to consider when trying to get a thorough feel for a book.

These book reviews represent that people are still passionate about literature and they would take the time to review books they've read so others can engage in a deeper conversation with them or simply be encouraged to read the book themselves. The online book reviews perpetuates the US literary/readership culture. I also really like the shift from only official publication's reviews to reviews by everyday people. The change definitely added more personality, flair and humor into responses and I feel more compelled to read what other people thought about the book rather than a name brand company's take on it. Do you enjoy the blurbs of praise from official publications in the front of many books?

The purpose of the book reviews is not simply to persuade others to read/buy the books, but it fosters a literary community where others can join in the conversations of other readers or challenge their take on the novel. Another could be for the affirmation and accomplishment the reader feels after posting a review. It could be some people's traditions to post a review after they finish a book. This could help improve their memory of the book's content by applying critical analysis. What other purpose do you think book reviews serve?

Amazon invites book reviews for the obvious reason of making more money. This could be their motive for only putting five starred reviews on the front page. By allowing readers to provide feedback, they could gain loyal fans to their websites which in turn would increase their revenue also. I see this mainly as a business tactic. Do you see this in another light? If so, how?