Here and Back Again!

Some beginning I had! It's now 2013 and nearly four years have passed since my first (and only) blogpost on this blog. If you, the reader, should guess that my goals for this blog have somewhat changed, you'd guess rightly. Now all things are up for criticism, though I suspect I will focus more on books for some time.

Whenever I was young and my sister and I were arguing to play some board game, my sister would suggest several games to play. None of them interested me, yet I would suggest nothing of my own. Mom would say, "now Nathan, if you are going to disagree, you have to suggest something yourself." I think these are sage words. In keeping with her words, I shall not just criticize, but also propose a few ideas of my own. For this opposite task, I have created a sister blog: Experiments in Argumentation.

Also, dear reader, I must beg you to put up with what may turn out to be awful writing. I don't write very often, and I hope to get better with time. If you have any pointers as to style or any disagreements with your author's opinion, comments are more than welcome.

And so I begin . . .

What makes a book good? What fusion of ideas and sentences transforms average works into classics that demand to be read over and over again? I must admit that I am no professional literary critic; however, it is never too late or early to try to become one. Throughout this blog I will read some of the greater literary pieces and then try dissect and analyze their juicy guts out. From the streets of Dickens' London to the Mines of Moria, I will not stop in my quest to find what makes an average book a great book. And so I begin my experiments in criticism.

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P.S. (To you the reader) Thank you for reading my first blog entry! Please feel free to leave comments, suggestions, or critiques! Book suggestions are always welcome; I am always on the lookout for another good book.

~Nathan Conroy