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Bad reviews because people don't read descriptions isn't just for indies

3699 Views 21 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  Anne Victory
So, hubby and I watched the remake of Total Recall yesterday. For those wondering, we enjoyed it. It's different enough from the Arnie movie that you don't feel like your watching the same movie. Anyway, as some of you may know, it's based upon the short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick. I went to Amazon to see if they had it for the Kindle, and a couple of things I found:
1) No, they don't have WCRIfYW in the Kindle version, at least not as titled. They have it listed as Total Recall. I had to look at Philip K. Dick's author page because the Kindle version didn't even come up in a search of the original title. I thought that was a poor decision on the part of the publisher - even the movie credits say it's based on the short story, WCRIfYW. If it were me, I'd have done a subtitle or something - Total Recall: We Can Remember It for You Wholesale, maybe? Then I'd be makin' the big bucks LOL

2) The purpose of my thread, here - I chuckled when I saw this wonderful 1-star review:
I found this book very disappointing after seeing the motion picture. I thought I would enjoy an adventure but was given a short story with 90% of the action missing.
Never mind that the description says:
The inspiration for the upcoming film Total Recall, starring Colin Farrell and Kate Beckinsale, and directed by Len Wiseman. This ebook-only edition of Philip K. Dick's classic short story tells the story of Douglas Quail, an unfulfilled bureaucrat who dreams of visiting Mars, but can't afford the trip. Luckily, there is Rekal Incorporated, a company that lets everyday stiffs believe they've been on incredible adventures. The only problem is that when technicians attempt a memory implant of a spy mission to Mars, they find that real memories of just such a trip are already in Quail's brain. Suddenly, Quail is running for his life from government agents, but his memories might make him more of a liability than he is worth. Originally published as "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale."
/facepalm

I would have thought that the bolded bits (bolded by me) would make it clear that
a) The movie is based on the book, not vice versa
and
b) It's a short story

So, yeah - it's not just indies that are on the receiving end of that :)

Merry Christmas :)
1 - 20 of 22 Posts
Almost as much fun as the reviewers who slagged off Anne Rice for doing a poor job of copying Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series.  :eek:
My dad just died a few weeks ago. The loss has not hit me yet.

One of the gems he left me with applies to this situation, I think:

"Cheri, sometimes you just have to remember there are lots of stupid people in the world."
PeggyI said:
Almost as much fun as the reviewers who slagged off Anne Rice for doing a poor job of copying Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. :eek:
Wow, I can't believe that's real. How sad, but I'm sure Anne had a good laugh.
I like a review I read on a Louis L'Amour demanding he get started on a sequel to a book because she didn't like the ending. This review was written in 2011.....
PeggyI said:
Almost as much fun as the reviewers who slagged off Anne Rice for doing a poor job of copying Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. :eek:
Please say that's a joke. Oh, apparently it's not.
PeggyI said:
Almost as much fun as the reviewers who slagged off Anne Rice for doing a poor job of copying Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. :eek:
Lisa J. Yarde said:
Please say that's a joke. Oh, apparently it's not.
Bram Stoker gets hammered for writing in an obscure manner and using words that are not popular today. Oh, and for the action not being as good as Sookie's and where are the love sceens?
DDark said:
My favorite was someone commenting on a King paperback about the audio version and all the lip smacking going on. There was no comment about the book itself..lol Go check out the 1 stars for "The Shining" and you'll see which one it is.
Annoying mouth noises are a perfectly legitimate critique on an audiobook. It is a different experience than reading the printed word. Annoying things like lip smacking can pull you out of a story as much as excessive typos in a print book.
DDark said:
And yet somehow I got through high school listening to my math teacher...
Not really seeing the analogy..but whatever.

If your math teacher was a lip smacker then you have my sympathies ;)
Cherise Kelley said:
My dad just died a few weeks ago. The loss has not hit me yet.

One of the gems he left me with applies to this situation, I think:

"Cheri, sometimes you just have to remember there are lots of stupid people in the world."
So sorry for your loss. As for his advice: so true!
Cherise Kelley said:
My dad just died a few weeks ago. The loss has not hit me yet.

One of the gems he left me with applies to this situation, I think:

"Cheri, sometimes you just have to remember there are lots of stupid people in the world."
I'm sorry for your loss, Cheri.

My dad has a similar version of that quote, but it goes "By definition, 50% of people are below average."
Arkali said:
So, hubby and I watched the remake of Total Recall yesterday. For those wondering, we enjoyed it. It's different enough from the Arnie movie that you don't feel like your watching the same movie. Anyway, as some of you may know, it's based upon the short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick. I went to Amazon to see if they had it for the Kindle, and a couple of things I found:
1) No, they don't have WCRIfYW in the Kindle version, at least not as titled. They have it listed as Total Recall. I had to look at Philip K. Dick's author page because the Kindle version didn't even come up in a search of the original title. I thought that was a poor decision on the part of the publisher - even the movie credits say it's based on the short story, WCRIfYW. If it were me, I'd have done a subtitle or something - Total Recall: We Can Remember It for You Wholesale, maybe? Then I'd be makin' the big bucks LOL

2) The purpose of my thread, here - I chuckled when I saw this wonderful 1-star review:
Never mind that the description says:
/facepalm

I would have thought that the bolded bits (bolded by me) would make it clear that
a) The movie is based on the book, not vice versa
and
b) It's a short story

So, yeah - it's not just indies that are on the receiving end of that :)

Merry Christmas :)
This doesn't surprise me at all. I used to have huge arguments with a bunch of Southern Vampire fans because they thought 'based on the books by Charlaine Harris' meant that the True Blood folks had to follow her plots down to the letter (this bunch were really POed that TB wasn't a carbon copy of the books).
Cherise Kelley said:
My dad just died a few weeks ago. The loss has not hit me yet.

One of the gems he left me with applies to this situation, I think:

"Cheri, sometimes you just have to remember there are lots of stupid people in the world."
I'm really sorry for your loss.
Cherise Kelley said:
My dad just died a few weeks ago. The loss has not hit me yet.

One of the gems he left me with applies to this situation, I think:

"Cheri, sometimes you just have to remember there are lots of stupid people in the world."
I'm so sorry to hear this, Cherise. I lost my Dad many years back, and it was quite a hard time.

Sounds like your father had a clear-eyed perception of the world. :)
Reviews are now a star score and twenty words. Times have changed.
Amanda Brice said:
"By definition, 50% of people are below average [in intelligence]."
Thanks, everyone. Amanda, yep, this was another way my dad put it, too. Heh! So true.

I read Dracula this year. I could not believe how slowly it moved. I have noticed that older movies move much more slowly than I am accustomed to, as well. Even Die Hard, which is only 25 years old, seemed to crawl at a snail's pace when we watched it the other night.

Back to my point. When I complained in a conversation at a party about how slowly Dracula moved, another English teacher (who was at most my age, probably younger, and obviously unaware of my credentials) scolded me for reading too many books of a low reading level! Folks, it's one thing to be intelligent, but it's quite another to lord this over others. I really resented her for saying that. In my opinion, it made her an ass.

I think it is fine if we lament the fact that others don't "get it." I also think there is a fine line between lamenting and lampooning. I hope not to cross this line.
ShayneHellerman said:
This doesn't surprise me at all. I used to have huge arguments with a bunch of Southern Vampire fans because they thought 'based on the books by Charlaine Harris' meant that the True Blood folks had to follow her plots down to the letter (this bunch were really POed that TB wasn't a carbon copy of the books).
My husband is one of those people. He drives me crazy.
Terrence OBrien said:
Reviews are now a star score and twenty words. Times have changed.
Really. And sometimes the twenty words aren't even intelligible.
Reviews? I'm not sure these things even qualify as views.
Sorry about your daddy, Cherise.  He was absolutely correct, sorry to say.

And some of the examples being offered up - hilarious :)
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