Book Reviews and Book Criticism: Two Separate Purposes

Readers often ask what is the difference between a book review and book criticism. Both are important, but each has a different purpose; those purposes will be analyzed here with examples based on a review and criticism of Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities.”

The book review’s purpose is to present enough information about the book to help a person decide whether to read it. A review will state what the book is about, without giving away the full argument if non-fiction, or the plot if fiction. It could also have the reviewer's personal opinion, comments about the writing, and whether or not recommended to the prospective reader.

By comparison, book criticism, more commonly known as literary criticism, is written for people who have already read the book and are interested in exploring the meaning behind the work. The literary critic shares his or her thoughts, opinions, and interpretation of the work, based on a close reading of the author’s words, to help the reader understand and formulate his or her own opinion of the work.

When printed inside a book, criticism may be an introduction or afterword; however, for fiction, it should always be an afterword because it will often give away the plot, and readers should first read the book and form their own opinions or interpretations of the work before reading someone else’s opinion or interpretation (if you pick up a novel with an introduction, read the introduction last); the literary critic is generally an expert on the book, author, or literary period, so criticism will help to form and enhance opinion or appreciation of the work for the general reader. On occasion, an author may choose to reprint a book review as an introduction, which is acceptable since it will not give away the plot.

The best simplification for understanding the difference between a book review and literary criticism is to think of a review as a preview while criticism is an interpretation or an afterword. The book reviewer assumes the reader has not yet read the book and tells the reader whether the book is worth reading. Literary criticism assumes the reader already has read the book and assists the reader in interpreting it.

To demonstrate the difference with an example, “A Tale of Two Cities” will be used because the novel’s conclusion is both well known and powerful enough to have warranted the attention of numerous literary critics.

In writing a book review of “A Tale of Two Cities” the reviewer would provide a plot summary or preview of what the book is about, which may include the book’s setting, descriptions of the characters, and the opening situation, including what is at stake for the characters. An example might be as simple as:

Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” is the story of people from London and Paris who get mixed up in the events of the French Revolution. Lucie Manette and her family are trapped in France when her husband, Charles Darnay, is tried for being an aristocrat and threatened with being sent to the guillotine. Among the other characters are the Darnays’ friend, Sidney Carton, and their enemy, Madame Defarge.

This description is not too interesting—it reads like a high school book report. A good reviewer will go a step farther by enticing the reader with the storyline, making people want to read the book. For example:

In a time when the streets of Paris ran with the blood of aristocrats, a young man, Charles Darnay, returns to France to help a friend, only to be captured and accused of crimes against the new French Republic because of his aristocratic family background. Darnay long ago divorced himself from the excessive crimes of his noble family, yet the French people are thirsty for aristocratic blood. Darnay’s wife, Lucie, terrified by the threat to her husband’s life, rushes to Paris with their family friend, Sidney Carton, hoping to find some means of obtaining Darnay’s release. Little does she know that Madame Defarge holds secrets about Darnay’s family, including wrongs they committed against her own relatives. Madame Defarge has the ear of the new French government, and she is determined to get her revenge at all costs.

The book reviewer would then follow this preview with a judgment statement about whether the book is worth reading, which may be similar to the tone of literary criticism, but it will not give a detailed interpretation of the work. For example:

Charles Dickens has created a masterfully suspenseful plot, filled with dark family secrets, enticing villains, a love story that breaks down all barriers, and an unbelievable yet unforgettable ending. Never before has the French Revolution been treated with such dramatic purpose, with such an overwhelming sense of its atrocities, but also with such a fresh and vibrant understanding of the true nobility of spirit that can arise when people stand up for what they believe in and are willing to sacrifice themselves for others.

After reading such praise for the book, hopefully, most people will want to read “A Tale of Two Cities.”

Literary criticism, by contrast, will not summarize the plot, but will mention it where necessary to analyze the author’s purpose. Notice in the review above that the last sentence ended with “willing to sacrifice themselves for others.” It doesn’t say who makes a sacrifice or how the sacrifice occurs, but it provides enough enticement to make readers want to know the answers to those questions.

Literary criticism will quickly pass over the question of who makes the sacrifice because it assumes the reader has read the book. It will briefly introduce the sacrifice so it can be analyzed with a simple statement, such as:

Because of his great love for Lucie, and his striking resemblance to her husband, Sidney Carton decides to put himself in Charles Darnay’s place, going to the guillotine so the husband of the woman he loves can be rescued.

The literary critic would then go on to discuss how effective Dickens is in depicting Carton’s death, as well as analyzing why Dickens has Carton make the sacrifice, and what it symbolizes or how it ties into the novel’s theme. For example, the critic might choose to interpret Carton’s sacrifice as a symbol of Christ’s crucifixion for the salvation of humanity. The critic finds passages in the novel to support his discussion. The following lengthy passage interprets the story and supports its interpretation with quotations from the book:

Dickens states that the guillotine has come to replace the Christian Cross as an object of worship during the French Revolution, “La Guillotine....It was the sign of regeneration of the human race. It superseded the Cross. Models of it were worn on breasts from which the Cross was discarded, and it was bowed down to and believed in where the Cross was denied” (255). Consequently, if the guillotine has taken the place of the cross, Carton’s death at the guillotine is a symbol of Christ’s death on the cross.

Dickens’ depiction of Carton as a symbol of Christ is further evidenced when Carton repeats Christ’s words, “I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (351). Dickens further portrays Carton as a Christ-figure when Carton comforts the seamstress, reminiscent of when Christ comforts the thief who is crucified with him. Finally, like Christ, Carton has the gift of prophecy. This prophecy displays Dickens’ theory of historical evolution:

I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is a natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out. (352)

Carton envisions the current and past events of France as part of a historical process by which God brings about good for humanity despite transgression or original sin. Carton’s vision reflects a positive Christian view of history that begins with Adam and Eve’s transgression and ends with Christ’s second coming, representing that good can come from evil.

Carton also prophesies concerning the future of the Darnay family:

I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England which I shall see no more. I see Her with a child upon her bosom, who bears my name....I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. (352)

In this reflection, Carton envisions himself as eternally remembered by Lucie and Darnay, the new Adam and Eve who will generate a new race. His memory will inspire them to teach their descendants about the love and honor Carton demonstrated, just as Christ’s disciples kept alive his memory.

In both the case of a book review and literary criticism, the reader must make the final judgment as to whether the book is useful or valuable. A book review will help the reader decide whether to read the book at all, and literary criticism will help the reader formulate an opinion about the value of the work. Both book reviews and book criticism serve a purpose in promoting books and making sure the best books get into the hands of the reading public and are remembered.

Note: Passages quoted and page numbers referenced for “A Tale of Two Cities” are taken from the Bantam Books 1983 edition.

Contributors
Irene Watson is editor and contributing author of Authors Access: 30 Success Secrets for Authors and Publishers, author of The Sitting Swing: Finding Wisdom to Know the Difference, and editor The Story that Must be Told. She is the founder and Managing Editor of Reader Views.

Tyler R. Tichelaar is editor and contributing author of Authors Access: 30 Secrets for Authors and Publishers, the regionally bestselling Marquette Trilogy and the newly published Narrow Lives. He is the Associate Editor of Reader Views.

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