All out of deconstruction puns
May. 29th, 2005 03:52 pmI read Reading the Vampire Slayer edited by Roz Kaveney today. As the title suggests, it is a collection of academic essays about BtVS. As usual with these things, its a mixed bag. Some of the essays are very insightful, others just miss the point and one is so badly researched I don't know why they bothered. Certainly worth a read if you are a fan of the show and have an inclination to academic analysis. A couple of big minus points though..
1 - List price is $60. No way is that value for money for a 270 page B size paperback. Perhaps a specialist text book might command those prices. Certainly nothing aimed at the mass market is worth that. Dymocks sold it to me at 75% off (i.e. $15 for the math impaired) which is closer to the mark.
2 - It only goes up to the end of S5 of Buffy and S2 of Angel. Apart from just missing out on all that good stuff, the later shows actually invalidate some of the arguments made in the essays.
1 - List price is $60. No way is that value for money for a 270 page B size paperback. Perhaps a specialist text book might command those prices. Certainly nothing aimed at the mass market is worth that. Dymocks sold it to me at 75% off (i.e. $15 for the math impaired) which is closer to the mark.
2 - It only goes up to the end of S5 of Buffy and S2 of Angel. Apart from just missing out on all that good stuff, the later shows actually invalidate some of the arguments made in the essays.