Analysis:

As a style or a cultural activity, book review is no stranger to us. But as far as most people are concerned, the understanding of book reviews generally only stays in perceptual knowledge, and rational thinking is less. So, what is a book review? How should we know and use it?

Book review has two meanings: one is an article based on the value judgment of book content and external form; The second kind refers to the cultural behavior of commenting on books. Book review faces books that appear as a whole, so it is different from poetry review, literature review, drama review and historical review. Book review can make a comprehensive comment on the object of comment from the inside out, or it can be aimed at one or several aspects (including a poem, an article, etc. ), but the vision must take into account the whole book. In the cultural history of our country, the earliest book review can be traced back to Preface of Poetry, and it really developed after the rise of newspapers and magazines in our country, especially in the 1930s and 40s of this century, professional book review publications-book review, reading monthly, etc. Appeared in China.

Book review is the result of judging the value of books. Therefore, it is different from book advertisements and book introductions, and also different from ordinary books, prefaces and postscripts. However, some book words, prefaces and postscripts are mainly comments on books, or they have obvious value judgments, which can also be included in the category of book reviews. As far as the common book review modes are concerned, they can be roughly divided into five types: first, introductory book review. This kind of book review is relatively short, the content is mainly a brief introduction to the basic content of a book, often with advertising color. Second, critical book review. This kind of book review introduces the main content of a book, but also makes concise comments on its characteristics, style, main achievements and defects, which is instructive to some extent. Third, professional book review. This kind of book review is written from the professional point of view of the evaluated object, with a long length and profound comments, analysis and excavation on the book content. It pays special attention to the theoretical gains and losses of the book, which has a certain academic nature. Fourth, analytical book review. Evaluating professional book reviews has more academic value. It sometimes continues to discuss a problem in the evaluated object, sometimes refutes an argument in the evaluated object, and sometimes takes the evaluated object as an introduction to talk about some personal views. 5. books. This is a kind of prose book review, which comments on the content, editing or binding of the book, and prefers to talk about its author or related anecdotes. The length is not long, but it is meaningful, lively and less restrained. In addition to the general function of book review, it also has high literary value.

Book review is also different from reading. Because, the main task of post-reading feeling is not to judge the value of books, but to record the feelings, thoughts and understanding of individuals after reading a book; It centers on the psychological activities of readers, not on the objects of reading; In writing, it is usually only around a certain point of the reading object, almost without considering the overall situation of the book, or even just taking the reading object as an introduction, and then talking about its feelings, comments and feelings.

The basic function of book review has two aspects: one is to serve readers; The second is to serve the author. It is in the process of this service that book reviews have been recognized by readers and realized their own value; Only by embodying these two aspects can book reviews be said to have a wide readership and high added value. It is worth emphasizing that book review should not be a passive and instrumental behavior, but an active behavior that can play the leading role of book reviewers. So we say that the function of book review to readers lies in its information function, that is, it provides reference for readers to choose books, which requires it to introduce the basic contents of books to readers; Secondly, it lies in its intermediary function, that is, to let readers carry out reading behavior.

Before, I was psychologically prepared to make reading targeted, which required it to point out the essence of the book; Finally, it lies in its reading guidance function, which is divided into two aspects: one is to provide reference for readers to judge the value of books they read, and the other is to recommend excellent books to readers, which naturally requires it to accurately reflect the contents of books and choose the object of book review among many publications.

Another function of book review is to serve readers and authors, that is, to guide the production and consumption market of books. From the perspective of cultural construction, book review should supervise the book market, that is, take the needs of socialist spiritual civilization construction and material civilization construction as the criterion, and give timely and severe criticism to those books that are unhealthy, shoddy and even violate relevant laws and regulations. At the same time, this kind of supervision should also reflect a certain positive color, that is, put forward practical and effective suggestions to the creative and publishing circles. of course，

We don't require every book review to show all its functions, but we emphasize that the author of the book review must always have these things in his mind.

In China, although the book review has had a certain influence, although there is also a team of book reviews, and despite the publication of such influential reading and book review newspapers as Reading, China Book Review, Extensive Reading, Bookstore, Wenjing, Shupin, China Reading Newspaper and Wen Hui Reading Weekly, we publish hundreds of thousands of reading and book review newspapers every year. Therefore, we welcome more readers of book reviews, and also call for more authoritative book reviewers, more books and periodicals, and more popular book reviews with reading guidance value and conducive to the construction of socialist spiritual civilization.