Jaquandor writes a nice piece on what we can learn from critics:

I read a lot of critics and reviews, because I think their writings are often informative. Critics are almost always very well-steeped in their chosen fields, so one can learn a great deal from them, about the history and development of the field, which works shaped the field and which might have, but didn’t (and thus went on to become “unjustly neglected masterworks”). But I’ve always been deeply suspicious of critics as judges of what is good and what is bad, because – – and there is simply no other way to say this – – they so very, very often get it wrong.

And what we likely will not learn:

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I have read all or part of each of Carlos Castenada’s books and still reach for one from time to time when I need to refresh the way I look at the world, when my vision has stagnated. Castenada himself was always a mystery and early on I decided that while I’d be happiest if the narratives could be verified through peer review (I don’t think this has happened) that they might be fiction did not really take away from their transformative power.
Amy Wallace has released a new book, SORCEROR’S APPRENTICE: My Life with Carlos Castaneda, which Castenada aficionados may want to read.

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