Critics

Every now and then I run across a book that I consider needs to be read at least once a year. I think I am in the middle of one right now. A Tale of a Tub is a book written by Johnathon Swift, yeah, the Guliver's Travels author. It's an odd book in that he has a lot of commentary on various topics with the story mixed in. It is quite controversial depending on how you interpret his meaning and if you find yourself in his cross hairs. Swift was an Anglican priest so I think I also have an affinity with him as a pastor. I will say that he uses a lot of words that aren't used much anymore as well as some Latin so some may find his writing in this book difficult.

Having said all that I wanted to write a little summary of his section on critics. He makes three points that I find both consoling and condemning. I need to take criticism better and I need to be careful about criticizing.

1. Unlike every other use of the intellect, a critics best work is the very first thing that pops into their heads... apparently.

2. Like a rat going for the very best cheese among many cheeses, critics go for the very best work. In other words, if your work is being heavily criticized your work must be very good.

3. Dogs will circle a table looking for discarded scraps. The fewer the scraps the louder they snarl when they find one. In other words, if you are facing loud criticism it might mean that the critics haven't really found a lot to criticize.