I felt the urge when I started this blog to rate each title out of 10. This is obviously highly subjective and occasionally a bit random, and after thirty titles, has the danger of being just a smidge inconsistent. But I felt it would be valuable to me when I am hundreds of titles into the project, and give other readers something to disagree about.
With some degree of hindsight, here is my ranking scale:
1 Miserable beyond belief! I want those hours of my life back.
2 I did not like it.
3 mmm ok I suppose
4 It was ok
5 I liked it
6 Quite good
7 I liked it a lot
8 Very good
9 Exceptional . Will read again.
10 Absolutely brilliant! One of the best things written in the history of mankind!
At the time of this post, the highest I have given anything is an 8 (the Ramayana) and the lowest a 1 (Theognis) so I am harder to impress than disappoint! Given I would probably buy my own copy of anything rated 9 or 10, my budget should be safe for a while.
Of course, my dog Kimmy also occasionally rates a book she enjoys, but she remains silent on her particular scale.
PS it also allows me to do a bit of meaningless comparison across authors. For example, Homer’s two works merited a 7 and a 7.5, giving some support to the idea they were written by the same author, while the two works of Hesiod got a 7 and a 2, making me seem to agree with those who feel the two works were written by different authors. Far from conclusive, but a bit of fun. I can also compare authors based on the average of my rankings for their respective works, so I will soon see how the three Greek tragedians compare and if I agree with the Festival judges!
