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Eva Elisabeth · (This post was last modified: 06-12-2016 01:56 PM by Eva Elisabeth.)

(06-12-2016 09:53 AM)RJNorton Wrote:
(06-12-2016 08:42 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: Thank you for this post, Roger. Since I am not a great reader of fiction I admit I hadn't before looked into reading this, but now do. I liked "Assassin's Accomplice" and, too, think "Mary Surratt knew by the morning of April 14, 1865 that the plot was then an assassination one (and, therefor, subsequently deserved the punishment that she received.)" So I will be curious as how this is put in line with "the book humanizes Mary more than any other I have read". I admit I somehow have always seen her as a very cold(hearted) person, maybe unjustly.

May I ask - while I have an understanding of what an excellent achievement is - what is an (unqualified) excellent achievement?

Eva, I should add that I did not read the book exactly the same as Bob on the point of Mary's assassination knowledge. Unless I missed something, Hanging Mary implies Mary thought Booth was going to carry through with the kidnapping plot, not the assassination plot, on the night of April 14, 1865. She did not know Booth's plan had changed. At least that was my take.

Thanks for clarifying this, Roger!

(06-12-2016 10:39 AM)L Verge Wrote: I felt the same as Roger.

As for "unqualified," my interpretation of Bob's use of that term is that he is giving his assessment that the book is "totally" excellent -- not "excellent, oh! except for the constant use of incorrect grammar, and the..."

Too many reviewers try to split hairs by pronouncing someone's work as excellent and then taking the next few paragraphs to shoot down some of the parts and the writer's techniques. They are hypercritical to the point where you want to scream, "Well, did you like it or not?"

Thanks, Laurie - and shame on me for not checking the dictionary before posting my question and for not having known better at all. I had never realized "qualified" (and all related words) can also mean "limited" as this doesn't apply to the German "qualifiziert" (and all related words). In German "qualifiziert" solely means "skilled" , "fit", professional" or "eligible", and "unqualifiziert" the opposite.