The goal of this essay is to emphasize similarities and differences between two book reviews written by a French and an American book reviewer, respectively for « Le Nouvel Observateur » and « Publishers Weekly ». This comparison can indeed be very interesting putting forward some cultural aspects of both countries. The two reviews deal with the fifth novel of Mary McGarry Morris “A Hole in the Universe” but present it in two completely different ways.
The French reviewer insists on the atmosphere in which readers are engrossed. The five first lines describe how certain readings make us forget hassles of daily life. This approach is based on the subjective emotions the reviewer felt reading the novel.
On the contrary the English review starts dealing with facts from the very first sentence. Instead of trying to dive us into the atmosphere of the book, the reviewer recounts us the story. The story is explained chronologically and is full of details about the characters.
The English review is much more linear than the French one. The first line covers the beginning of the novel and the last one covers the end. This linear strategy enlightens the monochronic side of the American culture. Giving details, the reviewer does an objective explanation of the story.
The polychronic side of French culture is also clearly characterized by the non-linear way the review is written and by the use of emotions and feelings.
Moreover, one other very noticeable difference of the two reviews is the length of sentences. Despite the fact that the French review is a bit shorter, the average length of French sentences is approximatively three times bigger. Indeed, while people from monochronic cultures try to be very clear and concise, people from polychronic cultures are often criticized for tending to beat around the bush.
Nevertheless this analyze has to be moderated. Indeed the targeted people of the two different magazines aren’t the same. “Le Nouvel Observateur” is a left of center oriented newspaper while “Publishers Weekly “ is a trade news magazine mostly targeted at publishers and booksellers. This could explain a bit the more objective approach used by the English reviewer.