If only all book reviewers were like Teddy Jamieson (Twist and doubt, Sunday Herald Life, September 10). In the first paragraph of his review of Roddy Doyle's book, Smile, he warns readers: "What follows will contain a spoiler of sorts." Although it would have been better still had he managed to review the book without including a spoiler, at least he warned readers in advance.
I have lost count of the number of book and film reviewers who include way too much information. That they get paid for spoiling it for the rest of us is baffling and exasperating.
Spoilers of a different kind can be seen in the many foreign language dramas and films that are now regularly shown on television, in that the subtitles can only be read here and there, but mostly are either hardly legible or even not legible at all, so completely spoiling the viewing experience.
In his preview of new Swedish series, Black Lace, Damien Love mentions "great snowy scenes". That's likely to make watching the programme far from great. The scenery may well be great, but when I saw a documentary in German recently, the white subtitles on a snow-white background may as well have not been on the screen at all for all the difference it made.
In a very few foreign programmes, subtitles are displayed on a black, narrow strip at the foot of the screen. This way, the sub-titles can be read clearly and easily. It is about time that those who show programmes with subtitles ensured that they are shown this way, then viewers would be able to enjoy the programmes and know everything that was being said.
Sandra Busell
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