I am in the business of writing and publishing books and peer-reviewed articles. I know most of the people in my field. Let me assure you that GPs from rural hospitals and undergraduate students do not publish books.
There are books that interest me and books that do not. I might skip the latter ones: I also value my time. But we are not talking about providing constructive critique: the issue is the manner of critiquing.
” No, and I have no wish to see it. All these books are written by people who understand next to nothing about the keris and they all repeat one another’s errors.”
“It’s a pity that people don’t learn about keris before they begin to write about them.”
Neither myself nor any respectable specialist in the field I know would utter such snide remarks about a book without even bothering to read it and point out specific reasons for their critique. Most importantly, no one I know and respect would insult the authors. This is spiteful, undignified and self-aggrandizing. If the "authority", who denigrated both the author and the book, is publishing his own on the same subject, one can cast legitimate doubts about his real motives.
In my professional community, people who engage in such behavior, acquire bad reputation and lose a lot of respect, despite being "elevated beyond the highest position in their chosen professions".
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