TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you are given books product reviews in English language. The goal is to classify the review as "POS" if the overall sentiment of the review is positive or as "NEG" if the overall sentiment of the review is negative.
PROBLEM: Count me in the minority . Unlike most reviewers here, I really disliked this book.  The main reason is that the entire novel is a gimmick without any real substance.  There is no reason to tell such a dull story except for the fact that there is some mysterious story-within-a-story complexity.    The characters, especially the protagonist Iris, are bores.  Iris is like a 300 page wet blanket.  Most of the other characters are 1-dimensional cut outs.  Her sister Laura is the exception, but she got on my nerves too with her one-note quirkiness.    The story-within-a-story is more a gimmick than anything else.  The science-fiction meta-story within that story I thought was the most interesting part of the book, but it goes nowhere and its purpose is even more tenuous than its parent.    Finally, this is my second Atwood book, and I really dislike her writing style.  It reads as if she is trying too hard, and even the simplest situations feel forced.    I don't understand why everyone seems to like this book, but I would just suggest not to believe all the hype.

SOLUTION: NEG

PROBLEM: Speaking of whining... . To: Rat  After spending my entire adult life as a working single mother, I find your whining about mothers as "the most priveleged class" uninformed, if not downright ludicrous.  You feel you have to do all of their work for them while they lazily sit around the house?  I have never personally spent "years on leave".  Although, I have covered countless shifts for my hungover or broken-hearted, childless co-workers, and have only stayed home with a sick child about 5 times in 13 years.  I have taken on more [...], covered more [...] and put up with more bull than I deserved, because as the sole support of my child, I couldn't risk losing my job.  I have been an employer's bargain!  Furthermore, Rat -- you clearly do not understand the concept of flex time.  Flex time doesn't mean somebody works less hours than you.  Flex time means there is an inherent flexibility built into EVERYONE'S work schedule, so that work gets done, but life can happen to.  You are probably familiar with this concept in reality -- have you ever skipped lunch so you could leave early to go to the dentist?  In the future, please try to wrap your brain around the bigger picture before you jump to such conclusions

SOLUTION: POS

PROBLEM: Audio version is a bomb . When purchasing audiobooks, I normally follow a simple but very effective rule: never, never, never buy an audiobook read by the author. Even if the author is a talented writer, he/she is invariably a terrible narrator. Always look for audiobooks performed by experienced readers, as in Bryson's own "Notes From a Small Island" and "A Walk in the Woods", read by Ron Mclarty.    In Bryson's case I made a rare exception when I listened to "In a Sunburned Country" - the audio version had received reasonable reviews and his performance was indeed adequately entertaining. For this reason I assumed that "Neither Here Nor There" would be equally enjoyable. I was wrong. Bryson's deadpan monologue makes it sound as though he was bored out of his mind while reading this book. Passages that may have seemed amusing in the written version are herein delivered in a sleep-inducing monotone. The sardonically comedic talent he displayed in his reading of "In a Sunburned Country" is totally lacking. I would recommend this audiobook only as a cure for insomnia

SOLUTION:
NEG