This cartoon from Unshelved made me ponder about situations when people seem determined not to enjoy a book.
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Sometimes I wonder what we achieve by embarking on an online book discussion. Sometimes
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people come into the discussion, with knives drawn, determined to prove that their opinion of the book is the only one possible.
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There are reviewers like that too. I wonder if they ever enjoy anything they read.
A couple of other things to think about:
- Each time we re-read a book we get more out of it because we put more into it; a different person is reading it, and therefore it is a different book.--Murial Clark
- even though we all read the same book, we all read a different book.
Have you ever had someone in a discussion, or a review, destroy a book that you really loved?
7 comments:
Interesting point, Kerrie -
I actually have had reviewers tear apart books I loved, and I agree that some people do enter book discussions prepared to "do battle" against anyone who disagrees with them.
That's why I really like that quote you added: Even though we all read the same book, we all read a different book .
It puts me in mind of an old saying, "A book is like a mirror: If an ass peers in, do not expect an apostle to peer out."
I guess when it comes to books, sometimes we're apostles and sometimes we're...well, the other thing.
Margot, I have even worried about nominating a book for discussion (or leading the discussion) because of the feeling that the vultures will be there waiting for me.
I love that saying Deb. Asses can be so stubborn too.
Very interesting thoughts.
I wonder how many people are like me, I seem to enjoy practically every book I read. Even if there is something I don't like, I mostly like the book.
That is the exact reason I love re-reads, I tend to discover something else :)
I'm re-reading Agatha Christie's at the moment, which just get better and better.
These days I tend to let myself be swept away by good reviews but I generally ignore bad reviews unless they are by someone who I know and whose opinion I trust and whose tastes I know are similar to mine. I used to be in a F2F bookclub which seemed to spend half its time sneering at people who didn't like the same books and I left the club in the end as too many books I had enjoyed were pillorited by the so-called intelligent people in the club.
I know myself that I react strongly to books but I try very hard to keep any negative thoughts focussed on the book itself and I hope I never make disparaging comments about other people who might like the book.
Our campus is doing a big common reading program using Michael Pollan's 'In Defense of Food.' I haven't been to a really negative discussion yet, but apparently some people are really angry about it. I sort of want to see it just so I know what that sort of anger is like, but I also don't because I think it's sort of silly.
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