Comments on: Not liking a book vs. not “getting” a book

By: Susan

Susan — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 21:28:07 +0000

I’m really late to this disussion! Jeez, 72 comments already, that must be a record! Anyway…..I’ll just say yes) people have tried to convince me to like a book; b) I have tried to convince people to like a book, and c) even though I have an English degree from University, I still think there are some literary books I don’t ‘get’!!! So it’s not just you or me…. some books just aren’t very pleasant, no matter how literary! there, let the debate rage on!! lol And if I could get everyone to like dark chocolate in all its forms, maybe world peace would reign because we’d all be filling our mouths with the goddess-given delicious chocolate and arranging for the cocoa bean farmers to get more money!

By: Jenners

Jenners — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:22:58 +0000

I will confess to thinking poorly (but secretly) when someone LOVES a book that I hate or vice versa. I just can’t help it. I kind of automatically lower their “rating” in my mind a little bit. But they can redeem themselves if we do share a liking of something. But I certainly don’t base my enjoyment of a person or my liking them … but I do kind of keep score re: if I’ll listen to them when they recommend something based on what I’ve thought about their previous likes and dislikes. It is hard not to do!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:46:36 +0000

I completely understand what you mean. when I like something, I expect everyone else I know to like it too, but that doesn’t happen. People have such drastically different tastes in reading, food, movies – EVERYTHING.

Right now, I’m reading Catch-22. It’s my dad’s favorite book and I’m having the hardest time getting through it. I just kept telling myself “you don’t get it.” And I don’t – I find it difficult to relate to the characters and at times the scenes are so outrageous that I wonder why I’m wasting my time reading the book at all. So maybe this book is a mix of both problems – I don’t get it and I don’t like it. But still, I doubt that my opinion tarnishes the enjoyment the book had had for readers in the past and will have for readers in the future.

By: zibilee

zibilee — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:19:59 +0000

I have this feeling a lot, because most of the books I like are kind of obscure and weird. When it happens, I just try to stay quiet and not try to convince them. While I wish with my whole heart that they would find the book in question as brilliant as I do, ultimately it’s a personal thing, and I don’t want to seem judgmental or rude. I don’t push, but I do sometimes wonder about the reader’s taste.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:10:15 +0000

As a teacher, I’ve always had to give students room to not like a book I assign. Few teachers assign books they don’t like–although I’ve found that to be an illuminating exercise, as I can be more objective about those. It’s also helpful to have something like a “common book” each year, so you can share your feelings about a book you’ve just read for the first time with the students, who have just read it for the first time, too. It’s easier to love a book you’ve reread.

By: trish

trish — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:08:38 +0000

Let me know if you blog about this topic, Carrie! I’d love to read it.

By: trish

trish — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:07:56 +0000

I’ll admit, it’s hard to break book snobbery. But the interesting thing is I’ve gotten more picky, because the more I read the more I realize what a good book really is (for me, I mean).

By: nat @ book, line, and sinker

nat @ book, line, and sinker — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:29:43 +0000

a. i don’t like garlic ANYTHING, let alone bread. lol.

b. i know what you mean–i shake my head when i see how many people don’t enjoy some of the books that i love…but people really do read books differently. i lent my well-worn copy of ‘a walk in the woods’ by bill bryson to a friend (a book i LOVE and could read 100 times and still laugh) and she returned it without finishing it. she said she didn’t like it. i was aghast! this was a GOOD friend…how could she NOT like one of my favorite books!?! and then i just came to terms with the fact that i have superior literary taste. hahahahah. kidding.

By: Cami Checketts

Cami Checketts — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 04:05:18 +0000

This is awful, but at times I’ve chalked someone’s lack of loving a book up to a lower level of intelligence (don’t tell). But I think you’re right, we all just have different tastes. I try to explain to my sons that this is a great thing. Otherwise we’d all want to married to the tall, dark, handsome, intriguing, and sensitive man. Wait, we all do!

By: Bookish links for Saturday, August 8, 2009 | BOOKS AND MOVIES

Bookish links for Saturday, August 8, 2009 | BOOKS AND MOVIES — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:51:36 +0000

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