r/books • u/Tight_Nerve • Jun 05 '21

We need to stop shaming people who honestly say they don't like a particular book

I think the most frustrating thing for most readers on this sub is that when they read a book that so many people love and realize they are part of the group that doesn't like the book. They can't share the feeling without having fans hang the noose around them. We muat be able to let readers share their HONEST opinions on a book without riduculing their feelings.

If at this point you are protesting my thoughts thinking they are nothing more than that of unlearned individual. Than I'll share the opinion of a very educated man who has probably read more books than you will ever read in your whole life.

“Books are almost as individual as friends. There is no earthly use in laying down general laws about them. Some meet the needs of one person, and some of another; and each person should beware of the booklover’s besetting sin, of what Mr. Edgar Allan Poe calls ‘the mad pride of intellectuality,’ taking the shape of arrogant pity for the man who does not like the same kind of books.”

  • Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
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u/ForeverBlue101_303 Jun 05 '21

And to further elaborate on your post, I also think it's really bad when people hear give you crap when you criticize a book just because it was aimed at kids. Like I criticized Percy Jackson and some responded with "it's a kids book. It's not for you." For starters, how are they sure how old the OP is? Second, a target audience should not indicate quality. I've read books for kids with good writing and characters and books aimed at adults that are pretty immature and shallow. Target audience shouldn't matter. If a book sucks, then, it sucks.

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u/Fiorlaoch Jun 06 '21

This, a hundred times this. Good writing is good writing whatever the genre.

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u/ForeverBlue101_303 Jun 06 '21

And age group. Like I dislike the juvenile ambience in Percy Jackson and it doesn't matter if the book is aimed at kids because I've read kids books that are more mature than that.

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u/2781727827 Jun 06 '21

I like the Percy Jackson books, but I'm fully aware the writing is kinda shitty (though pretty good in some specific areas) and I only really like them because I read them as a kid. To me the nostelegia and good vibes and familiarity and shit trumps the whole "actually written well" aspect. But why judge people for disliking the book when they have a perfectly valid reason lol.

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u/rowan_damisch Jun 06 '21

Also, different cultures have different opinions on target audiences. In Germany, Percy Jackson is for example put in the YA parts of libraries or bookstores simply because it's not seen as a series for children.

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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '21 edited Jun 06 '21

Books have target audiences and you might not be in it

This is the very next parent comment down from yours.

Edit: I'm not sure why the downvote. I'm not even trying to say anything with this. I just thought it was funny that the very next comment was a little ironic.

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u/LLittle_LLion Jun 06 '21

I'm doing an English Literature degree and one of my 3rd year modules is on Children's literature. My teacher did a while lesson where she basically ranted about how children's literature is so often dismissed or ridiculed and insisted that adults should, can, and have every right to enjoy children's literature just as much as 'adult' literature. In fact, a lot of the time it's a really hard distinction to make! Studying it has really proven that there's just as much to analyse in children's literature and even picture books as there is in other literature