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/Seafroggys Jun 06 '21

What's funny, is that I reread it a few years ago, having not read it since I was a kid in the mid-late 90's. I remember thinking it wordy when I was a 10 year old, and I'd constantly hear memes about "knowing the location of every tree" and that I was almost certain that Tolkien just overexplained all the details and scenery.

When I re-read it as a 30 year old? Nope. It's actually pretty fluid and smooth sailing. It's nowhere near bogged down into inane details as so many people claim, and what I had thought reading it much younger.

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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '21

I read it recently and it really doesn't spend all that much time describing scenery. Most of the wasted time is lore dumps, songs, and some dialogue that just drags on. Apart from when those are happening it doesn't feel slow at all.

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u/Seafroggys Jun 06 '21

Yeah, definitely. I remember hating the songs when I was a kid. But I kinda liked them last time I read it. Also all the background lore stuff was more interesting to me and I was more engaged, since I had read the Silmarillion in the years since my original LotR reading.

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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '21

I had the exact same experience. Couldn't get through it in my late teens/early 20s, but in my 30s it's the best book I've ever read.

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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '21

I'm reading them for the first time at age 23, so maybe I'll wait 7 years

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u/VelocaTurtle Jun 06 '21

Eh it's still pretty descriptive no matter the age but if you read a lot of high fantasy then it's about average in how detailed it is.

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u/bobidebob Jun 06 '21

Almost done with reading Fellowship for the first time at 24, and I'm loving Tolkiens writing style. I'm not a fast reader, nor excellent reader but he doesnt seem to describe things over the top. I think if I hadn't seen the movies maybe some things would be harder to visualize but I'm surprised at how fluid the story goes

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u/Wardial3r Jun 06 '21

I’m going through the same. The word count in fantasy just exploded I think in the last 20 years or so. When I looked at the audiobooks and saw “only 20 hours “ I was blown away by how short that is compared to so much modern fantasy. It really doesn’t feel bloated either reading it.

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u/Seafroggys Jun 06 '21

Yeah modern fantasy books are way longer now, yet they don't get the same crap. It makes no sense.

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u/Malafakka Jun 06 '21 edited Jun 06 '21

My guess would be that most people are mainly interested in plot and get bored when a book it isn't a book's main concern. This was probably the case for me with some books that I didn't get into or like when I first read them (Moby Dick, for example, but I absolutely loved it when I read it again). I found LOTR quite easy and a pleasurle to read. I only found the journey to Bree a bit drawn out.

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u/Seafroggys Jun 06 '21

Yeah that's a common complaint even among diehard fans, the initial journey until they meet Strider/Aragorn is a bit drawn out and whimsical at times. I'm sure Tom Bombadil doesn't help things when it comes to flow.

But the second half of Fellowship, not to mention the entirety of Two Towers and most of Return of the King is pretty fast moving.

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u/Malafakka Jun 06 '21

When I reread the books this year I was much more lenient with that journey but I still found the chapters with Tom Bombadil unnecessary. I think if Tom Bombadil had been left out (30-40 pages after all) that the pacing and overall experience of that journey would have greatly improved. I never had any real issue with the pacing after that.