how do you feel when u read something awesome, but everyone else hates it to shreds?

[sung]

how does that make u feel if u read something amazing, awe-inspiring, and with a deep and hidden meaning, tell it to the world, and have the world declare it poo?

now, this discussion is about the above statement, but here is an example:
i just read 'the pearl' by john steinbeck in less than 1 1/2 hrs. although the book is very short, it is very good, and i called up my good friend will to recommend the book. now, to my unpleasant surprise, he had already read the book and found it a worthless pile of trash.

do u not find that unnerving? that certain books, as wonderful as they are in your eyes, are nothing in the eyes of people who care nothing for the world of literature? shocking, is it not?

 

[Shade]

It would be worse if they were nothing in the eyes of people who care a lot for the world of literature...

 

[ions]

Interesting. For the most part I'm the only one I actually know that reads the books I do except for my Dad. We share similar tastes. He's currently trying to get through The Gunslinger and is hating it. I liked it. It's just not his thing. I would only be concerned about criticisms that are explained. If someone just says "it sucks" they clearly have nothing to add. It could also do with where someone is in their head too. Someone may not be in the right psychological mind to appreciate something and pass the book off as uninteresting.

That said it would probably make me assess my taste and knowledge of literature/fiction a little bit though. As much as I read for myself I would probably do that.

 

[Ronny]

I have a hard time finding people who have even read what I have. Many of my friends are full time students and only get around to their required reading. My hubby reads a lot and sometimes we like the same books but usually not. That's why I came here.

 

[francesca]

I sometimes feel a bit deflated mainly because I want everyone else to love something and get the same out of it that I do, and sometimes Ive had this inner knee jerk reaction and thought '' What's wrong with you, idiot''..
But Iv'e learnt that something that touches me doesn't necessarily touch someone else, I guess that's what makes books such a wonderful personal experience.
On the same lines I really envy someone who is reading a book that I have already read, I find myself thinking aww wish I was reading that for the first time, lol, they have all that pleasure to come.

 

[direstraits]

It doesn't really bother me. If people don't like books I like, no prob. I'd like to know why, cause I'm all for understanding different points of view, but if nothing's forthcoming I don't worry about it.

I'm very interested in talking to those who did like what I liked.

ds

 

[Zolipara]

People have different tastes. It dont bother me at all.

 

[Mari]

Discussing a book with someone else who liked it can be pleasant, but discussing it with someone who didn't can be more interesting. We then have the play and challenge of different views. It makes me solidify my view about what worked in the book, and find a place in my thinking for those things that might not have.

Your example with The Pearl is different, however. You are feeling shot down because someone you care about didn't like it. This grows in your mind into a thing about the whole world rejecting it, and maybe rejecting your tastes too. I say keep it in perspective.

 

[Renee]

that certain books . . . are nothing in the eyes of people who care nothing for the world of literature?

I think it's a matter of personal preference rather than someone not having any appreciation for literature. I get this attitude all the time for not liking things that everyone else thinks is great - I'm too uptight, don't understand the material, etc. No. I'm just an individual with individual tastes.

I don't like when people insists I'll like something that I am certain I will not. Everyone in the world could like one book, but that does not mean that I too will like it.

 

[Wabbit]

I don't really care if somebody doesn't like my the same thing as me. Everybody has different tastes, after all. I'm always interested to hear why they don't like it. I guess that's why I am here so to hear other views and opinions!

 

[MonkeyCatcher]

My friends rarely read the kind of books that I do, so I don't come across this very often. The only people who I know who read the kind of books that I do are my sister and my boyfriend, and both have similar tastes to me so we don't really disagree on how good a book was very regularly.

 

[Kookamoor]

For the most part it doesn't bother me, but I have felt the occassional pang of consternation when some of my most loved and treasured fantasy-genre books are shot down for various reasons. I have a great love for certain authors who are very popular, like Feist, Eddings, Goodkind, because they were the first fantasy books I ever read. To see them shot down by others on this forum was annoying at first, but I've come to realise that everyone has different experience within the fantasy genre, and brings a different benchmark to the plate. I greatly respect the opinions of a number of contributers to the fantasy threads and consider the likes of ainulindale, sell sword and ds to be good authorities on the genre. That being said, it doesn't both me a stitch any more if they say that one of my most loved books is trash. To each their own

On the same lines I really envy someone who is reading a book that I have already read, I find myself thinking aww wish I was reading that for the first time, lol, they have all that pleasure to come.

I totally agree! This is how I feel when I'm trying to recommend some of my favourite books to others. But I also really, really want them to try the book that meant so much to me just so that they can have that feeling. It's very disappointing if they don't get the same feeling I did.

 

[namedujour]

I think personal taste is the primary reason people won't like a book. I don't like mysteries, thrillers, Westerns, and romance. If a book contains a car chase, I don't get very far. It doesn't matter how good the book is, I won't necessarily think it's "good."

In addition, there are also people who simply aren't equipped to judge and evaluate literature. I think you have to consider that, and not take it personally when they don't see what you see in a book.

Case in point: Every time I ever post an Amazon review that criticizes writing style or technique ("Every paragraph contains incomplete sentences and comma splices. I found that distracting and irritating."), it receives a barrage of "Unhelpful" votes from fans who don't care that dialog is stilted, or that characters are undeveloped or one-dimensional - or that the author didn't finish his sentences. Writing skill is important enough to me to warrant two full stars out of a five-star review. Should I question my own three-star evaluation of a book that normally receives five stars? Comma splices are bad, but the author uses them everywhere. I can't change the fact that his writing is technically flawed, nor can I change the fact that it bothers me and spoils my appreciation for the book - or (this is probably the clincher) that I know what a comma splice is, and know that it is bad.

So I don't let it bother me. I keep posting those reviews when I need to, to warn people who dislike books that are technically flawed. When I'm deciding to buy a book, those are the reviews I specifically look for to steer me away from making a purchasing mistake.

Perhaps the other readers don't know flawed writing when they see it. They're looking for something else, which the author satisfactorily delivers. Their Unhelpful votes are no reflection on my opinion, I don't think, just as my three-star reviews don't change their effusive love for flawed books. We have different expectations and thresholds of appreciation when we read.

The Pearl is a classic. You saw why that was, whereas other people didn't. I certainly wouldn't let it bother me, that other other people don't recognize its value. There are plenty of people who do.

 

[Umbrella]

I don't think that I have ever experienced something like that. If ever, I just assumed that I had better taste in books than them. It's the same as it is with music, I know that the music I love is fantastic, anyone who says otherwise are just pityful. I don't think that I know better than everyone else, I simply know that I listen to good music. Although, if someone with also good taste in music, yet not identical, says that they don't like a certain band, (people with good taste in music don't say "sucks" about any kind of music unless it is the kind of music that not any people with good taste in music listen to) ,I figure that our ear channels are just slightly different in style, but not in quality. Hm, yes. Something exactly like that.

 

[ruby]

One of my friends carnt understand what i get of reading a book! she says i am sad,well its her loss not mine and to be honest i dont really care what anybody thinks

 

[sirmyk]

I adore books like Life of Pi, Hearts in Atlantis, and Lost Boy Lost Girl, but others detest them with passion. Personally I don't care what others think. Books are personal.

 

[GeoffNelder]

how does that make u feel if u read something amazing, awe-inspiring, and with a deep and hidden meaning, tell it to the world, and have the world declare it poo?

I too used to worry over this point. After all, if I feel so strongly over the merits of a story then why shouldn't fellow humans. But we are all different - thank goodness - we all have such unique experiences in life we shouldn't expect standardised gushing over our favourite books, films, poems and music.

Geoff

 

[SFG75]

Hmmm, never thought about that. Had it happen a few times, though I'm not too concerned about dictating my life to others interests.

 

[dolphinfire30]

I feel that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. What bothers me is when people start to judge you because of what you read. I am a diverse reader. I will even occasionally pick up a good historical romance. Its ok to say "its not my thing" or "I really didn't care for that book", but when someone says "how can you read that crap" thats when I get offended.

 

[Stewart]

but when someone says "how can you read that crap" thats when I get offended.

Get them to argue the case for it being crap and then blow their argument out of the water.