Do you think less of people if they read shitty books?

[Carol]

oops, I figured it out. You can compare books, not sure how I missed it before.

Yikes, Jonathan! Did it start out "the GOVERNMENT IS WATCHING YOU" because I hung up on that one.

[Jonathan]

This one was from some retired football player whose name I didn't recognize. During election season, I end up screening calls and deleting messages a lot.

[Stacia (the 2010 club)]

I rarely answer my phone. Thank God for caller ID.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Oh, creepy....I knew that name sounded familiar. Clint Didier played for the Redskins in the 80s.

I got a long voicemail message from Obama the other day. I wish Bill Clinton would call! He used to call me but doesn't anymore.

[Jonathan]

Bill's fickle.

[Jonathan]

It might have been Didier on the robo-call that I received, Misha. But I don't really know. I've erased the message.

[[deleted user]]

Carol wrote: "oops, I figured it out. You can compare books, not sure how I missed it before.

Yikes, Jonathan! Did it start out "the GOVERNMENT IS WATCHING YOU" because I hung up on that one."

That would have been from Jesse Ventura.

[Sarah]

Speaking of shitty books, this is the funniest thing I've read in a long time!
Reasoning With Vampires, a grammatical take-down of Twilight.

http://reasoningwithvampires.tumblr.com/

[Jammies]

Sarah, I'm fairly sure I'm not supposed to be snorting at the office...

[Sarah]

How about snickering?

[Jammies]

Pretty sure that's disallowed too. I might be able to get away with a stifled chuckle, if I'm lucky.

[Michele]

I have spent my whole life being serious. I am now officially taking a break! I read for my pleasure, not someone else's. My life has been serious and dramatic and tragic enough...I am taking a break.

[Michele]

However, I do like to read history.

[Sarah]

Well said, Misha. I think the issue is that we have to work harder for serious literature, either because the language is archaic or because the ideas are challenging.

[Gatorman]

Misha wrote: "One thing that baffles me is this idea that reading "serious" literature is somehow mutually exclusive from reading for pleasure. For those of us with a passion for the written word, shouldn't it b..."

I agree, but please don't lump Stephen King in with Dan Brown. That's just sacrilege!

[Sarah]

I guess part of the question is "what are you willing to overlook in the books you read?"

Are you willing to tolerate turgid prose for a ripping good yarn? I think the people who read the books I consider shitty are willing to overlook flaws that just gnaw away at me.

[Sarah]

Badly written books drive me batty. A very few bad books are worthwhile for the mockery factor, but a bad book takes way more time than a bad movie, and my time is valuable.

Those are a different thing from books that are well-written but for the most part unchallenging. I'd put Stephen King and Louisiana vampires into that category. I'm more willing to cut those a break.

[Sarah]

Actually, I thought you meant that other Louisiana vampire. I haven't read Charlaine Harris, so I wouldn't presume to comment on her prose.

[Sarah]

I don't think I really judge too much; I'm just acknowledging that I do a little, while understanding that there may be mitigating circumstances.
If I have to choose between sitting between two people on a plane, and one is reading Twilight and the other is reading The Left Hand of Darkness, I'm sitting next to the Le Guin reader, just in case conversation breaks out. I'm not saying the other person might not turn out to be the more interesting human being, but my first impression will send me to the other seat.

And I know that lots of my bestest friends have read one or more of the Twilight books, and I even paid for a Team Edward t-shirt for Zu's sister, so I'm not saying it makes anyone the lesser for it.

[William]

It really depends on several factors. Nothing wrong with a few guilty pleasures in life. Sometimes a story is really intriguing but the execution isn't that great or the story isn't well developed. Sometimes the story is just so-so but the writing just draws you in.

Now if someone exclusively reads shitty books, especially if that someone puts down quality stuff, I'm definitely not going to be impressed.

[Sally, la reina]

Somebody said a few pages back a sentiment I'd like to repeat. I'm just glad people are reading.

[Michele]

Sally wrote: "Somebody said a few pages back a sentiment I'd like to repeat. I'm just glad people are reading."

ditto

[Michele]

I read for a ripping good yarn. I love stories especially stories that do something.

[Stacia (the 2010 club)]

I read several books per week, so I want to get into a book, have fun, and get out.

My attention span just isn't what it used to be.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

And next morning your books have to take the walk of shame...

[Stacia (the 2010 club)]

No, they have to go out the window and down the trellis.

[RandomAnthony]

One thing that baffles me is this idea that reading "serious" literature is somehow mutually exclusive from reading for pleasure

I agree with you on this.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

For me there's usually no correlation. A junky "pleasure" read can be pure torture.

[RandomAnthony]

I tend to rotate. After I read something intense I want something lighter and after I read something light I want something more intense.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Don't rotate too fast in your current drunken state.

[Sally, la reina]

I concur with message 174. Usually a pleasure read is more along the lines of Zola or Dickens, someone who knows their way around a comma.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

[[deleted user]]

I read anything as long as it captures my attention.

Sometimes I wish I knew more about grammar & punctuation but you have just about convinced me that I’m better off the way I am. I can enjoy a story regardless of any errors that might be contained in the sentence structure.

I'm in no danger of learning anything from spending time in here. For some reason grammar & punctuation are mutually incompatible with my brain.

[Sarah]

Comma police
arrest this man
he use too much
he splices all his clauses

[Michele]

Sarah Pi wrote: "Comma police
arrest this man
he use too much
he splices all his clauses"

that is why stream of consciousness was invented.

[Michele]

Question: does "How to Use the Internet Safely for Seniors>For Dummies" count as serious reading? Please notice my avatar. I am obviously in my blue period at the moment. that may change any minute...providing I remember how to do it again. thanks everybody who helped me out!

[Félix]

It's lovely, Michele. Nice choice.

[Brittomart]

Sarah Pi wrote: "Comma police
arrest this man
he use too much
he splices all his clauses"

Sarah Pi, ladies and gentleman

[Félix]

The one and only.

[Akilajiang]

agree with jonathan !

[Jennifer]

I don't care if someone reads shit. I care if that's ALL they read. It permanently slots them in my head somewhere-- I think it's the lack of willingness to do something that requires an effort, and I've certainly seen that same lack of willingness at play elsewhere in the same people's lives.

Now, I got trapped by the shit trap once. I had a book on the shelf, had heard it was great, hadn't read it yet, and it was a pretty hefty read. My new sister-in-law, who reads a lot of literary fiction, asked me for something to take on her honeymoon so I gave it to her. I later read it and IT TOTALLY SUCKED RANCID ASS. It was COMPLETE CRAP from the attic to the porte-cochere. I almost couldn't finish it. She never said anything to me about it but that drove me nuts so finally I apologized to her. Moral- never recommend a book you haven't read yourself yet, even if you intend to read it!

[Jennifer]

Kelly wrote: "I came into this group thinking you were asking defensively, meaning do we think others judge us if we pull out a crappy book. I get worried about that all the time, which is totally stupid. But wh..."

That would be a yes.

[Janice]

Hmmm... confession time. I have to admit that I've been a bit of a book snob. The reason being is that I want people to think of me as a 'serious' reader, whatever that means. The result of that was I lost my desire to read books. Our book club has been reading some heavy books (Prisoner of Tehran, Tears of the Desert, Under the Banner of Heaven, et al). Not only do I find the books disturbing, I crave a bit of fluff every now and again.

After Tears of the Desert, I realized that I needed to be true to myself as to what I like to read, and not read the stuff that would be disturbing to me. I gave myself permission to forego the last book (Under the Banner of Heaven) since I wasn't going to the book club meeting that night anyway, and started reading things that I enjoy.

I've listened to "The Historian", read "It", and am currently listening to "Bag of Bones". I've rekindled my desire to read. And that's the important thing.

As long as people are reading, what does it matter what they're reading?

I'm going to defend Dan Brown. I love puzzles - any kind. When I read the Divinci Code, I was immersed in a world of puzzles. I discovered that the entire book was a puzzle and I found the quest to solve the puzzles online. There were clues in the cover, clues in the paragraphs, and it was great fun to figure them all out. To me, that book was far more than a story.

[Michele]

when my sister and I were children ( 9 & 7) my dad told my sister to stop reading comic books and read "real" books like me. She came to me all worried and I told her to open a book while dad was around but to go right on reading her comic books because,eventually, she would want to read a deeper book. And,guess what? She did. If you read what you want to read in addition to what you should read you will read all your life.. How many people do you know who never opened another book after graduating?

[ms.petra]

reading should be a positive experience. If the book accomplishes its purpose, whether that is to inform, to elevate, to scare, to provide an escape, etc., then I am happy. I read for myself and I really don't care what other people think about my choices. if I find someone along the way to share/discuss a book, then even better. I read everything from gossip and style magazines at the grocery to how-to-manuals at Home Depot to classic literature and I enjoy it all.

[[deleted user]]

Seems a bit of cheek for me to really, as I read loads of rubbish. But (isn't there always a but?), I have to confess that I do get a twinge of superiority when I see/meet a romance novel reader.

[janine]

I might think less of their taste in books. I always feel like I havemore in common with people who read what I deem the better books.

[Chris]

Nah...not really.

I might seriously question their tastes in other forms of media if, for example, their favorite books include tripe like Twilight and The Hunger Games....but as for thinking less of the actual person, not in the least. We all have our guilty pleasures :)

I try to treat people the way they deserve to be treated. If someone has (in my opinion) absolutely horrible taste in books, but is a kind sweet person, I treat them like the kind, sweet person they are.

Honestly, its the pretentious jackasses and pseudo-intellectuals that piss me off and disgust me more than the vapid Edward fans. I dealt with these assholes far too often for my tastes during my college years and want nothing more to do with their lot.

[[deleted user]]

I don't mind if my friends read what I consider to be rubbish. That would include 99% of my solid friends. It is when they try to recommend books to me that I have a problem. I am not good at smiling, thanking them politely while trying to control the inner cringe.

[Mel]

When people read crappy books..depending on the person.. I do go hmmm