When you hear that someone doesn't like a book you really liked, what is your reaction?

GilliC · September 2013

Besides, Hawthorne totally agrees with me:

I am a pretentious asshat! I made my novel as obtuse as possible, because I like to fuck with people.
Sincerely,

sfgiantsjo · September 2013

It breaks my heart a little every time. We love our books here. All of us are extremely loyal to our favorites, and passionate about books to a fault. So yeah, when someone hates a book I loved, it stings. I want to defend the book. My favorite books are my friends and family and lovers, even. So if you don't like it, I'm going to judge a little.

j*&p* · September 2013

84Lauren said: The thing is, if I am in love with a book that affects me in personal, emotional ways, and you say you hate it, you are saying you hate something about me. You may not mean it that way, but that is absolutely what it boils down to. So it's almost more like when someone hates one of those special favorite books, I feel judged by THEM. So my judging is just defensive judging. Shut up, I am making TOTAL sense here. This is exactly how I feel. Even though they aren't *really* it feels like they're rejecting me.

booknerd226 · September 2013

I have to really, really love the book and they have to have absolutely hated it. Even if you feel that, for example, HP or TKAM isn't your cup of tea, you have to be able to at least say you enjoyed it and it was a good story. Because they are both way too amazing for someone to say that they hated them.

LaBellaBarv66 · September 2013

My best friend and I have tend to love/hate the same books and recently I gave her one of my all time favorites to read and she didn't love it, it about broke my heart. I really felt sad and hurt by this.

Passanie · September 2013

I've been shocked at how I've been judged on this board for not liking certain books.

As for me, I've definitely felt that deep sense of personal disappointment when someone poops on something you really value and connect to -- but I guess I figure there's things you think and there's things you say and the harsher stuff is best left unsaid.

pinkybooklover09 · September 2013

Passanie said:

I've been shocked at how I've been judged on this board for not liking certain books.

As for me, I've definitely felt that deep sense of personal disappointment when someone poops on something you really value and connect to -- but I guess I figure there's things you think and there's things you say and the harsher stuff is best left unsaid.

Perhaps it's your approach. Sometimes it's very difficult for me to tell if you're being sarcastic, deliberately contrary, or you're just incredibly negative. Being confronted by someone who's a contrarian sometimes makes people feel defensive, so that might have something to do with the treatment you say you've received.

Or you know, junewhatevs.

nocturnalintimacy · September 2013

EliStar said:

Hoycie said:

jackiback said:

RevJen said:

Hoycie said:

jackiback said:

If it is a book that I think has a great plot that carried me away, I'm ok with other people liking it bc maybe they get carried away by different things. I don't judge, I just shrug. But when I have loved a book because it is masterfully written, gorgeous words, beautifully painted characters, I really do judge. I assume that you aren't super smart if you can't at least appriciate well crafted art. I think there are some books that any reader, any lover of words would OF COURSE love even if the plot wasn't their favorite.

This is how I feel about The Night Circus. I think it was written beautifully, the characters were described well and all that jazz but the story just didn't do it for me.

I think it's entirely possible to recognize phenomenal writing and still not like the book. I've run across a few where I totally appreciate the artistry of the writer but the actual story didn't do it for me.

Then I feel like it wouldn't make it to your "Hated it" list or the list from today of books that you didn't like, right? Maybe I approach those kinds of things differently, because if there were a giant redeeming factor, like, say, it was written brilliantly, I wouldn't classify it as a book I hated, but as a book whose plot didn't catch me?

That's true. I retract my Night Circus from that post that I will not go in.

Exactly. Like when people say they hate The Name of the Wind, I feel like they are PERSONALLY ATTACKING ME.

I've never had this happen. Everyone I've recommended this book to, loves it. But if someone hated it, that's a friendship-ender.

LadyMacaron · September 2013

The only time I've cared is when I got into a screaming match over HP. This girl was just blasting the series and said she refused to ever read it because it was crap. I almost killed her! I mean, how can you hate something you've never experienced?

Other than that, I'm kind of on the "different strokes for different folks" boat. Sometimes you are just in a different place mentally to love a book as much as someone else. It's all such a personal experience, it can't always be replicated.

When you hear that someone doesn't like a book you really liked, what is your reaction?

Re: When you hear that someone doesn't like a book you really liked, what is your reaction?

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