Are you still as motivated to read a book when you hear it spoken of negatively?

[blondiemcfi]

I was just thinking recently, so many people have strong opinions on classic literature that sometimes I can be slightly put off a work that I was planning to read if I hear a lot of negative criticism about it. I'll give you an example - A while ago I was desperate to read James Joyce and was going so far as to look around bookshops for a copy of any of his work to get me started with a friend whose opinion in literature I valued. They remarked that Joyce as a writer was dreadful, that I would be wasting my time to try anything by him and that there were plenty of other writers out there, and so I left the bookshop feeling rather demotivated. I am not saying that I don't have my own opinion, merely that when someone you respect has critisism for an author you want to read you get a sinking feling that you are going to waste your time if you bother trying. So what are your opinions? Do you go ahead and read it anyway regardless of what people say or do you become discouraged and look for something else if the book is generally spoken of in a bad light? thoughts please!:D

[sofia82]

I read it for sure because of three reasons: 1) to know how is the author in my opinion 2) to know are their criticism right o not 3) what is the problem with the author. Although it has its effect on me, maybe starting reading not whole heartedly, but i do anyway. I most of the time do the things other people discourage me to do :D

[amalia1985]

Yes. I never pay much attention to comments, I need and I want to form an opinion of my own.

[General Urko]

Actually, I often get more motivated when I hear a lot of negative comments, especially when people seem very worked up over it. It makes me think there must be something interesting about it. It's the work that seems to receive almost universal praise that usually scares me off.

[Dark Muse]

If I really want to read a book than I pretty much will no matter what other people say about it. The most influential opinion for me is my sister, if she does not like a book it might put me off, primarily just because we have such like tastes in books, all the books I really love, she also loves, and so there is a strong chance if she did not like a book than I would not enjoy it either.

[subterranean]

Well, reviews or people's opinions don't really matter to me. However, I do read and I consider some of them. I respect some of the members here for their extensive and in-depth analysis. Hence, when they give their opinions, I know they're not just babbling. I also consider my best friend's verdict. He's an avid reader as well and so far, his opinion hardly missed. Further, we pretty much have the same taste.

[Emil Miller]

Well, reviews or people's opinions don't really matter to me. However, I do read and I consider some of them. I respect some of the members here for their extensive and in-depth analysis. Hence, when they give their opinions, I know they're not just babbling about it. I also consider my best friend's verdict. He's an avid reader as well and so far, his opinion hardly missed. Further, we pretty much have the same taste.

I usually value other peoples' opinions on writers, which is one of the reasons I am a member of this forum, but if I want to read an unknown author, I just go into a bookshop and check the writer out by reading randomly through a particular work and decide for myself.

[mayneverhave]

Given that there are hundreds of thousands of books in existence, what I read is largely determined by the opinions of those before me. It's practical. There is no possible way I can read every single book out there without limiting it to what is considered good.

Among the "classics" - whatever may be said about a canon: it does provide a somewhat loose designation of what critical consensus has deemed the best literature throughout the ages from the perspective of the present, and is useful in that regard - I will ultimately make my own decision through reading. So if someone says, "Tolstoy sucks" - though I'm not sure who would make such an accusation - I would not be able to validate their opinion until I read him myself.

[subterranean]

I usually value other peoples' opinions on writers, which is one of the reasons I am a member of this forum, but if I want to read an unknown author, I just go into a bookshop and check the writer out by reading randomly through a particular work and decide for myself.

Do you mean unknown as in you happen to see the author's work while browsing the shelves or unknown as in you read a review/comments about the author, whom you never heard before, and decide to check him/her out?

[JBI]

Depends whose opinion. The newspapers are filled with morons, as are most periodicals.

[mono]

Depends whose opinion. The newspapers are filled with morons, as are most periodicals.
Precisely! What gets into newspaper, periodicals, and magazines seem in there for their edginess rather than value.
I have gotten talked out of reading certain things because of people's opinions I value (some works by Robert Anton Wilson, for example), and have gotten convinced into reading certain things I probably would have never thought of reading previously (how I discovered Dag Hammarskjold :D). Few people have a literary opinion I place that much emphasis upon, but if a total stranger tells me that so-and-so blows, it may encourage me even more to at least take a peek into a book or two by the author.

*Edit: by the way, James Joyce reads with a lot of density, but I have found that most people who dislike him do so because they cannot understand him. I would not try to tackle a book like Finnegans Wake immediately, but I consider Dubliners, Ulysses, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man true gems in literature, especially Portrait . . .. :nod:

[Emil Miller]

Do you mean unknown as in you happen to see the author's work while browsing the shelves or unknown as in you read a review/comments about the author, whom you never heard before, and decide to check him/her out?

I mean an author whom I know about but haven't read. A good example would be Thomas Hardy, who's Jude the Obscure has reduced a number of members of the forum to tears. I recently deliberately checked out this novel to see why it had such a powerful effect on readers, but a cursory reading didn't produce the same effect, although other writers have.

[JBI]

Strangely though, some cultures develop good review criticism. French Canada for example has consistently good editors - I guess that's because in order to actually get a review there, in the better outlets of the media, one must be something of a genius.

[kelby_lake]

I really respond to other people's opinions, because it changes the way you come at the book. If I respect a person, I will normally respect their opinion.

[Emil Miller]

Strangely though, some cultures develop good review criticism. French Canada for example has consistently good editors - I guess that's because in order to actually get a review there, in the better outlets of the media, one must be something of a genius.

Not so in England, here one merely has to be moneyed.

[Hank Stamper]

it is interesting hearing other people's opinions, but i would never refuse to buy/read something because somebody told me it was bad or not worth reading.. even good criticism or respected reviewers etc.. opinions are subjective and as such will always be divided... and if something is obviously bad (the whsmith top ten is usually a good barometer)... well, you dont need to tell me that it is not worth reading dan brown

forming your own opinions about literature is one of the many joys of reading

[kelby_lake]

Not so in England, here one merely has to be moneyed.

And male and smug-looking.

[crystalmoonshin]

Most of the time, yes. Just to see for myself if it's true.

[Pecksie]

Depends on whose opinion. Most people will gush about having read a book you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO READ, and then it turns out to be something by Dan Brown or Coelho. On the other hand, I've heard people say they couldn't get past the first few pages of McEwan's 'Atonement'.

This, unfortunately, reflects the kind of books you're likely to get for your birthday :(

[crystalmoonshin]

Depends on whose opinion. Most people will gush about having read a book you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO READ, and then it turns out to be something by Dan Brown or Coelho. (

I know the feeling. I used to have a high regard for Coelho seeing his works being featured in the daily journal and all. But when I read 'The Alchemist", I was like, damn it!!! It's not what I expected. The same thing occurred when Stephenie Meyer shot to fame. I wasted my time reading her lousy Twilight. I didn't read the ones after that. It SUCKS terribly.

After that, I started to not care much about other people's opinions when it comes to what to read and what not to read.

[Jeremiah Jazzz]

This idea of being turned away by an opinion is totally understandably. Lucky for me I live in a literary world where it is only I and the internet, and I refuse to believe what the internet tell me other than basic facts haha!

By the way, people who consider Joyce a terribly writer is most (most I say! who knows about other factors...) likely because he has a dense technique. Don't let that turn you away because it's about the art of presentation. Genius!

[blondiemcfi]

thank you so much to all of you who replied, its great to see so many positive responses and that a lot of you would go ahead and trust your own judgement!I'm now determined to read what I want even if I hear someone else doesn't like it, after all what harm can reading it anyway do! :D