I have a bad habit. I talk about books I haven't read. I could blame it on my days as a bookseller, when being able to talk intelligently about books I hadn't read was absolutely necessary, but really it's that I have a tendency towards arrogance. I've been called out on this blog (once by a childhood idol of mine and the author of one of the books I was talking about!), but until now I haven't wanted to do anything about it.
Until now.
As I'm sure you know, I've talked a lot of trash about the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, all without reading it. That's going to change. I have in my very hand, Twilight, and I'm going to read it with an open mind.
All of it.
And if I like it, I'll admit it. I'll sing it's praises, even. And if I don't like it, I get to say whatever I want about it for the rest of my natural life.
More to the point, I'm promising right here and right now that I'm going to stop it with the talking about books I haven't read. It's obnoxious and arrogant, and if you catch me at it you have my permission to mock me mercilessly.
4 comments:
If you do it right, talking about books you haven't read is a virtue, not a vice. And if you don't believe me, take it from this book, which I have not read:
http://www.amazon.com/Talk-About-Books-Havent-Read/dp/B001P3OLS8/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237586579&sr=8-1
It's like people who say how Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is just so bad, and then admit to not having read it.
If they had read it, I may agree with them, depending on their reasons, but all the ones who said when they saw me read it (for the first time), "I have outgrown books like this in the 9th grade."?
Yeesh.
Good move. I've often wondered why there has been such a harsh back lash against Twilight, but I've never read it (or seen the movie either), so I can't say. In the end, checking stuff out before passing judgment is probably best practice.
For what it's worth, Angela read Twilight and it made her want to stab people.
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