Book Lovers Inc.
Romance Novel Reviews, Author Interviews, Commentary
Bookish Rants or Raves: Book Snobs!
I have to confess that even though I’ve read my share of Brazilian Literary Classics when I was a kid and that I have also read some English and American Literary classics laster on when I was in college, I have always preferred spending my time with my Agatha Christie collection.
Nowadays, I don’t hide my YA, UF and PNR obsession and I am far from being embarrassed by it, but that doesn’t stop people from turning their noses when i mention the types of book I read.
To be quite honest, I don’t give a damn and it’s none of their business which kind of book I have a predilection for. However, I find ridiculous this sort of snobbish behavior.
I was wondering if any of you guys out there have ever been in a situation where you suffered prejudice for the type of book you like to read?
I can’t wait to hear your opinions!
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I understand you Larissa, the same happens to me. I ahve always been a voracious reader and read a lot of literary classics until about 2 years when I discovered paranormal, urban fantasy and romance novels. My family and real life friends don't know in detail what books I read because although I'm the one who reads the most, they would surely have some mean remarks (my mom thinks that romance novels are trashy junk, but she didn't think highly of chick lit either, and now she reads that, so maybe one day i'll see her reading some Harlequin novels ;-D lol) I don't care, I read what I enjoy, but it's true that I'm not advertising what I read, I don't need the weird looks and snide remarks..
Oh yeah. I'm an old chick reading YA and people ask "When are you going to read adult books?" And I read a lot of paranormal and I get "You read crap."
What do they mean, adult books? Books on politics and taxes or divorce or dementia? Hell no I'm not.
I want to read about fairies and vampires. I get enough "adult" at work.
Everyday gloat from my dear sister, who says that what I read is not literature and basically rubbish.Of course, she has not read a single book of the genres I read.She loved Harry Potter and the occasional thrillers, but that's it.And it's not just my sister.I have read my share of adult books and I love what I have read.But I cannot read adult books all the time.I just can't.I'm not judging them for reading them, why do they?
Unfortunately it happens all the time seeing as I'm quite open about my passion for the romance genre (whether it be historical, regency, paranormal, erotica etc). But then they also know I "read everything" so they're more often than not amazed at me than put my reading tastes down. I can recommend from anything to kids books, science fiction to crime to life science to horror novels or biography. I work in a bookstore so I've gotten better at it too (the romance section being unofficially 'my' baby lol ;P).
Being a varied and voracious reader I don't see the point in being pretentious and snobby about other genres, I can understand why they would say it about, for example, romance, but I don't share their opinions and pity them their narrow-mindedness.
I do detest people who shudder at the thought of being caught in the romance section and then head for the YA books only to pick up an author who writes mainly romance books (ie Kelly Armstrong, Gena Showalter, Rachel Vincent)- I proceed to tell them that and they look at me with an incredulous expression that makes me want to punch their face in. Like "omg they write romance?!"
Romance arguably is a component in every genre so the stigma against the genre is baffling- there's just more of it than let's say in an average crime or science fiction or fantasy novel but they're there most if not all the time. Sorry, I've digressed.
Ok, so I used to turn my nose up to mills and boon/harlequin but it wasn't for very long- I've converted and seen the light! lol My point it don't dismiss anything as 'bad' or 'a waste of time' until you've tried it out (more than once because 1 time does not make an expert!)
For a long time, I was reading general fiction and non-fiction and all of my friends thought that was fine. But now that I'm on a romance and paranormal kick, it's different. It's almost like I'm not reading anymore, just because I'm reading what is considered to be "junk". Even SciFi is more accepted these days than romance. I do find that those attitudes affect me, so I'm working on being proud of what I read instead of apologizing for it.
@Stella
I can totally understand not advertising it, its better sometimes to just not say anything and avoid dealing with the prejudice… =)
@Life after jane
LOL Im so with you on that! Reading for me is about escapism… I want to read about Vamps, wolfs, fairies too =)))
@AtenRa
I totally understand you!! ::hugs::
@Camille
I completely agree with you! its so easy to look down on "Romance" when Romance is something we see in basically any genre out there…. so annoying =/
@JenM
Argh! I know what you mean… it's like they think that just because what you read doesn't fit into their label of Literature it doesnt count… so not cool!
Romance is definitely not well-respected amongst people who do not know anything about the genre. I read both literary fiction, non-fiction and romance so people close to me never give me a hard time but I have come across acquaintances who have given me the incredulous eye…"why are you reading THAT?!"…but the older I get, the less I care 🙂
I don't get any remarks from my friends or co-workers about what I read, but one time I bought a historical romance and the owner of the bookstore (who sold me the book) made a demeaning remark about it. I told him off for treating a customer badly and I never bought another book at that store again.
Oh yeah, I receive a lot of flak for reading SF/fantasy/UF/horror from fellow 'readers.' ("Those books are so mundane! They don't have the deep meaning of LITERATURE.")
In law school my peers mocked me for reading YA (You're going to be a lawyer! It won't kill you to read something at a higher reading level.)
And finally I get harassed from friends and family for my general refusal to read (or watch) anything that doesn't pass the Bechdel test. (Just because the author doesn't write a decent woman character doesn't undermine what they have to say about the world!)
What can I say? People are judgy about books.
I get it more on the writing side than I do on the reading side. The people that I talk reading with either read what I read or they read smut stuff and Harlequin so they can hardly judge. On the writing side, though, that's a different story. I'll only do critique groups that specifically say they critique YA or I don't even bother.
@Scorpio M
LOL yep, the "Are you reading THAT?" is def a classic =)
@Sullivan
argh, thats awful =/ Love that you told him off =)
@ draconismoi
yep, I hear you! thats why Im so happy for the tweepes and blog peeps I've met online =)
Tragic isn't it! I can't believe how dreadful some people can be over something as toothless as books. Instead of rejoicing in conversing with another booky – they disrespect what you choose to read and sadly they probably haven't even tried the genre they are putting down.
@Michelle
I couldn't have put it better… it is definitely tragic =/ and unfair…
I don't think I have ever been subject to book prejudice. But, I could br wrong and have and not even realized it. I know one time I bought a few books at the store I frequent, and the woman ringing me up asked if I was getting any books for myself. I just looked at her and shrugged. I was surprised. Even though the books where Young Adult books, they where for me. I just left it go and went on my way. She hasn't asked anything of the kind since. I wonder if she realized they where for me or not…. 🙂