Rethought is a weekly feature here, on Rebook424, where I discuss bookish and not so bookish topics.
Sometimes, when I obssess over a book very much, I like to look up reviews about it. Okay, let's rephrase that. I'm more likely to look up reviews about books I'm obssessing over. I know, reviews are primarly for helping us decide whether a certain book's worth our precious reading time or not, however, since the people in my proximity don't often read the books I do, I love seeking out fellow fans and then fangirl together. Because it's an awesome feeling to talk out every little adorable detail, isn't it?
But what if in lieu of another fan, I stumble upon somebody who wasn't far as fond of the book as I was? Well, that can put me off pretty badly on occassions. I tend to be quite blinded to a book's flaws once it wins me over, while the less-fan folks not only point out these wrongs, but they do it reasonably which makes it even worse as I can't help but start to notice and admit what they brought up against the book.
Honestly, I think both reactons are normal and common. If we adore something, we are more lenient on its mistakes and the other side, who can think clearly and objectively, finds the problems. It's normal and I believe both opinions are needed in order to get a whole picture about something, in this case a book. Yet, this hypothesis doesn't help when the occurence kicks in.
So what to do to avoid this mini break-down from out favorites? The easiest way would be to not read reviews about them. But of course sticking our head in the sand is not an option under any circumstances. Not when a so-called "minor" bookish problem like this is concerned (because bookish problems are not minor, duh), or a more severe incident such as an inconvenient misunderstanding is. I have to confess, I haven't figured out a working procedure yet. I usually try to just not take it to my heart and forget about it. After all there's no accounting for taste. But in reality, it's not that easy. I can't help, but - as I've already said - start noticing what they reviewer pointed out and it hits especially hard when the book indeed has many faults. However, in most of the cases I still can enjoy it. If it's not full of those wicked faults of course, but still. And in fact, I even gain some advantage from the negative review; it brings me back to the ground and so I can give you more accurate, less biased opinion about the book.
Let's discuss!
What about you? Does it put you down if other are less enthusiastic about a book you fall for? If so how? What's your suggestions to prevent/cure it?
