Confessions of a Critic
I've only been actively involved in the online book community for a short while (comparatively speaking), so some of the interactiveness is still pretty new to me. I mean, I kept up with the community before that, but from a distance. And now? I still squee shamelessly when someone whose writing I admire sends me an e-mail or drops a comment. It works the other way, too; I've discovered shiny new authors because of the back-and-forth. Someone who's really fun when you meet them, either online or in person, and you think "wow, I really need to read what they've written." Most of the time, it's a win/win situation.
Except... occasionally I'll meet an author, really like them, buy their book... and hate it. I actually feel guilty when this happens, and it's worse if they know I've been reading their work.
"So what did you think?"
"Uhh... boy, there sure are a lot of words there."
(Ok, I'm kidding. I do occasionally have more tact than that.) Sometimes it happens the other way around: I read a book, dislike it, and then discover later the author is a really wonderful person. Then the guilt is retroactive.
Realistically, though, there's no reason to feel guilty for disliking a book. Tons of very nice people have written horrible books. In fact, I'm sure all the nasty reviews I've written are about books written by people who are absolutely lovely. When I pick up a book, there's no guarantee I'll like it, even if I'm totally BFF with the person who wrote it. Sorry to say, my "this person is cool" reflex does not overrule my "dear LORD this book is terrible" reflex.
So I know all this. But I still feel guilty if I wind up not liking the book. Not that it's ever stopped me from writing an honest (and oftimes snarky) review, just enough to bug me. Stupid guilt complex.
Am I the only one who does this? Anyone else get hit with the guilt when someone you like (whether you know them personally or not) writes something you hate?
Except... occasionally I'll meet an author, really like them, buy their book... and hate it. I actually feel guilty when this happens, and it's worse if they know I've been reading their work.
"So what did you think?"
"Uhh... boy, there sure are a lot of words there."
(Ok, I'm kidding. I do occasionally have more tact than that.) Sometimes it happens the other way around: I read a book, dislike it, and then discover later the author is a really wonderful person. Then the guilt is retroactive.
Realistically, though, there's no reason to feel guilty for disliking a book. Tons of very nice people have written horrible books. In fact, I'm sure all the nasty reviews I've written are about books written by people who are absolutely lovely. When I pick up a book, there's no guarantee I'll like it, even if I'm totally BFF with the person who wrote it. Sorry to say, my "this person is cool" reflex does not overrule my "dear LORD this book is terrible" reflex.
So I know all this. But I still feel guilty if I wind up not liking the book. Not that it's ever stopped me from writing an honest (and oftimes snarky) review, just enough to bug me. Stupid guilt complex.
Am I the only one who does this? Anyone else get hit with the guilt when someone you like (whether you know them personally or not) writes something you hate?