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 Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 10:17 pm
Books are really, really important to me. You could say that they're maybe two points below oxygen on my "things necessary to survival" list. Needless to say, books affect everything I do, including how I view other people.
I have a tendancy to base my initial opinions of other people on what they read. For example, if all someone at my school reads is the Twilight series, and they go "Lyk OMG Twilight is teh best series EVAH!", I'm probably not going to have a very high opinion of them. On the other hand, if someone at my school is an avid reader of H.P Lovecraft, I'm probably going to have a good opinion of them. (This may be due in part that at my school, I'm pretty sure there's very few people who know any writers outside the mainstream.)
I'm sure I sound like a very shallow person. But you have to understand, I really have no other way of getting to know people. I'm really shy (I'm pretty sure that I may have an undiagnosed social anxiety disorder), and I rarely talk to people I don't know. Books are how I learn things about people.
So, does anyone else do this, or am I just weird?
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:36 pm
I tend to like people better or respect people more when I find out they are avid readers, but I don't tend to look down on people who aren't unless they are in my advanced English class.
If someone doesn't like a book I like I'm like, "Aww, why?!" Then get over it. I don't hold it against them unless they say they don't like The Vampire Chronicals by Anne Rice.
If someone likes a book I don't care for, I'll normally shrug it off. Unlike someone who shall remain nameless *cough*RollingStar*cough* who obsesses over her hatred of Twilight.
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Supernatural Manifestation
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:55 pm
If you think I obsess over my hatred of Twilight, you should never get me started on my hatred of Edith Wharton's House of Mirth. Ever. I assure you that I can rant for hours on the suckiness of that particular book.
I s'pose I'm just a very judgemental person, then.
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:26 pm
I suppose you could say I am judgemental, but not by what people read. I started reading when almost the entire student body of my intermediate school (3rd-5th for those who don't have intermediate) decided I should be the school scapegoat. Books were my only friends, and I have a deep distrust of people by default. As horrible as it sounds, I can only relax enough to give someone a chance to know me when I know that the particular person is well read. We've discussed in another thread how we thought readers were more kind, and I've found that to be true so far.
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 7:08 pm
Where I live, finding other avid readers is such a rarity that I really don't judge a person based on what they read, but rather if they read at all. But I've come to the stage of my life where I can let people defend books that they like/hate and as long as their reason has an air of maturity, I can accept it. So long as the reason isn't based around "blood, guts, death count, eroticness," I'll nod and give them the benefit of the doubt. However, based on that last sentence, I can't abide Laurel K. Hamilton fans.
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Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 8:57 pm
It is hard to judge a person just by their book choices, but if you know them some it can help.
I often do the opposite. I judge the book by the reader. There are some people who I know I can just swipe the book they are reading and I will like it.
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Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:54 pm
Loquacity It is hard to judge a person just by their book choices, but if you know them some it can help. I often do the opposite. I judge the book by the reader. There are some people who I know I can just swipe the book they are reading and I will like it. I do that sometimes, too. There's one kid at my school, who, regardless of how much they annoy me, still has an excellent taste in books, and so I've ended up talking to them a lot.
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Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 12:18 am
I can't say for certain that books affect the way I view people. I suppose I can say it affects the way I view certain people, but not everyone. I try to be openminded and understand every person's ideals and points of view, even if I don't agree with them.
But I suppose there's one type of person that I don't like regardless how intelligent or how much we may have in common. It's those who have no respect for other people's wishes or their own points of view. I've had it before. Try talking to someone who asks what you did over the weekend and when you tell them 'reading' they look at you as though you were ill. Nothing can and ever will change my opinion of those type. Not even if they try and explain to me because there is no explanation. They're just full of nonsense!
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 11:54 am
It does indeed. Needless to say, since I go to a very small school where about 80% of the entire student body doesn't read at all unless it is required by the school, I have a VERY low opinion of my classmates.
However, if a person reads, even if I don't like what they read, my opinion of them raises a bit. Of course, how much it raises depends on the book, and how intelligent they are while talking about it. If they go "OMG, I lurv that b00k so murrch!" needless to say, my opinion of them doesn't higher at all.
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 9:57 pm
I won't judge people by the books they read, but rather because I read so many books I will throw them into random categories depending on their immediate projection of self.
For example, if someone came up to me and I gave them a greeting and in return I got a smart a$$ answer, they would instantly go in the "Dresden" file (( no pun intended for Avid Dresden fans) wink . Or if they came off as someone who was confident I would place them under "Loor" (( Pendragon, DJ Mc Hale )) and so on down the line.
So I hold people to standards pre set by characters in the books I read. It just so happens that I have a couple categories for people who read as well. Such as "Yomiko", "Magie" and "Mo" From the respective books of R.O.D and Inkheart/Inkspell depending on exactly what they read and how avid they are about it.
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Romantic Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 11:47 am
Well, most of my friends are in the English or Theatre departments, so they almost all read the classics and what not. However, a couple of people whom I greatly admire for their intellect are not readers. I didn't think it was possible to be clever and a non-reader, but I now know it is. So I try not to judge. wink Loquacity It is hard to judge a person just by their book choices, but if you know them some it can help. I often do the opposite. I judge the book by the reader. There are some people who I know I can just swipe the book they are reading and I will like it.
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 12:22 pm
Twilight... just because of it's popularity and fanbase, I refuse to read it. I have the first two books, and I refuse. The fact that a movie is coming out makes it even worse.
But, anyhow, I can't say I judge anyone on what they read. I'm just thankful that they're reading at all. Maybe I'll be disappointed in their choices, but other than that, it's just what they enjoy and it doesn't affect me.
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 5:02 pm
DevonyEvony Twilight... just because of it's popularity and fanbase, I refuse to read it. I have the first two books, and I refuse. The fact that a movie is coming out makes it even worse. I'll watch the movie but I will never read the book. Its sad how fanbases ruin some things.
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 1:39 pm
red_moon_wolfess DevonyEvony Twilight... just because of it's popularity and fanbase, I refuse to read it. I have the first two books, and I refuse. The fact that a movie is coming out makes it even worse. I'll watch the movie but I will never read the book. Its sad how fanbases ruin some things. Yeah... looking back on what I said, it doesn't make sense that I say I don't judge people on books, yet I judge a book on fanbase. I think it's more the fact that it's so popular, and it puts up this barrier.
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