In the book world, there are all of these rules that one must follow to be considered a "real" reader. You must never dog-ear book pages or crease the spine of your own book—that's a no-no. You must read print books over e-books because the feel of the pages is something that cannot be replicated. You must choose the book over the movie, every time. As if, right?
These rules can go on and on in every social interaction that readers find themselves in. There is also the fact that people hate what is popular, despite the fact that the book became popular for a reason. I find the idea that books that are well talked about are not well written or are only for mainstream teenagers. Why is it so bad to like the popular or the well known?
There is a great quote by Stephen King that comes to mind when I think about book snobbery and the fact that book snobs can judge others so pretentiously on what they read and what they enjoy:
“There are books full of great writing that don't have very good stories. Read sometimes for the story...don't be like the book-snobs who won't do that. Read sometimes for the words--the language. Don't be like the play-it-safers who won't do that. But when you find a book that has both a good story and good words, treasure that book.”
Truthfully? We are all book snobs.
We are all snobbish about something we enjoy because we feel that there has to be the right way to enjoy our favorite thing and there has to be the wrong way. Books should be read and they should be read in whatever way that we want. Making people feel bad for reading romance books instead of the literary classics is idiotic and frankly, not the main point of being a reader.
In fact, it's almost funny to listen to book snobs talk about reading every single thing you ever mention. Or listen to them act as if Young Adult books or Graphic Novels are beneath the literary classics. It reminds me of a scene in Portlandia, a comedy series, which parodies book snobbery and takes it to a whole other level.
People are an endless contradiction. We can say one thing one day and another thing the next day, and that is completely fine. We can like more than two genres, more than two things because that is life. There is no need to act all high and mighty about the types of books you read or how much have you read, because it is supposed to be entertaining.
Get a clue and just enjoy what you enjoy without prejudice. Or else you might end up in a reenactment of this scene.
