Sometimes knowing what you don’t like is just as important as knowing what you do like.
Recently, I was asked about books I don’t like.
Of course, this is like a test you haven’t studied for. Even if you know the subject, you blank when you’re put on the spot. Ordinarily, I can tell you all about books I don’t like. Probably too much, in fact. It’s usually situational, though, like in conversation (“I had to read Catcher in the Rye in high school." “Oh, yeah, that book’s so phony”).
What’s even more common in my line of work is that a book will float across my path one way or the other and someone nearby will have read it, want to talk about it, or want to know about it. I was surprised how difficult it was to come up with books out of context. (Of course, I can think of plenty now.) Happily, I was able to think of all sorts of books I liked, but that wasn’t the question. I had to mentally go through the books I’d read recently and think about the ones I liked and didn’t. Fortunately, (so to speak), there were a couple real disappointments.
The other part of the question I was answering was, “What didn’t you like about the book?” Answering this, I realized that maybe I didn’t, in general, like the suspense/thriller genre. This was a surprise, because I often like mysteries, generally of the hardboiled or police procedural type, too, and there’s a strong family resemblance between the genres. But the thriller plays up the suspense and often emphasizes the killer, whereas the mystery is more strongly about the detective, and solving the crime. In many cases, the thriller is about crime prevention, rather than solving a committed crime, like a mystery. There are plenty of exceptions, and the book (and movie) that did a lot to kick off the modern thriller, "The Silence of the Lambs," blends all these elements well. Even there, though, the mystery elements are lighter than the suspense elements.
I want to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with the thriller genre; however, it’s a genre where books often have strong stylistic similarities, and those don’t appeal to me. And even then, there are exceptions (as with "Silence of the Lambs"). Also, as with probably everyone’s likes and dislikes, personal experience has a heavy hand. When I was in high school, I read a lot of this type of book, and I think I had my fill of serial killers and racing against the clock. It’s not that the books are bad, this is personal. (It’s not you, thrillers. After all, you’re thrilling. It’s me.)
Anyway, the point of all this is that if you find yourself disappointed with the last couple books you read, or if you find you can’t finish a book, it might be useful to ask yourself why. This can be especially useful when the books you don’t like are popular — either they’re bestsellers, or everyone you know is reading them. There’s a strong tendency to feel either defensive (“I am the only human with good taste!”) or self-conscious (“What’s wrong with me?”). Instead of either of those attitudes, you can find what you do like. After all, there are all sorts of different books out there.
Robert Mixner is the reference manager at the Bartholomew County Public Library and can be reached at [email protected]
