old/

profile/

guestbook/

rolling stones/

design/

diaryland/

Ok, I had to vent (again).

Some (IL) might say I was asking for it when I first "bitched" out FF about being an intellectual snob when she criticised my choice of reading material, chastising me for having the mental gravitas of a toad for daring to pick up a cursed volume of drivel (aka Tuesdays with Morrie) by the apparent King of First Level Book Hell Mitch Albom.

Ok so the guy used to a sports writer (not that I don't respect them - 80 per cent of my reading material pertains to sport. Gasp). And yes, the book is simple, touches on themes which have been done to death in Hallmark tele-movies, and doesn't use big words. Well BIG EFFING DEAL I say.

I liked it. It's not gonna win any important prizes, and I'm not even giving it a gold star. But it was sweet. And reminded me of some of the things we tend to forget about when we're too preoccupied being intellectual and smart and witty and smarmy and cynical and jaded and oh-ever-so-cool. It reminded me to be nice (apparently that means boring to some people, but what the heck, I'll take the risk).

And you know what? My mom liked it too. And she likes the Da Vinci Code. So it's not Shakespeare. So what? Can't someone enjoy an easy-to-read book without people calling them names? Aren't books supposed to be entertainment too and not just a printed validation of a person's Mensa score?

Ok I'll let the aggro ease off a bit as I actually think FF is really nice inside and could be really charming. With a bit of practice.

But my point with regards to books is this. Some books are good. Some books are great. Some books are turd. But if we adopt the attitude that they are beneath us, then we shut ourselves off from whatever good they may offer. Even dire books can teach us lessons, if only "avoid writing like this". More often than not, I will come away with an observation on human nature, or a reminder not to neglect certain aspects of life, or just a cool way of thinking about something I hadn't seen before.

Maybe this makes me dense and a simpleton. But if that means that I'm constantly looking for things to learn about things, then I'll risk it.

And if the alternative is joining up with a bunch of people who enjoy collectively poo-poo-ing books without ever having written one themselves, then I'm quite happy where I am (yes, I do belong to the "think you so clever, go do it yourself lah" school of thought). So there. Lalalalalala.

previous entry - next entry