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Sumtimesagr8notion t1_je79fbr wrote

Reply to comment by Samael13 in Can someone explain Ducks, Newburyport to me? by Tantra_Charbelcher

I'm all for criticizing a book you don't enjoy, but it's weird to criticize a book when you didn't understand it. It always says more about the reader than the book

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Samael13 t1_je7akb1 wrote

Criticism is important, but I think that there's a big difference between critique and insult.

It's definitely a thing on here for people to pretend they're doing the former when they're really doing the later. "How can anyone like this pile of garbage book? I'm just asking for an explanation. What am I missing about this shitty book that makes people think this terrible author is any good?" isn't criticism.

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Handyandy58 t1_je7d5e1 wrote

The "What am I missing about this book?" question always gets me. When it's a celebrated or popular book - as is the case with Ducks, Newburyport - there is usually plenty of writing out there explaining what people found enjoyable or impressive about the book. The answers are already out there, and I am skeptical that anyone on this subreddit is really going to provide some unique insight in this regard. As you have said, it's just a veiled way to complain about disliking the book. And it's fine to dislike books, but it is much nicer to see someone wright thoughtfully about why they dislike the book rather than just use trite, nonspecific hyperbole to disparage it.

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Sumtimesagr8notion t1_je7ase6 wrote

That's fair but I do frequently do the latter with authors like Weir and Sanderson, but I'm admittedly a little mean spirited. Don't even get me started on imagine dragons in a music discussion

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