Stories

What makes a good book good? What a question. Books are judged by countless numbers of readers who make their judgements based on various circumstances. Editors might read for different things than  a person reading for leisure, and a teacher reads differently than a student. Similarly, people relate to books in hugely different ways, which also affects how they rate a book. What does good even mean? It all depends on what you read for, and the kind of reader you are.

This question is especially tough for me because it is a rare occasion for me to dislike a book. Even if I have a hard time getting through a book, it's hard for me to say that it is necessarily bad, because I know that this book is probably revered by some other person who just understood it in a way that I could not. I also am easily lost in a book, and though I notice the different voices of various authors, once I truly get into a novel, everything blends together. For me, I judge a book on my ability to become part of the story, to be able to see it, to never want to stop reading. I so easily get attached to characters, even if I don't necessarily agree with everything they do: I want to be a part of them, join in on whatever is happening to them. When people ask me about a book, it's hard for me to truly disclose my feelings about it, because I can't really describe how I feel. I so often read books over and over again because I love how I feel when I read them, and I love the worlds that I feel like I become a part of. I also am victim to feeling like I never want a novel to end: I want to know what happens, but I don't wanted to be yanked out of the storyline.

When people talk to me about how they didn't like a book or a character, I sometimes feel like I need to defend them. I realize what they say is true, how the writing style isn't perfect, or a character has numerous flaws... but I have a hard time saying I truly dislike something. Everything is simply a new story, a new adventure, and how is that bad? I understand, and I see what they point out, but it doesn't affect my feelings about the book. I also tend to try and take the author's perspective into view: especially when I reach the end of the book, I take time to really think about why. I feel like many people instantly get angry when they reach the end, upset that it doesn't finish exactly the way they wanted it to. That is why I am grateful that I love to reread books, because knowing the ending, I see things that I didn't before. It helps me understand why certain things happened, and helps me make connections to things, and that feeling is just so satisfying. Making connections is one of my favorite things about books, and I smile just thinking about how many authors are so clever about the small details that are part of their books. J.K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series is one that sticks out in my mind: rereading those books so many times and noticing new things every time is the greatest thing.

I also don't like when people judge a book based on its fandom or the analysis of another person. It is my opinion that everyone experiences books in different ways, and it is important to really truly make it through a book, without focusing on its flaws, before running around boasting about how much you hate it. Again, I have a hard time saying I don't like a book, but it frustrates me when people seem to not even try. Just like everyone has a different writing style, everyone has a different reading style, and there might be something you find within a book that others have missed, and that can make an incredible difference. On the other hand, I really enjoy having actual conversations with people about books, even when they don't like them. When there are real reasons backing up a dislike of something, I think it's really interesting to take their points into consideration. With this in mind, I think it's also important to consider that it is also important not to force a book on somebody. People have to discover what they love on their own, without having something thrown in their face.

I guess what's important is that a good book is never a good book to every person. While there are books that touch millions of people, there's always someone that doesn't understand it. Though I'm glad to be someone who can connect with most books, I know that I have to realize that not everyone feels this way, and everyone reads differently. Books are written because an author has a story to share, and that story is meant to connect with someone out there. Books can be analyzed down to punctuation, and called brilliant, and books can be simply read on the beach and loved by a kid. Whatever the situation, it is a person's own experience that evaluates a book, and I believe that a book that does its job in telling a story in a way that someone out there is affected by it deserves to be called "good."