When I was a kid, every book I read became my favorite. There hardly ever seemed a book I despised. However, as an adult, I have added many books to the ‘I regret reading this’ list in my head. It was easy because most of those books the whole book community seems to hate too. So it was a mutual agreement. However, what if the rest of the world loves the novel you disliked?
I just finished a book that I did not enjoy, did not understand 90% of it, and I am entirely at a loss now. Usually, I do not have any problem DNF’ing a book. Alright, I am going to say it. The book I did not enjoy was 100 Years Of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. Please do not hate me!
There are a few reasons I wanted to push myself to finish it somehow regardless this book has over 400 pages. The reason numero uno: This is a world-renowned classic from one of the greatest authors ever lived. So I believed it is only fair if I at least give the book the respect of finishing it. I am glad I did because now I can comprehend why it was not my cup of coffee (because I hate tea!).
The reason number two is I started this for a book challenge that I did not want to give up. The last reason is this is a recommendation from my favorite booktuber, Emmie (please check out her channel! She has excellent taste in books). Usually, her recommendations work for me 100% of the time.
To speak about my dilemma about this book in more detail, let’s break down my thoughts on the book.
Why did I not Like it?
Everyone who has read the book knows it is a story centering on the Buendías family, fictional founders of Macondo. I usually prefer fast-paced books with short chapters. This book includes 20 long chapters of over 400 pages. Also, The use of the repetitive names of the Buendía descendants confused me, and I had to go back and forth to remind myself which José Arcadio or Aureliano I am reading about. Apart from these details, one other reason was the weight of the storyline. There are so many details, storylines, and character inputs within a few passages. It took me ages to finish this book (closer to 2 months)
Why am I feeling so pressured?
As I have mentioned above, this book is one of the most outstanding books ever written. No one will argue otherwise. Unfortunately, it was not my cup of tea. I was worried about writing a review for this because, so far, I felt like I am the only person who did not like it. I could hear the nun from Game of Thrones ringing her ‘shame shame’ bell behind me.
Even for someone who doesn’t blog about books, you might be writing reviews on book tracking apps like Goodreads and Storygraph. I am curious what you guys did when you didn’t like a book everyone else loved.
What to do when that happens
When some people tell me they hated the Harry Potter series, I will flip a table inside my head. I could not comprehend why anyone would not like Harry Potter, Come on! Now that I am here with 100 Years Of Solitude, I understand now. I do not need to feel guilty or feel ashamed of not liking it. There is no rule that you need to love the books everyone else wants. Every person is unique, and every reader is unique. The book that is not for me could be the book for you. There is no need to hate or shame. If you did not like a book, you could do the following things.
- DNF the book.
- Never speak about it. (We don’t need to trash-talk the authors or the other readers who like the book)
- Speak about it but politely.
- Accept the book was not for you and most importantly you are NOT a loser-reader for not liking it.
What do you guys think? What do you do when you do not like a book everyone else loves? Write your thoughts below. Happy Reading!
“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” ~ Haruki Murakami