Important Works: A Discussion

Yay, another discussion post! I enjoyed the last one I did so much that I decided to do another with a different topic that's been on my mind a lot lately. And that topic would be, Important Books.

Now there are a few things that have prompted this; one being a video by rincey reads on youtube (linked here), and something I said in my last discussion post on separating authors from their works. I mentioned that being able to distinguish an author from their work comes in handy when an author may be problematic, but their work is influential or 'important' (this is linked here if you would like to read more on that). While writing that other post I began thinking about what makes a book important, which led me to think of rincey reads' video on disliking important books, and how to discuss the topic as a whole.

So, what makes a book important?

I think the first thing to go into is what an important book is. The content of this post is, of course, my opinion. There is no definitive list of qualities a book must have to be considered important. However, what I think most people mean when they say a book is important, is a book that has been influential to a significant number of people, whether it be in a positive or negative way (importance does not necessarily equate 'goodness'). Others might consider an important book to be a book that handles an important topic.

Now, this is just what I think the general public would consider to be an important book. I personally, think an important book is whatever book you, the reader of the book, would consider to be important.

 "The only important thing in a book is the meaning that it has for you." - W. Somerset Maugham.

Reading is a very solitary hobby. A book one person may consider important, you may not think is an important book at all. Your idea of importance can only be based on your personal experiences and perspective of the world.

You do not have to read a book just because someone says you should, or that you need to because it's an important book. If you feel pressured to read certain books even though they're by authors you do not wish to read, determine whether it's worth it or not. Are you actually interested in the book or do you just want to read it because you think you 'should'? If you choose not to, then the book has no meaning for you and therefore cannot be important to you, even if it is considered so by others. 

Another question to consider, would the book be beneficial to you? Here's the thing with 'important' books, sometimes when a book is considered important, it's just because the topic or themes presented in the book are relevant. People will often ignore poor writing or harmful aspects in lieu of the relevancy of an important topic. Sometimes though, no representation can be better than poor representation. So, how beneficial would this be for you? Would reading a poorly written book encourage you to pick up another book on the same topic if that topic was why you chose to read the book in the first place? Maybe, maybe not. There's a good chance it would leave you with an unpleasant association towards that topic.

So let's say you read an 'important' book that you didn't really like. Maybe the topic was handled poorly or the writing wasn't that great. How do you rate it?

Whether or not you should take the importance of a book into consideration when rating it is up to you. Some choose to, some choose not to. Ratings are as personal as the actual act of reading.

Though this really depends on how you rate books in general. Do you rate based on enjoyment/entertainment or are you a critical thinker who rates based on an analytical reading experience? If you rate based on enjoyment, and you didn't really enjoy the experience of reading a book, then why give it a high rating? If you want to give a book a low rating, but still encourage others to read it, there are a few things you can do.

Number One: Review the book.  Most readers already know that a five-star rating system is too simple a way to represent your feelings on a book. If you don't feel comfortable rating a book, or your rating doesn't quite feel like enough of an explanation, there's always the option to review it. Reviewing is the best way to explain your thoughts on something and why you rated it the way you did. I would also recommend reviewing if you're afraid your low rating will discredit the importance of a topic discussed in the book.

Number Two: Bump the rating up a half star from whatever rating you land on. A full star might feel like you're cheating yourself out of a true rating, but a half star can help encourage others to read a book without you feeling like you lied about your feelings towards it.

Number Three: Recommend the book if you feel that others might enjoy it. When I personally am recommended a book by someone whose reading tastes I trust, I almost always check out whatever they recommend. So far, I haven't been disappointed.

All this being said, please keep in mind that you do not have to explain your rating to anyone, or even rate the books you read. It's just a good idea to do so if you want to convey a general idea of your thoughts to others. 

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