Investigated – Comparing and Judging Books by Synopses

Posted May 5, 2014 by Emily in Investigated / 8 Comments

investigated

Be warned, this post can get a bit ranty. Today I want to talk about comparing books just by their synopses. This is something that really pisses me off. People do it all the time and I just… urgh. It just really makes me angry when someone compares a book to another when they have only read of the books they are comparing. What’s worse, is that people tend to judge while they compare. Especially, if one of the books is pretty popular and has been adapted to a successful movie.

For example, now it seems like all the YA dystopian books are being compared to the Hunger Games. When the trailer for the Maze Runner adaption was released, a lot of people who haven’t read the books kept saying how much it looked like a “rip-off” of the Hunger Games. The other day, one of my teachers told our class she was hesitant to watch the Divergent adaption because it “seemed exactly like the Hunger Games”. The part that really pisses me off is that most of the people who say those kinds of things have NEVER read the book they are comparing. Heck, my teacher hasn’t even read The Hunger Games. They haven’t read the book(s) and yet they feel like they can judge the it because it “sounds the same”. That’s just… wrong. The worst part is that they are intentionally putting down books when they are comparing it to other. And it gets worse. Sort of – it depends on how you feel. Personally, I think it gets worse because the books they are putting down, The Maze Runner and Divergent, are some of my favorites, and I enjoyed reading them more than The Hunger Games.

The ignorance just really makes me upset. I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but would it kill them to read both books (or watch both movies) before comparing them? That way it’ll be fair. It’s one thing to feel the way after checking both books (or movies) out, it’s another totally different thing if you really have no idea what you’re talking about and are just making assumptions.

What do you think?
Do people comparing and judging books before they read them make you angry?

Emily

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8 responses to “Investigated – Comparing and Judging Books by Synopses

  1. I hate when books or movies are billed as “if you like __ then you’ll love this” or “the next ___”. That goes along with what you’re saying. The next big dystopia is NOT a rip off from The Hunger Games just because it is a dystopia. JUST STAHP!

  2. I think it’s dumb and pointless. People are just missing really great things by being in the mindset that if something is similar in even a slight way, then it’s a copy or duplicate of whatever is already popular.

    Dystopias are just now getting popular to non-readers though so.. it’ll probably take them some time to get over themselves and their lame default opinions.

    It’s like when everyone thought anything with a vampire in it was a copy of Twilight (I was probably a part of this crowd before I grew up a bit). It’s really stupid but trying to change the opinions of people like this isn’t really going to work, they need to read and see it for themselves. They take too much pride in their arrogant, above-it-all opinions.

    • Exactly! Someone should tell all those non readers that all dystopias are different. Dystopias are like different kinds of chocolates – they might have similar ingredients, but they all taste different.
      Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

    • I think the people in charge of marketing and publicity assume that comparing a successful “franchise” will make people what to see their “product” when in reality it alienates and angers a lot of people.
      Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

  3. I don’t mind when people are like “Hey, if you liked ___, then you should try ___”. To me it shows that they’ve possibly read or watched both and enjoyed both. I happen to love dystopia, so for awhile, I was telling those who read THG to check out Divergent because like you, I enjoyed Divergent even more. So I just feel that you are expanding from what they already like to make suggestions. Not everyone is as educated in the book world as book bloggers, so the tagline on a book might actually help them pick it up.

    I myself don’t judge based off of synopsis or taglines or even genre. I will read it and judge it then. I have a very open mind going in as well and don’t compare everything to “that other book”. As for movies, I guess your teacher is going to miss out because of their close-mindedness 😛

    • I agree – comparing books in terms of book suggestions is helpful, but it’s just aggravating when people to take that and assume the books are the same. I wish everyone can keep an open mind like you can!
      Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
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