As a bookseller, if there's one phrase I've come to hate it's "I don't like". Ironically, this is a phrase I used to use myself quite often, and catch myself still using on occasion. I have eaten bananas. I know I don't like bananas. Maybe it's a texture thing or a taste thing, but either way, I know I don't like them and will politely refuse one if offered to me. I know I am not a fan of certain writers and certain styles of writing. I found the works of Samuel Richardson and Henry Fielding boring. I love Jane Austen though, so I can't sweepingly say that I don't like 18th-century authors. Once upon a time, I would have said unequivocally that I don't like country music, but some country artists cross over into pop, and they've produced songs I like. I've learned that applying "I don't like" as a general term to a particular genre of anything isn't fair because unless I can say that I've read every single book ever written in that genre or by that author, I don't really have the right to make an all-encompassing statement. (This must be why my boyfriend keeps making me sample so many kinds of beer even though I have yet to find a single beer I like.)
I Don't like...
I Don't like...
I Don't like...
As a bookseller, if there's one phrase I've come to hate it's "I don't like". Ironically, this is a phrase I used to use myself quite often, and catch myself still using on occasion. I have eaten bananas. I know I don't like bananas. Maybe it's a texture thing or a taste thing, but either way, I know I don't like them and will politely refuse one if offered to me. I know I am not a fan of certain writers and certain styles of writing. I found the works of Samuel Richardson and Henry Fielding boring. I love Jane Austen though, so I can't sweepingly say that I don't like 18th-century authors. Once upon a time, I would have said unequivocally that I don't like country music, but some country artists cross over into pop, and they've produced songs I like. I've learned that applying "I don't like" as a general term to a particular genre of anything isn't fair because unless I can say that I've read every single book ever written in that genre or by that author, I don't really have the right to make an all-encompassing statement. (This must be why my boyfriend keeps making me sample so many kinds of beer even though I have yet to find a single beer I like.)