It seems whenever a saga's first movie is in production, its series of novels becomes increasingly popular. If you've ever read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, or 50 Shades of Grey by E. L. James, I guarantee you didn't discover it yourself. You probably heard about the movie(s), and decided to dive into the books. When everyone else around you is indulging themselves in the newest fad, you feel the need to indulge too to stay on top of what's popular.
Your interests may be centered around what you enjoyed growing up, just as you may have similar morals in adulthood that you were raised with through your childhood. If you grew up watching a lot of Scooby-Doo, maybe you read some mystery novels. If you're Irish, maybe you like reading about immigration in the 1800s. Et cetera, et cetera.
When you have a lot in common with a person, you take their opinion very seriously. If your best friend recommends you a novel, you'll probably look into it, even if it doesn't interest you. In Parks and Recreation, a comedy television series, Leslie Knope, a perky, mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department of fictional Pawnee, Indiana, writes a book on everything there is to know about her town. In order for her book to be a best-seller in Pawnee, Joan Callamezzo, Pawnee's "literary-tastemaker" and host of Pawnee Today, has to recommend it by putting it in her book club. This is parallel to how today's media influences our choices of reading material in the real world. If a novel is recommended on a talk show, or is deemed a New York Times Bestseller, most people are more inclined to read it.
Next time you pick up your favorite novel to read for the fourth time, consider why you like it so much. You might learn something about yourself.
A large portion of what I read and listen to has been, in some way or another, introduced to me. In Fifth Grade a friend showed me The Lightning Thief and after reading it, I fell in love with the series. Lately, I've been introduced to different kinds of music, from folk, to jazz, to rap, and have enjoyed all of it immensely. What does this say about me? For the most part, I'm a follower, at least in the sense of finding new things to enjoy. This is something I hope to change and eventually become a trend setter of my own. Great post and once again you've got me thinking deeply.
ReplyDeleteI usually will always read a book that someone recommends to me or that is popular in the media. I like to see if the book is really as great as everyone says it is. When I read the Twilight Saga I wasn't really that into it, I didn't like a lot of the characters and certain events that took place through out the series made me mad. Over the past few months my taste in music and books has been changing. I enjoy listening to music that isn't well known and the artists' voices are unique. I also like reading books that are more mature and make you think, for instance I enjoyed reading The Odyssey. I hope in the future that we won't have to rely on the media to tell us what we should read or what music we should listen to.
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