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Guilty Pleasures?
J.A. Saare asked in her blog a little while ago:
How many of you have guilty pleasures? What are they if you don’t mind me asking? Is there a movie or book that you love that you just can’t bring yourself to talk about because you know the reaction you receive won’t be a positive one?
I’m not sure I can call it guilty pleasures, as I don’t feel very guilty about it, though a lot of people might think I should. Even if others would frown upon me, I don’t care. Why should I? Who is to tell me what I should or should not enjoy? To be quite frank, I find the idea of looking down on somebody for what they enjoy reading for quite snobbish, and not in a positive way. It is, of course, OK to disagree. One doesn’t have to like the same things, that would be rather boring. But telling someone that they’re stupid or whatever because they happen to like what they like, that’s is not OK.
But on to what I probably should think of as “guilty pleasures”, though I simply refuse to call them so. I love vampire books. Always have done, long before vampires were “in”. Most of them, at least. My favourite by far is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, though I think it’s probably not seen as something to feel guilty about, it being a classic and all that. But I also enjoy other books. Like the Twilight series. I loved it, it was a very exciting read. (I can’t stand the films, though, they aren’t even close to being as good as the books). Another series is the Anita Blake, vampire hunter. They can be quite sappy, I guess, but they’re pure entertainment. Not to mention the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice (though I’ve only read the first three books).
I think this sort of books is like all other type of entertainment. I don’t read them for depth or to learn something. I read them to escape reality for a while, to relax and have a bit of fun. It’s not the only type or genre I read, but I like variety.
So, that’s my reply to J. A. Saare’s question, I guess… Though it’s maybe not quite what she expected?