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<blockquote data-quote="Wombat" data-source="post: 3122576" data-attributes="member: 8447">One of my professors taught me the trick of poetry, back when I thought I hated poetry.He said, &quot;Read a poem.&nbsp; Do you like it?&nbsp; If so, it is a good poem.&nbsp; Do you not like it?&nbsp; Then it is a bad poem.&nbsp; Of course, your opinion and tastes may change over time.&quot;Thank you, Don Sheehan.&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />The idea that all creative works have merit is true, to an extent.&nbsp; A given work may have merit for one person, but not another.&nbsp; In other words, I do not need to look for the good in every single painting, poem, book, sculpture, etc., but I do know that someone else will like the stuff.&nbsp; That's the way of it.&nbsp; Heck, my friends &amp; I disliked Firefly/Serenity immensely, yet the show/movie is very popular on this board -- does that mean the show had merit?&nbsp; Of course.&nbsp; It just doesn't for me.I enjoy a wide range of reading material; amusingly for a board like this, very little of it is fantasy.&nbsp; Does this mean that I think people should stop reading rpg-inspired novels?&nbsp; Of course not!&nbsp; Just don't expect me to like most of them.&nbsp; Conversely, I don't expect everyone to like or find merit in War &amp; Peace, even though it is one of my favourite books.&nbsp; Tastes necessarily differ.&nbsp; We are different individuals with different background experiences -- such matters will change our desires and tastes.There was a film critic I knew in one town whose reviews I always looked forward to reading.&nbsp; They were consistent.&nbsp; If he liked a film, I knew that I would probably dislike it, and vice-versa.&nbsp; He only &quot;failed&quot; me on two occassion in about a dozen years.&nbsp; So in a very strange way I admired this critic simply for his consistency.I don't care of George R.R. Martin's writing to date.&nbsp; I like Robert Holdstock.&nbsp; Does this mean that Holdstock is a good writer and Martin isn't?&nbsp; For me, yes.&nbsp; Universally, no.&nbsp; It's all a matter of individual taste.&nbsp; And allowing others to have their tastes...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Wombat, post: 3122576, member: 8447"] One of my professors taught me the trick of poetry, back when I thought I hated poetry. He said, "Read a poem. Do you like it? If so, it is a good poem. Do you not like it? Then it is a bad poem. Of course, your opinion and tastes may change over time." Thank you, Don Sheehan. :) The idea that all creative works have merit is true, to an extent. A given work may have merit for one person, but not another. In other words, I do not need to look for the good in every single painting, poem, book, sculpture, etc., but I do know that someone else will like the stuff. That's the way of it. Heck, my friends & I disliked [I]Firefly/Serenity[/I] immensely, yet the show/movie is very popular on this board -- does that mean the show had merit? Of course. It just doesn't for me. I enjoy a wide range of reading material; amusingly for a board like this, very little of it is fantasy. Does this mean that I think people should stop reading rpg-inspired novels? Of course not! Just don't expect me to like most of them. Conversely, I don't expect everyone to like or find merit in [I]War & Peace[/I], even though it is one of my favourite books. Tastes [B]necessarily[/B] differ. We are different individuals with different background experiences -- such matters will change our desires and tastes. There was a film critic I knew in one town whose reviews I always looked forward to reading. They were consistent. If he liked a film, I knew that I would probably dislike it, and vice-versa. He only "failed" me on two occassion in about a dozen years. So in a very strange way I admired this critic simply for his consistency. I don't care of George R.R. Martin's writing to date. I like Robert Holdstock. Does this mean that Holdstock is a good writer and Martin isn't? For me, yes. Universally, no. It's all a matter of individual taste. And allowing others to have their tastes... [/QUOTE]

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