“To me [Edgar Allan Poe's] prose is unreadable—like Jane Austin's [sic]. No there is a difference. I could read his prose on salary, but not Jane's. Jane is entirely impossible. It seems a great pity that they allowed her to die a natural death.”
― Mark Twain
I've been reading a lot of books so far this year. I've mixed some classics I'd always wanted to read with new titles (some I fell in love with). I tip-toed in some genres I've never read before, and some I've never even heard of (Bizarro fiction anyone?). But one thing remains the same among all these novels - mixed reviews. I used to really pay attention to reviews and allowed them to influence what I chose. The more I read though, I read the reviews *after* I read the book and realized that many times, my views were really not reflected very often.
I don't know why this surprised me as much as it did. I've gotten many reviews over my almost 15 years here at Writing.com and if one thing is clear, it's that everyone has a different opinion. That's what reviews are - opinions. They are not judgments or decisions on your writing ability. They are simply your reader's opinions.
A selection of 
reviews for various classic novels:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
"I really don't get it why the entire female population is so enraptured with this book. Mr Darcy was so unbearably snooty and the bennett sisters were no better than cows except for elizabeth who was a mad cow."
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
"It was just some ramblings written down by a crazy woman, with some sex in the middle."
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Weird plotless story whose main character has no life but to be the gateway to that of others. Everyone cheats on everyone and in the end nobody ends up happy and the audience doesn't even end up with a moral to hold on to and justify the waste of time and money they just spent."
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
"Someone previously said this should be titled 'The Color Blue' well I agree. Alice Walker is trying to hard. Honestly she should have been taking care of her daughter, Rebecca Walker, instead of writing this misandrist book"
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
"Bilbo use your brain, I don't care if you have to build a plane, blimp, submarine or whatever. But really, don't you have a better way of transportation?"
Do you have a book you truly enjoyed that got a lot of derogatory reviews? Did it change your opinion of that work? Have you ever hidden your love of a book because of bad reviews and you thought others might judge you?
Write and Review on! ~ Brooke
"A collection of insightful and thought-provoking essays from one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century."
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Noticing Newbies: November 13, 2019 Issue [#9870]
