I came across this blog someone posted on plurk. It was her boyfriend’s blog. Interesting, really.
It’s that something you’ve always known in your head and then someone actually said it out loud and said it like you can only hope you could. I found myself reading it and smiling because it’s a feeling that I can relate to.
Now I won’t just repeat everything that he said so you go ahead and read it, okay? Read this now please!
GAIMAN AND A PANDA! HAH!
Anyway, the blog post mentioned Gaiman and about how he was enjoyed by the super special chosen few before it hit mainstream. I admit that I wasn’t one of the hardcore First Dwellers in Gaiman’s fanbase.
However, I’m not completely new to his works either. I was that girl who picked up Anansi Boys because that was the only Gaiman book in the bookstore.
There was a time that my ex-boyfriend had to hop through five bookstores just to buy me a copy of American Gods for my birthday.
So yeah, I did feel a little annoyed when all of a sudden, the book that I had such a hard time getting is now right there next to the Twilight books.
But the guy did present a good point.
The fact that so many people are reading books that used to be enjoyed only by a select few means that the standards of the general reading public are improving. More money for these brilliant authors translate to more treats for the readers. So I shouldn’t be complaining, really.
Neither should you. 
So you’re a new reader and you happen to like Gaiman. I can’t blame you. He’s not very difficult to like. Here’s an advice you probably don’t need but an advice that I would still give you anyways: don’t let the snobs discourage you from reading. Do not be ashamed that it’s your first time to pick up a particular author’s book.
book snobs out to get ya!
Do not feel bad when book snobs and elitists snort and say “You can’t possibly read that book the way the writer intended it to be read” Because really, there is no right or wrong way to read a book. There is no right interpretation. The writer wanted you to like it and if you like it, who cares what the book snobs say? The writer’s work is done. I doubt that when a writer gets published, he’d pray with all of his might that only a select few will find out about his work and like it.
There is no such thing as “too late to read it.” There is no shame in reading a book because the hype brought it to your doorstep. If you’re one of the few who found out about a certain book way ahead of everyone else, then well and good. if you found out about a book because of all the exposure and hype surrounding it, nothing wrong with that either.
However, give the book and the story due respect. Like it and tell other people about it only if you really like it. Do not pretend to admire a piece of literature just because everyone else has the same opinion.
Okay, I admit I’m a bit of an elitist at some point, BUT I have an idea why some people are like that. I feel that when something worthwhile becomes mainstream, it’s annoying how some people are just “nakikiuso” or going with the hype. I know some people who are reading books just because they’re “hot” or recommended, not because they’re genuinely interested or intrigued about it. I’m not sure about the others, but that’s just me.
But yeah, I totally agree with your point. As long as somebody finds a book interesting because he/she really finds it interesting and not because everybody is saying it’s hot, he/she should go ahead and pick it up. =)
Heh, I think I said the same thing about good bands who make it to mainstream, the people who call them sellouts and get upset when band “noobs” say they like the music. XD
There’s this similar problem plaguing the appreciation of Japanese animation: every time a show gets dubbed for local consumption, elitists/purists always react violently as if they’re being dismembered, arguing that dubbing destroys the so-called “Japanese essence” of the story, insisting that everything from Japan be subtitled, and all dubbing be called the “work of the devil”.
Unfortunately that closed mindset shuts out the remaining would-be audience, especially ones who want to discover something old and true and wishing to expand their horizons… and those who aren’t interested in learning Japanese.
All that intellectual and cultural meddling of the purists threatens to kill my appreciation in anime, which I watch in both ways — dubbed and subbed.