Originally Posted by ultramarina
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saying that a book stinks will be viewed by some people who like the book as a criticism of them, even if you do not directly call them idiots

Then they are oversensitive, IMO. Art is art. We all have personal tastes. When we dislike a piece of art, our dislike does not make any automatic statements about people who do like it.

I mean, I hate turnips. Am I therefore implicitly critizing people who like them? Of course not.

BTW, I do think "This book stinks" is a different statement than "I hated this book."
Agree with everything here. "I hate this book" is a personal, emotional reaction and it's irrational to regard it as anything but, IMO.

Also: I would think it's acceptable to have an emotional reaction to art, in any circle. It's kind of...the whole point. Or at least a big part of the point. Literary analysis is interesting and a good intellectual exercise, but intellect isn't the entirety of human experience. If it were, there probably wouldn't be any literature to analyze.