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"Intellectual Snobbery"

I used to work at a company that sells books for children and young adults. One of the perks of working there was the ability to buy any book the company sells, or at least has previously sold and had returned, at an extreme discount (in most cases, the discount was about 90%). Therefore, I had occasion to buy and read many of these books, most of which I've enjoyed. Now, to be clear, I'm an adult and I've read books written specifically for adults, and I like them, too. I've even read and enjoyed the kind of books that some adults fear to read because they're, well... esoteric, to say the least (I take it as a point of personal pride that I have read the entirety of James Joyce's 'Finnegans Wake'). Of course, I've also read the kind of books meant for adults that are basically literary junk food. While some books may be a full meal, or even a feast, these are good for a nice treat but not satisfying in the long term (Michael Moorcock, I'm looking at you). No matter how you classify them, however, they're all books. They all require the ability to read for one to understand and enjoy them.

A recent discussion that I read on reddit made me think a bit about this, though, and about how picky some people are about the kind of books they read.

I don't mean what genre, because I'm picky about that, too. What you want in your book or what kind of characters you want or what setting they're in... it's all fine to be picky about. What I mean is when people feel they must only read books that are incredibly intellectually stimulating to the highest degree, things that will work their brains, and make them really think. Or, at least, the kind of books that the "educated masses" think that are the most intellectually stimulating. Also, that have the author's name and the title of the book in really really big letters on the cover, so people can read them from far away. In other words, books that make them look smart. These people would, of course, never be caught reading a children's book, or a book that is "pure escapism," or, heaven forbid, a book with pictures in it. What would people think?

Well... what would people think? That you're not smart just because you're reading a book that people who think they're smart think that smart people shouldn't be reading?

Look, we all read books for different reasons. Sometimes we read them to just have a plain old enjoyable experience. Sometimes we read them for intellectual stimulation. Sometimes we read to turn our brains on, and other times to just turn our brains off for a while.

However, I think some people read books just so they can show other people that they read books. Sad, but true.