A Short Rant about Walls and Sh#t!

I don't know whether it has something to do with growing up listening to all those Eminem records, but I've never really had a problem with profanity. Don't get me wrong, I rarely use colorful language myself. Well, at least not in public, and never in front of kids. But I've always wondered about people who claim to be overly sensitive to its usage.

The reason why I'm bringing this up is I've spent the better part of the past month going through the review policy of various book bloggers. A real time guzzler if you ask me. But if you truly want something (in this case some much-needed reviews), then you must be prepared to have that time guzzled. In all that guzzled up time though, I've learnt a few important facts.

Fact number one, old-school science-fiction thrillers aren't particularly popular in this day and age of all things paranormal romance. Fact number two, book bloggers are one of the nicest people in the blogosphere and the internet at large. And fact number three, a lot of these book bloggers still have a preference for paper-bound books, though that number is constantly dwindling (I hope).

Another important fact I've discovered, and this one is about people in general, is that we tend to build all sorts of walls around ourselves with our standards and expectations. I know we are all entitled to our various opinions, and I admit that I am as guilty as the next man. For example, I find it next to impossible to sit through a Nigerian home video. This is not to say that all Nigerian home videos are poorly made. Well, actually they are. But that's another story entirely.

I can understand someone showing a preference for paranormal romance, YA dystopian fantasies, or dare I say old-school science-fiction thrillers. What I don't get is someone rejecting to read anything that contains profanity, violence or Christian/religious themes. Are you seriously telling me that you're willing to forgo whatever satisfaction you might derive from a book due to the presence of such elements? Or that the presence of said elements far outweighs all other incentives to read such a book? If so, then there is something I am clearly failing to see here.