Subject:
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Re: Looking for feedback.
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Thu, 10 Feb 2005 20:05:01 GMT
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Viewed:
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791 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler wrote:
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler wrote:
> > Not quite .debate material (yet), but I thought this might be a good place
> > to solicit ideas.
> >
> > I have a coworker whose views on several key matters differ from and are
> > irreconcilable with mine. For purposes of discussion, let's say that
> > neither one of us is "right," and that the matter is one of preference.
> > When he became aware of my views on the subject, he made a casual (by which
> > I mean not at all inappropriate to the workplace, and almost entirely during
> > lunch or breaktime) effort to convince me of the correctness of his own
> > views. Ultimately he presented me with a book that he felt argued his case
> > convincingly, and he hoped I would "come around" once I'd read it.
> > Well, I've read it. I can say categorically that the book isn't nearly as
> > convincing as he'd indicated, and in fact it presents fictionalized
> > transcriptions of conversations as if they were well-reasoned arguments.
>
> By the way--the book to which I was referring in that longago post was *not* the
> bible.
>
> Anyway, I've found myself in a similar predicament with a different coworker and
> a different book. This time, my esteemed peer has heartily recommended a
> "thriller" involving international intrigue and threats of nuclear war.
>
> I'm about 450 pages through this 560-page tome, and let me tell you that it's
> absolutely the worst thing I've read in my adult life, and that's coming from
> someone who's read Michael Crichton's "Timeline." I could go on and on about
> the juvenile plot, the ridiculously flat characterizations, or the laughably
> lame dialogue. And that's not even getting into the title character's obvious
> sociopathy, misogyny, and general unlikeability.
>
> So here's my dilemma once again: having touted the book to me and so eagerly
> lending me his only copy, he must really like it and want to share it with me.
> I'm not sure why he chose me for this honor; we haven't discussed literature or
> even anything I've read (though we *have* talked about movies, so maybe that's
> the "in"). I don't want to hurt his feelings or insult his taste in reading
> material, but the book truly is terrible. I wouldn't even want to read it while
> waiting at an airport or laundromat.
>
> What do you suggest? How do I inform him that I regret ever having opened the
> book? He wants to let me borrow the sequel, too; how do I dodge that bullet?
>
> If only he worked in another department. Then I could just say "If I had a time
> machine, I'd go back and break the author's typewriter before he ever sat down
> to craft this drek." For that matter, I doubt he even used a typewriter...
>
> Thanks for listening and for any feedback.
>
> Dave!
Be honest, but nice--'I didn't enjoy the book.'
If he attempts to lend you another, or try to involve you in a debate about why,
just say, "It's not my cup of tea." and leave it at that.
'No thanks' always works for me when fellow employees bring stuff to me--like
food from 'the old country'--'No thanks'. Polite but gets the point across. I
end any resultant conversation by restating, 'I'm just not intereste. Let's
leave it at that.'
Dave K
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Looking for feedback.
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| (...) "Honest but nice?" What kind of liberal tree-hugging drivel is this? What I really want is to make him *think* I'm being nice while humiliating him in the eyes of his literate peers. Okay, maybe not. (...) Can I at least alert him to the, (...) (20 years ago, 10-Feb-05, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Looking for feedback.
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| (...) By the way--the book to which I was referring in that longago post was *not* the bible. Anyway, I've found myself in a similar predicament with a different coworker and a different book. This time, my esteemed peer has heartily recommended a (...) (20 years ago, 10-Feb-05, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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