Reverse snobbery reading

Tonight I attended a book reading with my friend Karine. It was for Mark Billingham, a British mystery author who has worked in television and as a stand-up comic. The reading was entertaining (though I wish he had actually read more instead of chatting with us), as was the question period. However, one of the women in the audience got rather defensive about people who read capital-B Books vs. those who read for enjoyment; she didn't see the point of struggling to get through a difficult book that critics have raved over. This attitude really frustrates me because I read (and often enjoy) those 'difficult' books. Moreover, just because I like reading 'difficult' books doesn't mean that I can't enjoy reading mystery novels, which I do. In fact, many academics are avid mystery readers.

I agree that intellectual elitism is a form of snobbery and that no one should be made to feel that what they like is inferior (and that they implicitly are also inferior). Conversely, though, I also believe that people who like thick tomes or obscure authors shouldn't be criticized for having different tastes. And finally, just because someone decides to not finish a novel because they don't immediately enjoy it, they shouldn't feel superior to people who do want to struggle through.

That said, I'll still likely never read The Da Vinci Code.