It's that time
of the year again: Banned Books Week
It's time to be subversive: Read a book or
100 that someone somewhere decided was inappropriate.
What a sad joke
to perpetrate on an open-minded populace.
Our world has evolved
to the point that one complaint about a thing, be it a book or an expression,
or an activity can get it removed from public consumption.
This is wrong,
appalling, and comes from a base of fear as opposed to reason.
I'm all for
complaining when it's necessary. It's about the only way things change.
But when one
complaint comes in and it is acted on rather than sticking with what the
majority wants, then it bothers me. If a thing is to be changed, let it come
from a groundswell of opinion, not one whiner with hurt feelings.
But, back to
books.
I've
read many of the books on the list.
Lolita
should be required reading for Nabokov's gorgeous use of the language.
Banning
The Satanic Verses did Salman Rushdie a favour. It made people want to read it,
myself included. While reading a book is never a waste of time, that was close.
(NB the whole fatwa thing is bad.)
It's
a free country and we should be free to read what we want and form our own
opinions about.
That's
the other problem with book banning,
some one else's opinion is being forced on us. I don't like being told what to
think, and I especially don’t like being deprived of materials which can be
used to form an opinion.
Let
everyone else and me be free to read as we please.
