Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
Anybody who votes for Mein Kampf is an unfeeling person who doesn't care about anyone else. This book should never have been allowed. I don't give a dam if this is censorship or not. It's something that is very personal and very hurtful to have it in the list and to have been allowed there. If it's not taken down, then I will be protesting to Alex to deal with it. What I would like to say about the people who nominated/voted for this book would get me banned from MR. And I feel very sorry for this book club when it's leader is allowing this to be here. This is something that needs to be addressed and addressed now! I never thought anyone on MR could be so mean and nasty.
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As a religious Jew whose extended family fled the persecutions in Europe, I find absolutely nothing wrong with MobileRead engaging in a literary/critical reading of hate speech like
Mein Kampf.
The topic of the book club is currently "banned books" -- I assume the purpose of the event is in order to discuss why the chosen book was banned.
Again, as a religious Jew...
nothing would please me more than for the general populace to have more
awareness of sensitive issues such as this.
Whether the MR Book Club is equipped to deal with that specific scope, I do not know. (It is, after all, an unusually deep and introspective topic.)
What I do know is that you are damaging the cause you claim
to be defending.
"Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it."
As sun surfer noted (emphasis mine):
Quote:
Originally Posted by sun surfer
Of interest, Mein Kampf will become public domain in Germany at the beginning of 2016 and the outright ban will end with the publication of a scholarly edition of the book filled with critical analysis, raising its page count from the original 700 to over 2,000 and will be not only sold but also distributed to schools. Some object but The Central Council of Jews in Germany are in support.
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There is an extraordinarily good reason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ccowie
[...]
It’s my sense that there is no one here who has been lurking in the club awaiting the opportunity to read an evil work by an evil man because they’re seeking some input and coaching on how to encourage fascism and genocide. Nor is anyone trying to be mean and nasty to others. The club seems pretty interested in reading banned books through the lens of our current world and sensibilities to discuss their literary, historical and possibly political merits. The reason I won’t vote for the book in question is because I have read it and can discuss ad nauseam the frightening horrors it contains. I have no desire to read it again.
[...]
I don’t mind hearing why you’re not interesting in reading something, in fact I appreciate that. Really! But no one in the club benefits from being called names for their reading interests.
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Well said.
