Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
When I first read some of these "Jewish" comments, I did look to see if Sayers is or is not an anti-semite. I found some that that were unsure. I never did find a definitive answer.
Even if it was the character, it was unnecessary as I pointed out. So why be branded an anti-semite if it's not true when you didn't have to have comments like that in your books?
I won't be reading any more of Sayers books because of this. [...]
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I doubt if you will find a definitive answer, because those were different times. Even if the article linked by astrangerhere is correct about Sayers' affair with a Russian Jew, it does not mean that her attitude toward Jews was as unprejudiced as we might think appropriate now.
It seems to me that you are reading some of the comments out of character and context. There is a lot of such phrasing in a great many books that might be classified as unnecessary - even in modern works - but within their context make some sense.
However I do understand that such a reaction would have you wanting to stay clear of more books of the same type. I recently commented about "The Mediterranean Caper" by Clive Cussler - that if I'd read that book first I'd never have read any more (most of his books are sexist, but that one was an unnecessary extreme).