MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

gmw · 07-14-2020, 10:56 AM

Even when I agree that an author may be problematic (a judgement, obviously, according to my own standards), I am not inclined to jump to conclusions as to why another person may have been reading the book. My reasons for reading have been many and varied.

So when I first read the what is now the OP, it made me very uncomfortable to read "do you feel comfortable posting". It may not have been intended, but I felt the judgemental stab of those words:

I once had an MZB book on my shelf. I gave it away* in a box of other stuff to charity. Was I being judged for allowing someone else to be infected by this book by a problematic person? Did I do wrong by not burning the book?

At first I wondered if the previous paragraph was an exaggeration, but if it was morally ambiguous to make one page of these words available for viewing as an example of the font used, just how bad was it to make whole book available for actual reading to some poor and unsuspecting young person? I am a horrible person! I blame it on my upbringing**.

I doubt if DNSB meant it to be interpreted in that extreme, but that sense of judgement is there in the OP, so I'm not surprised by the reaction to it.

I cannot change the fact that I have, in the past, supported authors who I have since found to be personally objectionable (according to my standards). I cannot even change my opinion of the books I read, although in some cases I have re-read with a more careful eye, wondering if the problems showed. I may decide not to support such authors now (those that are still publishing), but I am less inclined*** to punish the children of deceased authors for the sins of their parents.

* It was given away because it was one of the most boring books I've ever read, although that has nothing to do with the author being problematic in the sense of this thread.

** As a poor and unsuspecting young person I read a few books by MZB, they weren't all as bad as the particularly offensive example I gave away. No doubt it was this influence that led to my poor behaviour many years later.

*** I guess, if the work itself is problematic, then yes, I would still refrain from offering support.

07-14-2020, 10:56 AM	#146
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,818 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	Even when I agree that an author may be problematic (a judgement, obviously, according to my own standards), I am not inclined to jump to conclusions as to why another person may have been reading the book. My reasons for reading have been many and varied. So when I first read the what is now the OP, it made me very uncomfortable to read "do you feel comfortable posting". It may not have been intended, but I felt the judgemental stab of those words: I once had an MZB book on my shelf. I gave it away* in a box of other stuff to charity. Was I being judged for allowing someone else to be infected by this book by a problematic person? Did I do wrong by not burning the book? At first I wondered if the previous paragraph was an exaggeration, but if it was morally ambiguous to make one page of these words available for viewing as an example of the font used, just how bad was it to make whole book available for actual reading to some poor and unsuspecting young person? I am a horrible person! I blame it on my upbringing. I doubt if DNSB meant it to be interpreted in that extreme, but that sense of judgement is there in the OP, so I'm not surprised by the reaction to it. I cannot change the fact that I have, in the past, supported authors who I have since found to be personally objectionable (according to my standards). I cannot even change my opinion of the books I read, although in some cases I have re-read with a more careful eye, wondering if the problems showed. I may decide not to support such authors now (those that are still publishing), but I am less inclined* to punish the children of deceased authors for the sins of their parents. * It was given away because it was one of the most boring books I've ever read, although that has nothing to do with the author being problematic in the sense of this thread. As a poor and unsuspecting young person I read a few books by MZB, they weren't all as bad as the particularly offensive example I gave away. No doubt it was this influence that led to my poor behaviour many years later. * I guess, if the work itself is problematic, then yes, I would still refrain from offering support.