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Some of the discussion seems to be venturing at cross purposes, where some people are talking about a book that might be considered problematic rather than the author. The two don't always go together, or not obviously, which is largely how this thread got started.
Certainly there are reasons why we might choose books containing problematic (to the reader) themes. For example - as pwalker8 suggests - to try and better understand history, or political situations.
But if the books do not contain problematic themes then it only becomes a matter of whether we feel disposed to express our disapproval of the author with our actions - like deciding not to shop at a business we don't like. This may come at some personal cost, but it's our choice to pay it if we feel that is the right thing to do.
However, once an author is dead we can no long directly support them as individuals, so the question of whether it is right or wrong to do so no longer pertains to that person - unless we feel inclined to also punish their descendants/beneficiaries, and that seems problematic to me.
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