Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
That the antagonist in that tale was a sadistic lesbian is unfortunate, but then 1949 wasn't exactly known for enlightened attitudes toward women or homosexuals. That's a problem, along with blatant racism I find in many of the older novels. I try not to judge the authors by 21st century standards, however, and I hope I won't be judged too harshly by 22nd century standards.
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The flip side, of course, is why shouldn't a lesbian be sadistic, if you're going to have a sadist? Equal opportunity bad guys and all that. Our distaste says as much about us as it does about the story. Mostly I'm interested in that I couldn't decide if van Gulik was being modern or a throwback. I do think the character was fair enough within the context of the story.