Smoking in books

[John Carroll]

I work in a casino and passed by a LOTR slot machine. On it was a picture of Aragon lighting up. Then I remembered how popular pipes were among Gandalf and the hobbits.

In this day and age, I wonder how many writers or readers pay attention to smoking in books. I quit 9 1/2 years ago so I don't think too much about it while writing anymore.

I'm curious as to whether or not writers consciously add or leave smoking out of their books.

I'm also curious if readers pay attention to it in the books they read.

[HealyHQ]

I find that most of the time lately, when there is a character who smokes, it is a sort of trope, as the author almost always places that character into one of two categories: The "bad-boy/girl" type, or the "nervous wreck" type. I rarely see any other type of character in which their smoking habits are explicitly stated. I guess you could say that, characters who smoke have become a stereotype of sorts in contemporary literature.

Has anyone else witnessed this phenomena, or is it just me?

[patrickt]

I wonder if it's illegal anywhere yet. I'm sure it will be. A few years ago, Jean-Paul Sartre was honored in Paris but they had to delete all the cigarettes in his photos.

[jgaiser]

Just finished three Richard Kadrey novels (the two Sandman Slim novels and Butcher Bird). It seems that *everyone* is constantly smoking, think about smoking or looking for a smoke. And yes, everybody's a bad boy/girl.

[screwballl]

I think a lot of it depends on when it was written and the subject of the book itself. I found that books written into the early 70s always had some sort of mention about smoking, whether it was an Asimov sci-fi book or Ayn Rand political statement type book. Yet many newer books I see tend to ignore that aspect, unless it plays into the stereotypical "evil" character.

I cannot think of any book that has a passage like "as he steps out onto the sidewalk in front of the charity auction that benefits terminal children, he lights up a calming smoke, trying to clear his head from the disappointment of failing to procure enough funds to purchase the baby Jesus statuette."

[gmw]

Have you read The Ghost from the Grand Banks by Arther C. Clarke? In there two of the characters have a job removing cigarettes and smoke from old movies. When I first read the book I found it funny ... but I gave up smoking 3 years, 11 months, 26 days and 2 hours ago now (but who's counting? ) and people lighting up in movies are definitely a trigger signal for me to start craving again - so now removing cigarettes from movies seems like a great idea!

I can't say I've noticed much about smoking in books, I've never noticed it as a trigger for my own craving. Mostly it seems to be just scene setting, like the light level and background noises and stuff. I seem to have managed to avoid it as a bad boy flag.

[neilmarr]

JM Barrie of Peter Pan fame also wrote an hilarious collection of short stories called *My Lady Nicotine* based around his pipe-smoking and his favourite tobacco blend, which he called 'Arcadia'. He was chain pipe-smoker. George Bernard Shaw refused to visit him because his home was always filled with tobacco smoke. It's said to have been the major cause of his marriage breakdown. Then Johnny Depp played him in the movie, *Neverland*and there wasn't a pipe in sight (though Duston Hoffman puffed on cigars). For me, that historical inaccuracy destroyed the picture. The pipe was a huge part of Barrie. Robby Coltrane recently played Churchill in a play and wasn't allowed the great man's customary cigar. Popeye no longer smokes his trade-mark corncob pipe. When deleting smoking ruins the historical perspective it's a darned shame. Neil

[wannabee]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I wonder if it's illegal anywhere yet. I'm sure it will be. A few years ago, Jean-Paul Sartre was honored in Paris but they had to delete all the cigarettes in his photos.

In Sydney you can not smoke in a public building, shopping mall, hotel and certainly not anywhere where people are eating inside or out. A few years ago every club and hotel started to build outside smoking areas because it became illegal to smoke inside. Some regional councils have made it illegal to smoke in public parks anywhere near a child's playground and parents can not smoke in a motor vehicle with children on board.

[L.J. Sellers]

I don't smoke so my protagonists don't smoke. But I try to include at least one smoker as a minor character to be realistic. I notice that it's much more likely for a main character to be a smoker in films than in novels. Film makers must think it's visually aesthetic.
L.J.

[jbcohen]

I read mostly thriller books and the characters never smoke at all, they are typically to busy saving someone's but to smoke anything.

[Freeshadow]

neil, its not only popeye, they made Lucky Luke quit too.
IMO it's all ridiculously stupid. (the Churchill thing being a bulls-eye perfect proof of this stupidity) why not keep things as they were and add explanations when feeling in need of them - I'd mind if they would put an footnote or something to inform the target audience.
better a footnote in a Luke comic book simply telling the kids that in former times people were not aware of certain effects of smoking than this.

I remember there is a Piece in one of the sherlock holmes stories, about his habits where Watson says that apart from his excessive violine playing sessions and a cocaine shot from time to time (which Watson himself was applying to him)
Sherlock has had no bad habits.
(As we remember the "drug" of this times which was also socially percieved as such, in regard of negative effects and destruction of the consument was opium)

Things like this are proof to me to have a uncensored copy of the material giving - apart of the stories a brief look on everydays life - why doctor the historical background and props in the story?
what comes next? the hunt and removal of every bottle of kiddo-calming drops from the really old books?
(they 'd been a junkies wet dream today; some containing 25% morphine)

Or the non-chemical way of calming the little ones being said to be a technique "imported" by French kid-cartakers? (yes I mean oral stimulation )

History censorship? - isn't it kind of braindead poor?

[OtterBooks]

Smoking has become somewhat of an anachronism in fiction. Read detective novels from the 30's and 40's, or any early 20th/late 19th century fiction, and nary a hero was found without a smoke.

Hell, Sherlock Holmes did cocaine and opium.

[CWatkinsNash]

I agree with others who have commented regarding the silliness of those trying to erase smoking from history. My avatar here is one that I've used on another forum, and I once got a comment, in a completely unrelated discussion, about my avatar. Something about using morbid tasteless art glorifying a slow senseless death to the detriment of future generations. My response was, "I'm sure van Gogh would be amused by your interpretation of his work." Guess it's a good thing it's not been in a US exhibition in over a decade - I'm not sure it's safe here, as much as I would love to see it in person. Most people now know that smoking is bad - no need to villify it to the point of rewriting history.

[Shayne Parkinson]

When the "Lord of the Rings" movies were being made, there was much discussion over whether or not pipe-smoking would be included. It was; something JRRT would probably have taken a certain amount of satisfaction from.

I do have several male characters smoke, simply because it was so common back when my books are set. I'd be sacrificing realism if I left it out.

[nashira]

I think smoking is a tasteless, senseless habit in real life but there are a lot of things that in real life are issues, in fiction need not be so. And editing them out of historical works is beyond silly, people who want to smoke something will smoke something, those who don't generally, well. Don't?

Besides my mother and grandfather were both big smokers and tons of people/characters on tv and in books smoked and me? Never had a single urge to try one. Honestly if anything it turned me off the idea. I don't think this kind of editing is needed.