tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139769202527811820.post4909323362673454174..comments2024-01-01T23:38:43.414-08:00Comments on The Oncoming Hope: On Censoring Huck Finn (seriously?)theoncominghopehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03471519506797609837noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139769202527811820.post-70902611568534137972011-01-05T22:13:26.971-08:002011-01-05T22:13:26.971-08:00Sadly it seems that many people would like to chan...Sadly it seems that many people would like to change remembered history.<br /><br />But fundamentally that's not even the point. The job of an author is to convincingly place you in a world without judgment or malice, and leave it to the reader to interpret the circumstances how he will.<br /><br />It's a matter of trust between the author and the reader.theoncominghopehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03471519506797609837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139769202527811820.post-455443605582227442011-01-05T22:07:36.393-08:002011-01-05T22:07:36.393-08:00I agree. The story should exist in context, too. I...I agree. The story should exist in context, too. If you forget what the world was like at the time of the story, you forget what it's trying to tell you about that world. You can't look at a book from the 19th century with only the life you have known in the 20th and/or 21st centuries. So much has changed, from attitudes about human beings of all classes, races, etc. to the way we speak and write about them.<br /><br />But to forget the lessons of the past is to forget the failures that lead to more terrible things for humanity. If we purify the stories that reveal a slice of historical context to us, what comes next? Purify the history textbooks entirely. It's not a far leap. If everyone grows up not learning about something, what is learned? The pain of so many sufferers would be for nothing. <br /><br />I'll take my books with at least the truths the authors put into them, thanks.<br /><br />-- PeterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com