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I could see your argument if Tolkien were writing about feminism. Tom Send a noteboard - 24/05/2011 02:15:42 PM
My complaint is not that all books should address all issues. My complaint is that if a book addresses an issue and makes it as central to the reading experience as Lee's book does, it should at least not be guilty of the same sins it accuses others of. While Lee's soft racism in the form of helpless, innocent, childlike blacks is a fairly benign form of racism, the point is that she still makes them an enigmatic "other" rather than show them as complex individuals who are no different from whites.

In legal parlance, Lee "opened the door" to this scrutiny by her choice of subject matter. If she had written about the South in such a way that the racism angle was completely tangential to her real story, then I wouldn't care if she engaged in this sort of idealization of the "other".
Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.

ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius

Ummaka qinnassa nīk!

*MySmiley*
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To Kill a Mockingbird by Nelle Harper Lee - 22/05/2011 06:28:11 PM 8747 Views
I reviewed it last year - 22/05/2011 07:45:48 PM 2276 Views
Huh. I seem to have missed that. - 22/05/2011 11:17:11 PM 2193 Views
It's a beautiful, incredible book. - 22/05/2011 08:21:48 PM 2104 Views
Re: It's a beautiful, incredible book. - 22/05/2011 11:18:32 PM 2058 Views
Also - 22/05/2011 11:33:27 PM 2058 Views
Don't you think that, you know, too many people have read it already? - 23/05/2011 09:55:52 PM 2149 Views
Does that disqualify it? - 24/05/2011 01:49:54 PM 2080 Views
I don't know, if a lot of people want to have this book in a Book Club, I have no objections. - 24/05/2011 07:01:38 PM 2119 Views
Well, that's true. - 25/05/2011 01:20:54 PM 2212 Views
Loved that book. - 22/05/2011 09:07:16 PM 2107 Views
Re: Loved that book. - 22/05/2011 11:19:29 PM 2095 Views
A great book - 22/05/2011 09:13:12 PM 2135 Views
Re: A great book - 22/05/2011 11:20:02 PM 2097 Views
“Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin’.” *NM* - 23/05/2011 12:03:34 AM 1061 Views
Indeed. *NM* - 23/05/2011 09:37:38 AM 1064 Views
Bah. This seems like a lame book. It will never catch on. - 23/05/2011 01:31:10 AM 2238 Views
LOL *NM* - 23/05/2011 08:36:55 AM 1054 Views
Hehehe. *NM* - 23/05/2011 09:38:03 AM 1104 Views
Um, there's already a rfilm version of this. - 23/05/2011 01:11:36 PM 1965 Views
Suspect he knows that. *NM* - 23/05/2011 01:15:46 PM 1075 Views
I don't think I've ever met anyone who doesn't like this book. *NM* - 23/05/2011 09:37:52 AM 1061 Views
So it survives being taught in school? - 23/05/2011 09:39:18 AM 2079 Views
Yup. *NM* - 23/05/2011 02:47:17 PM 1081 Views
I've met some, but it was a casualty of middle school English. *NM* - 23/05/2011 07:40:27 PM 988 Views
Thanks for the review. - 23/05/2011 10:07:46 PM 2451 Views
Re: Thanks for the review. - 24/05/2011 12:14:08 AM 2198 Views
Let me ask the politically incorrect questions, since no one else has. - 24/05/2011 03:14:50 AM 2309 Views
Hmm - 24/05/2011 10:22:50 AM 2199 Views
I could see your argument if Tolkien were writing about feminism. - 24/05/2011 02:15:42 PM 2216 Views
I think that's a fair point. - 24/05/2011 07:00:04 PM 2225 Views
Calpurnia is a stereotype too. - 24/05/2011 11:54:26 PM 2110 Views
The difference, at least in my recollection, is that Calpurnia is well-educated. - 25/05/2011 08:09:58 PM 2082 Views
Re: The difference, at least in my recollection, is that Calpurnia is well-educated. - 25/05/2011 10:59:26 PM 2182 Views
Yes. This. *NM* - 26/05/2011 04:56:48 AM 983 Views
I think there was at least once incident showing a racist black person - 24/05/2011 07:33:09 PM 2355 Views
Almost a non-incident - 24/05/2011 08:51:59 PM 1975 Views
I think it was written to accomplish a goal and it did that very well - 25/05/2011 04:08:17 PM 2132 Views
Given your introductory portion - 11/06/2011 01:28:40 AM 2134 Views
It just occurred to me - 11/06/2011 01:30:05 AM 2110 Views
Re: It just occurred to me - 11/06/2011 11:36:21 AM 2152 Views
I have read both - 11/06/2011 11:35:11 AM 1948 Views
All of Twain's stuff is great - 13/06/2011 02:27:55 AM 2198 Views
Re: All of Twain's stuff is great - 13/06/2011 08:17:05 AM 2079 Views
And some poets - Tennyson and Yeats come to mind. *NM* - 13/06/2011 10:11:31 AM 969 Views
Keats? - 13/06/2011 10:14:58 AM 2165 Views
I have to say... - 13/06/2011 05:27:26 PM 2013 Views
Re: I have to say... - 13/06/2011 05:54:45 PM 2104 Views

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