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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 8155 Views
I reviewed it last year - 22/05/2011 07:45:48 PM 1859 Views
Huh. I seem to have missed that. - 22/05/2011 11:17:11 PM 1778 Views
It's a beautiful, incredible book. - 22/05/2011 08:21:48 PM 1712 Views
Re: It's a beautiful, incredible book. - 22/05/2011 11:18:32 PM 1662 Views
Also - 22/05/2011 11:33:27 PM 1637 Views
Don't you think that, you know, too many people have read it already? - 23/05/2011 09:55:52 PM 1719 Views
Does that disqualify it? - 24/05/2011 01:49:54 PM 1678 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 1665 Views
Well, that's true. - 25/05/2011 01:20:54 PM 1784 Views
Loved that book. - 22/05/2011 09:07:16 PM 1670 Views
Re: Loved that book. - 22/05/2011 11:19:29 PM 1683 Views
A great book - 22/05/2011 09:13:12 PM 1730 Views
Re: A great book - 22/05/2011 11:20:02 PM 1683 Views
“Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin’.” *NM* - 23/05/2011 12:03:34 AM 903 Views
Indeed. *NM* - 23/05/2011 09:37:38 AM 882 Views
Bah. This seems like a lame book. It will never catch on. - 23/05/2011 01:31:10 AM 1811 Views
LOL *NM* - 23/05/2011 08:36:55 AM 847 Views
Hehehe. *NM* - 23/05/2011 09:38:03 AM 927 Views
Um, there's already a rfilm version of this. - 23/05/2011 01:11:36 PM 1549 Views
Suspect he knows that. *NM* - 23/05/2011 01:15:46 PM 891 Views
I don't think I've ever met anyone who doesn't like this book. *NM* - 23/05/2011 09:37:52 AM 879 Views
So it survives being taught in school? - 23/05/2011 09:39:18 AM 1674 Views
Yup. *NM* - 23/05/2011 02:47:17 PM 891 Views
I've met some, but it was a casualty of middle school English. *NM* - 23/05/2011 07:40:27 PM 810 Views
Thanks for the review. - 23/05/2011 10:07:46 PM 2009 Views
Re: Thanks for the review. - 24/05/2011 12:14:08 AM 1757 Views
Let me ask the politically incorrect questions, since no one else has. - 24/05/2011 03:14:50 AM 1902 Views
Hmm - 24/05/2011 10:22:50 AM 1773 Views
I could see your argument if Tolkien were writing about feminism. - 24/05/2011 02:15:42 PM 1797 Views
I think that's a fair point. - 24/05/2011 07:00:04 PM 1777 Views
Calpurnia is a stereotype too. - 24/05/2011 11:54:26 PM 1714 Views
The difference, at least in my recollection, is that Calpurnia is well-educated. - 25/05/2011 08:09:58 PM 1652 Views
Re: The difference, at least in my recollection, is that Calpurnia is well-educated. - 25/05/2011 10:59:26 PM 1721 Views
Yes. This. *NM* - 26/05/2011 04:56:48 AM 808 Views
I think there was at least once incident showing a racist black person - 24/05/2011 07:33:09 PM 1903 Views
Almost a non-incident - 24/05/2011 08:51:59 PM 1571 Views
I think it was written to accomplish a goal and it did that very well - 25/05/2011 04:08:17 PM 1696 Views
Given your introductory portion - 11/06/2011 01:28:40 AM 1699 Views
It just occurred to me - 11/06/2011 01:30:05 AM 1649 Views
Re: It just occurred to me - 11/06/2011 11:36:21 AM 1760 Views
I have read both - 11/06/2011 11:35:11 AM 1540 Views
All of Twain's stuff is great - 13/06/2011 02:27:55 AM 1752 Views
Re: All of Twain's stuff is great - 13/06/2011 08:17:05 AM 1665 Views
And some poets - Tennyson and Yeats come to mind. *NM* - 13/06/2011 10:11:31 AM 798 Views
Keats? - 13/06/2011 10:14:58 AM 1757 Views
I have to say... - 13/06/2011 05:27:26 PM 1604 Views
Re: I have to say... - 13/06/2011 05:54:45 PM 1688 Views

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