Propagandists in Author's Clothing

[reiver33]

I believe there is nothing wrong with an author having an obvious bias, such that you can read his or her work in that context. This can be as true for fiction as it is for - say - a history of warfare in the Middle Ages. A particular standpoint can shed light on an old topic from an unexpected angle, leading to a fresh perspective. Or it can prove so irritating that you hurl the book across the room in frustration...

 

[Vertigo]

Or it can prove so irritating that you hurl the book across the room in frustration...

Hehe I know the feeling. It's religious rather than political but I'm currently wondering if Orson Scott Card is going to drive me to that extreme. Haven't quite decided which side of the line he falls on yet (for me at least).

 

[Metryq]

Okay, that "hurling the book across the room in frustration" scenario is one way in which paper books are unquestionably superior to ebooks.

 

[Vertigo]

Very good point Metryq!

 

[RJM Corbet]

A cell phone is actually a very satisfying thing to throw. It's just the right shape and weight and fragments against a wall ten yards away quite nicely without bouncing ...

 

[Metryq]

Although anyone who'd harm an innocent book because of something the author said should be locked up. The Nazis burned books to "protect" people from "dangerous" (liberating) ideas. Fahrenheit 451 banned all books. One of the scariest scenes in a movie is George Pal's The Time Machine (1960) when the Time Traveler sweeps his arm through a bookshelf, crumbling the volumes to dust. (Very nice physical effect, but it made me shiver.)

A strong mind can cope with challenging ideas on its own.

 

[Clansman]

I think it's like Bono from U2.

The fame gives him a platform to become a patronising pain in the a**

"Am I buggin' ye? I don't mean te bug ye."

 

[hitmouse]

There's nothing wrong with authors having views which inform their writing to an extent, but when a book effectively becomes an argument for a political (or other) position it's propaganda.

I agree that Bono is a patronising ar**. Apparently when he was on stage once, clicking his fingers and saying "Every time I click my fingers a child dies" some witty fellow in the audience shouted "Stop clicking your ****ing fingers then!"

Will Smith not Bono.