Since the advent of word-processors on computer authors are no longer faced with the laborious task of rewriting their texts by hand. This has simplified the process of editing but has also facilitated an epidemic of word bloat in books. In the last ten years I have read many books that would have benefited immensely by being reduced by at least 200 pages. Publishers no longer seem to edit books hence print editions are often rife with typos created in the publishing process and alas, by the author as well. With the arrival of self-publishing and e-Books the lack of grammar, syntax, and spell-checking has reached epidemic proportions and a new cadre of would-be authors raised in an era when self-expression was deemed more important than spelling and grammar have hit the scene. Worse yet, the latest phenomena are young writers who honed their craft typing text messages on smart phones. You may have read about college graduates who are functionally illiterate; well now they think they can write books.
I have written at least 75 book reviews for my own satisfaction in the last few years and recently began publishing them on Amazon. I have discovered the existence of a double-standard in that the behemoth will market books filled with expletives but will not accept reviews that contain those same profanities. Being a consenting adult I don’t usually pay attention to ratings and must confess I had not been aware that Amazon gave books ratings, certainly they place no blocks on anyone downloading any e-Book. I was taken aback when I discovered upon panning a poorly conceived book that authors read their own reviews and even respond. I had not to this point considered Amazon a discussion forum.
So to the concept of censorship. Does giving a book an “R” rating make it acceptable to write about teenage sex and swearing as if it is the norm? Do we want to legitimize such behaviour by making it seem acceptable? I would prefer not to find literary novels laced with expletives and find the idea of childhood profanity puerile and immature, an example of bad parenting. Violence and assault should not be made glamorous in novels, movies or games; it used to be called pornography but those standards seem to be changing rapidly in frightening ways especially on Pay TV and the Internet. This is not to say that there are topics that should not be confronted in writing books. It is not a matter of whether or if but how and why, of kind and degree. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin served as a catalyst for bringing down slavery in America; Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kamf promoted the Final Solution. Your opinion of these books will differ depending on your status as a card carrying member of the KKK, a Neo-Nazi Cult, a death camp survivor, or former slave. There’s a fine line between freedom of speech, censorship, and tyranny; liberty and the common good.
I have written at least 75 book reviews for my own satisfaction in the last few years and recently began publishing them on Amazon. I have discovered the existence of a double-standard in that the behemoth will market books filled with expletives but will not accept reviews that contain those same profanities. Being a consenting adult I don’t usually pay attention to ratings and must confess I had not been aware that Amazon gave books ratings, certainly they place no blocks on anyone downloading any e-Book. I was taken aback when I discovered upon panning a poorly conceived book that authors read their own reviews and even respond. I had not to this point considered Amazon a discussion forum.
So to the concept of censorship. Does giving a book an “R” rating make it acceptable to write about teenage sex and swearing as if it is the norm? Do we want to legitimize such behaviour by making it seem acceptable? I would prefer not to find literary novels laced with expletives and find the idea of childhood profanity puerile and immature, an example of bad parenting. Violence and assault should not be made glamorous in novels, movies or games; it used to be called pornography but those standards seem to be changing rapidly in frightening ways especially on Pay TV and the Internet. This is not to say that there are topics that should not be confronted in writing books. It is not a matter of whether or if but how and why, of kind and degree. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin served as a catalyst for bringing down slavery in America; Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kamf promoted the Final Solution. Your opinion of these books will differ depending on your status as a card carrying member of the KKK, a Neo-Nazi Cult, a death camp survivor, or former slave. There’s a fine line between freedom of speech, censorship, and tyranny; liberty and the common good.
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