Classic vs Ugly & Hateful

[_ocelott_]

Most of the time, in contemporary books, we expect a certain level of human equality. There aren't many novels out there in which the characters you're meant to sympathize with have blatant shows of racism or sexism. The world we live in isn't perfect, so you do get "casual" displays of -isms on occasion, which hopefully get called out by as many

Comments

[morgan_dhu]

No person is all good, or all bad, and the same goes of books.

Contemporary or classic, I appreciate what's good in a book, and acknowledge what's bad.

The Narnia books are a good example. There are some wonderful things, some fun things, some appalling things... if one talks in depth about the books, you have to talk about all that's in them. The wonderfulness that is Reepicheep, the awfulness that is the depiction of the Calormenes. The courage of Jill Pole, the dismissal of Susan with her nylons and lipstick.

[nathreee]

We can't blame CS Lewis. But I will never enjoy reading Narnia. I prefer reading books where the level of -ism of the characters is correctly proportional for the world they live in. And I will strive to write such stories myself.

[enchantedskies]

I guess it depends. For me personally, I normally dislike the book if the -isms are too much. I can stand a little bit, you know, as a sign of the times they were in, but if I get disgusted with it, then I can't read it

[moreteadk]

I read the Narnia books as a child. Back then I didn't catch any of the -isms or the religous aspects. Not a single one. That did not come until much later.

I don't believe children should be prevented from reading the classics, even those that contain bad things. Like it or not, it's part of our history and I believe that the only way to teach the children not to behave in that way is to teach them about it and teach them why it's wrong. You can't just tell them, "you are not allowed to think such and such about other people" and then not teach them why.

So let them read the classics. Talk about the issues with them and discuss why this or that is an out-moded concept and frowned upon today.

Ignorance is not the way to go.