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Good Reading : July 2012
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www.goodreadingmagazine.com good reading july 2012 6 iwas dismayed to read of a recent survey which found that people are purchasing e-readers so that other people can’t see what they’re reading. Mills and Boon has proved this recently with the great success of their range of e-books. Readers can now download the latest romances without having to front up to a bookshop, and they can read them on the train without anyone peering over their newspaper with raised eyebrows. Some people obviously feel embarrassed being caught reading books like these quick romances. I always feel a twinge of anger when people judge what others read. Really, does it matter what other people read? I enjoy fantasy novels featuring elves and magicians, and one of my favourite book characters is Strider from ‘The Lord of the Rings’. He’s hot; well, in my imagination anyway. He might look different in yours. Could that change someone’s opinion of me? If it does, then I’m not sure that I care one iota. And it really doesn’t bother me what you read. I’m just so happy that you are reading – anything – and found something you enjoy. What does it matter to anyone else? People might judge you or laugh at you because of what you read. But it’s another thing altogether if someone takes action to stop you reading a book they disapprove of. We often hear news about overseas governments banning books because they don’t reflect their religious or moral values. This happened recently in a popular book fair held in Tehran, Iran. The government banned Cheshmeh, an Iranian publishing company, from appearing at the fair, and they revoked their publishing licence so they could no longer produce books. Cheshmeh published Iranian short stories and books on history and Western philosophy, among others. Readers and writers were quite rightly outraged and strongly voiced their opinions. I recently read an article which said that a few years ago the Iranian government decided that any books published before 2005 (when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president) would be banned from appearing at the fair. On the other side of the world in the United States a similar thing was happening. In this case it wasn’t the higher levels of government enforcing censorship, but rather libraries from states such as Wisconsin, Georgia and Florida. They were deciding whether to allow their members to access the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey, which has been a recent publishing phenomenon. Spokespeople for the counties that have decided not to purchase the book have said that it’s ‘semi-pornographic’ or that it ‘doesn’t suit our community standards’. Many hundreds of people have asked their library to stock it, but some libraries have flatly declined. When I was a bookseller, author L Ron Hubbard – the founder of Scientology – was bringing his books onto the market. Some colleagues refused to stock his books in their stores, saying that they didn’t agree with them. Dr Philip Nitschke’s books on euthanasia also came under fire, and some booksellers decided not to stock them. These books polarised opinions. But is there any point in banning books? Doesn’t banning a book only make it more appealing? Most of the time it seems that banning anything simply fuels media attention and drives word-of-mouth interest that makes the thing even more desirable. The harder it is to obtain a book, the more appealing it becomes. Some booksellers say they are not there to judge, but simply to provide books for everyone, regardless of their religion, politics or other beliefs. Others say that they have a right to stock whatever they want. Maybe that’s true; it’s their store, after all. Libraries may be able to say the same, although they are usually run by governments, so they would be subjected to different pressures from those on an owner–operator bookshop. But is this all that different from the Iranian government banning books from their book fair? Whether it’s the government in Tehran or a county library in Florida, somebody is still using their position to impose their beliefs upon you. And in both cases it’s censorship. What right does anyone have to tell you what you can or cannot read? Why should someone else’s attitudes determine the books you can and cannot access? Should a line be drawn for books that most of us would deem inappropriate? What about a book on making a pipe bomb? Or a book on fundamentalist religious beliefs, regardless of the religion? The banning of books by libraries and booksellers seems pretty silly to me in today’s world. You can go online to purchase most things you want. The advent of e-books has only made it easier. And the banning of books by zealous governments just drives a thriving underground market for those books. In the article about books being banned in Tehran, one local was reported to have said, ‘Give me any banned or illegal book. I can copy it exactly like the original one in less than a week and market it in the network across the country.’ Can you ever really stop a book from being read? Does banning a book make for a better or worse society? Do you agree or disagree? Last but not least, we’re very excited here at gr to support and be involved in the MS Readathon for 2012. Usually this valuable fund raising program is open only to youngsters, but this year everyone, regardless of age, can join in. That’s good news for us as we love to read, but having the benefit of raising money for this great cause is a wonderful bonus. This could be a terrific event for you, your family or your book club to be involved in. We hope you’ll join us. To find out more visit msreadathon.org.au . An estimated 21 000 Australians have MS. You can find out more about this debilitating disease at msaustralia.org.au. And Baxter, a superdog who needs a haircut. my say July 2012 main p6_my_say_e.indd 6 7/6/12 9:35:24 PM
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