RE: RARA-AVIS: banned books

From: bruce@brucemakous.com
Date: 05 May 2005


What I find most amazing in "The Confession" debate is the running comment along the lines that "The Confession" is about "how there is no downside to being a serial killer of women." What!? Simply having an evil protagonist somehow condones their actions? And don't forget to bring them to literal, simple-minded justice, or else our readers will think that the author doesn't know that serial killers are evil. One pro-ban commentator actually questions Stansberry's moral values! Where does that leave classic writers like Poe and Conrad and many others? Notice to authors: be sure to avoid ambiguous, noirish endings because your book will then be banned by the simple-minded. By my count, the pro-ban commentators outnumber the pro-Stansberry commentators 51% to 49%.

I found "The Confession" a frightening and fascinating insight into the mind of a sociopathic serial killer that has the reader fooled right to the last page. That's the stuff of great literature, up there with "The Postman Always Rings Twice," and other greats.

The other fascinating running comment in the debate is essentially, "I haven't read 'The Confession,' but I agree that it should be banned." I haven't read the work of any author who said that, but I think they should be banned for being censorious fools.

Bruce Makous Author: Riding the Brand www.brucemakous.com

> From: "GERLACH, Steve" < steve.gerlach@sma.com.au>
>
> Aaah, I always find it quite perplexing when book readers start suggesting
> books should be banned.
>
> Very strange. But basically they missed the point of the whole novel.
> Thankfully, they're usually outnumbered by hundreds more who actually "get
> it."
>
> Steve

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