New edition of Huck Finn being edited

[bookjones]

In a word, Yup.



If there is one positive here which we may glean...

You just made me remember, please do not vilify me, but I have never read Native Son. Studied both of Wright's other two major works, Uncle Tom's Children and Black Boy, but never Native Son. I must add that to my list.

Eh, I can't chastise people for what they haven't gotten around to reading---for ALL of us there is not enough time in our literal lifetimes to read everything we definitely know we want to let alone everything we think we *should*.

ETA: But of course I *do* at all times encourage people to read PERIOD and can get bitchy about that broader issue, heh.

 

[BiscuitintheBasket]

It is I believe in an effort so they can teach it in schools.



Really? You don't want a very open and honest discussion about language and its use in a school? Asshats?

We read Huck Finn in junior high as part of an English Lit class. The only think we needed to do is get our parents to sign a waiver that it as ok for us to be "exposed" to the book. My dad just laughed as he signed it.

 

[BiscuitintheBasket]

In a word, Yup.



If there is one positive here which we may glean...

You just made me remember, please do not vilify me, but I have never read Native Son. Studied both of Wright's other two major works, Uncle Tom's Children and Black Boy, but never Native Son. I must add that to my list.

purple

 

[supraman]

It is I believe in an effort so they can teach it in schools.



Really? You don't want a very open and honest discussion about language and its use in a school? Asshats?

I read the original in school. Boring book to be honest but doesn't need to be censored

 

[jakobeast]

Isn't Sammy Clemmens family ok with this? That is just as disturbing to me then anything.

 

[nana]

Eh, I can't chastise people for what they haven't gotten around to reading---for ALL of us there is not enough time in our literal lifetimes to read everything we definitely know we want to let alone everything we think we *should*.

ETA: But of course I *do* at all times encourage people to read PERIOD and can get bitchy about that broader issue, heh.

Very true, yet Native Son is so highly regarded as being one of THE books on race relations in America, so I am shocked I have never read it. Add it to the queue!



Biscuit, I can't see your picture at work, but I'm sure it was funny!

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

The funny thing is... I bet white people have more of a problem with that word being in the book than black people do. I asked my black co-worker what he thought about this and he laughed and said "unbelievable".



Sorry... is it ok to refer to black people as black people anymore?

 

[winos5]

I wonder if the use of those words in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" or perhaps "Roots" will be deemed offensive and redacted/censored in the next publication of those American classic novels.

 

[supraman]

I wonder if the use of those words in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" or perhaps "Roots" will be deemed offensive and redacted/censored in the next publication of those American classic novels.

All rap music has to take the word out, I am white and offended by it.

 

[Kerfuffle]

They're taking out all instances of the word "******" and replacing it with "slave."

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/0...uckleberry-finn-to-replace-n-word-with-slave/



I personally think that this is a form of censorship. This is a classic novel and the word had a different context and meaning at the time of writing. I'm not a fan of it being changed.



Thoughts?

I agree with you completely. Just another sign of how politically correct our world has become.

 

[bookjones]

Very true, yet Native Son is so highly regarded as being one of THE books on race relations in America, so I am shocked I have never read it. Add it to the queue!



Biscuit, I can't see your picture at work, but I'm sure it was funny!

Well I mean hey, far be it from *me* of all people to stop or discourage you from getting your Wright on. I'm personally good to go seeing as I read Native Son ages ago so I understand the literary pull---nana's gotta handle her own bidness!

 

[Ymono37]

Well I mean hey, far be it from *me* of all people to stop or discourage you from getting your Wright on. I'm personally good to go seeing as I read Native Son ages ago so I understand the literary pull---nana's gotta handle her own bidness!

wait... we're selling books on eBay now? what?

 

[bookjones]

wait... we're selling books on eBay now? what?

You are a silly man.

 

[Ymono37]

You are a silly man.

Yeah, but looks aren't everything.

 

[bookjones]

Isn't Sammy Clemmens family ok with this? That is just as disturbing to me then anything.

No dice as they wouldn't have a say though they may have opinions---The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is in the Public Domain like so many Classics. Think about how if you were to look for it in a bookstore you will always see editions of it from multiple publishers on the shelves---Penguin Classics, Signet Classics, Everyman's Library, etc.

 

[LordKOTL]

It's funny.



The liberals want to censor everything that they consider offensive.



The conservatives want to censor eveything that they consider immoral.



If either or both suceed nothing good will be left.



As such, it's why I say both the liberals and the conservatives are ruining this country.

 

[BiscuitintheBasket]

Very true, yet Native Son is so highly regarded as being one of THE books on race relations in America, so I am shocked I have never read it. Add it to the queue!



Biscuit, I can't see your picture at work, but I'm sure it was funny!

I used reused BJ's pict from earlier.

 

[BigPete]

I agree with you completely. Just another sign of how politically correct our world has become.

You are kidding right??? It's your 'people' that are doing it. You know the religious right wing history revisionists that love to tell people what is and is not good for them...so long as no one else tells them what to think and feel...?



A white, mid fifties, news anchor here in St Louis talked about this today. He said that when he read his son the book several years ago, he supplanted the N word with slave, but he made it clear why he was doing it and why it was not appropriate to use that word. If the publisher is planning on adding a forward or 'legal disclaimer' at the beginning of the book I suppose there wouldn't be an issue with having a sensitized version. So long as the original was still available for sale.



People should hear of the attrocities of the past or be doomed to repeat them.

 

[BigPete]

It's funny.



The liberals want to censor everything that they consider offensive.



The conservatives want to censor eveything that they consider immoral.



If either or both suceed nothing good will be left.



As such, it's why I say both the liberals and the conservatives are ruining this country.

YAY for moderates! Moderates fucking rule!!!!

 

[roshinaya]

While I think it's silly, but it's not really worth an outrage, it's not like all copies of Huck Finn are being replaced by this edited version. Isn't the problem more with teachers and schools being afraid of being sued by parents who object to having their kids subject to this "nasty" word, especially southerns who have a hard time dealing with their past.

And really, does it really matter if the word is replaced, people reading will still know the original word, so what has exactly changed?