Monday, July 02, 2018

Blind Item #10 - Reader Blind Item

A tale of three deceased writers.

The first is not really a blind item as it received full coverage by the media.  This writer wrote on a particular time in American history and the migratory experience of the Americans in her day.  Her books have been used in schools and inspired a very popular TV show that had several spin-offs.  Her name was recently removed from an award due to her depiction, which was in keeping with the times in which she lived, of certain ethnic groups.

The second writer has had his name recently removed from a room within a public library in the Northeastern city he was from.  This writer wrote fiction of a specific genre, primarily short stories, and he died at a young age.  He was very influential in his genre as he created a whole structured mythos.  However, he was also a big believer in white supremacy and was deeply xenophobic and amti-immigrant.

The third was a British writer who recently had a follow-up to an earlier BBC documentary show on his life canceled.  This writer wrote many works of literature and felt slighted he didn’t win a Nobel Prize. His most famous book which was made into a critically acclaimed and successful movie involves a made-up language and a Dysotopian future.  As a young man, he taught English in a British colony where he enjoyed himself with underage prostitutes and wrote about it although The BBC apparently  only just noticed that. 

44 comments:

sandybrook said...

Laura Ingalls wilder is #1

V said...

Anthony Burgess #3?

lac said...

#2 is Lovecraft

Do Tell said...

Yeah, Laura Ingalls Wilder did have her name removed from an award because of some references made by one of the characters in her books to Native Americans, made in the at the time common vernacular.

Anonymous said...

yeah, 2 is Lovecraft. One of the most influential horror authors. I love hom, but DEFINITELY the definition of a problematic fave.

Unknown said...

When Laura Ingalls Wilder's name is being removed from awards by people who would have died of fright or exposure if they'd lived in her shoes, surely we've reached peak virtue signaling.

SmithSmith said...

CDaN is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for content when readers are submitting BI's that are simply excerpts from Wikipedia entries. Can I try one next with a BI about photosynthesis?

IanPhlegming said...

BBC been a big fan and enabler of pedophiles as long as it existed.

Remember when current NYTimes CEO Mark Thompson was running BBC and covering up for Jimmy Saville's pedophilia and necrophilia? And then it came out and the Times gave him the job anyway? I do.

#TEAMGEELJIRE CLASSIC said...

3 is Eric Blair wew lads

#TEAMGEELJIRE CLASSIC said...

That 1984 guy for the intellectually and search engine challenged

#TEAMGEELJIRE CLASSIC said...

Lovecraft's idea journal alone
#46. Man wakes up next to wife and discovers she is a Negress

timebob said...

This back in the day A+ list athlete turned entertainer/actor's wife and acquaintance died under mysterious circumstances. Did he do it? If the truth comes out the juice will flow!

Aimless Spectator said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Silkprint said...

Twain will be next

Lo Key says stop with the censorship already! said...

I knew #2 immediately. Sad because Lovecraft is one of my favorite writers. But he wasn't a very nice human.

Jon said...

Hail Cthulhu!

gauloise said...

this is all reminding me of Mao's cultural revolution. You can not judge history anachronistically.

Amartel said...

Gather 'round: It's a modern day book burnin'!!

Poor Mick said...

#2 being Lovecraft is basically a joke at this point, including getting people to Google what he'd named his cat.

Kalamota Kook said...

#3 isn't Orwell. He worked in Burma, but as a policeman. Anthony Burgess was a teacher in Malaysia. The novel / movie is A Clockwork Orange, which (for those not aware) is written entirely in a Slav style patois.

By the way, 1984 was partly inspired by Orwell's time working at the BBC.

DDonna Tarttty is right about the BBC. And Thompson has written articles calling for a softer approach towards paedophiles. Utterly shameless.

TerriB said...

Silkprint - Too late - they have already gigged Twain for his language in Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

I adore Laura Ingalls Wilder's writing and have reread all of the Little House Books more than once. To hell with them and their award!

LooksLikeCRicci said...

Yeah, I'm not amused at Laura Ingalls Wilder being stripped of her award. I'm admittedly liberal, but I think this is taking things *way* too far.

Brayson87 said...

Should be fun when they start removing the books too.

Sara, Making It Work said...

@timebob
Bahahaha!

Unknown said...

They've already thrown Huckleberry Finn out of a lot of schools, despite it being considered one of the great American classics. Better to erase history than teach kids honestly about it, you know.

I don't think they've torn down the Twain statue over in Hannibal yet, though, or renamed the Huck Finn Mall.

sconzey said...

#3 is definitely Burgess, who wrote A Clockwork Orange.

In 1954 Burgess, who was born John Wilson, travelled to Malaya to teach English as a foreign language. According to Lewis, he was forced to leave his job at an English school after an affair with a fellow teacher and, once abroad with his first wife, Lynne, the couple began to drink heavily. Burgess became wildly promiscuous at this point, Lewis claims, picking up barmaids and prostitutes, and once bragged in print of sleeping with a 12-year-old Tamil girl.

(Source: The Guardian)

riffer73 said...

Yet Margaret Sanger is a hero.

NoNoNoNo said...

The "made-up language" in A Clockwork Orange is 'Nadsat'. Anthony Burgess apparently wrote the whole novel in three weeks.

Sadie said...

No. 3 could also be Lawrence Durrell or Graham Greene.

Zeroh Tollrants said...

Wilder
Lovecraft
Burgess

This modern day book burning and ret-conning of history, by trying to mold the past to current day, (which is hilariously being made up,day to day), morality & virtues makes this the single MOST EMBARRASSING time to be alive in my 5 decades so far.
I cringe in sheer shame that THIS is the future we dreamed about, way back in the 70s & 80s.

It feels like some kind of hybrid Puritanical/atheistic/hedonistic/morality cult has taken over modern discourse. I hate everything about it, and it's Orwellian/Huxleyian nature.
Young ppl of today have to be the most depressing, uneducated,mentally & physically fragile, overly sensitive, and wholly uninteresting ppl I think who've ever lived, since we've begun recording history.

Guest777 said...

#3 Tolkien he was a philologist

Unknown said...

I always take umbrage to the practice of applying 21st Century morality to 19th Century or even 20th Century actions. The expressive prose used by these iconic authors were as much a product of the times as well as the imagination.

As to their actions, well God forbid anyone take a microscope to my life. I have enjoyed the company of many more than a few LBFM's and the topic of age never really entered into the conversation. The only reason I never wrote about my experiences is because, well I wasn't a writer like these folks. Go figger!

I'm just sayin', "...Glass Houses..."

Mgn1331 said...

Good lord you are annoying and I feel privileged to never have to interact with you in person. Scraping the bottom of the barrel. Lol. What kind of a loser complains about FREE premium content like this?? 🧐 ENTY doesn’t have to do this shit. He’s not your bitch. you need to seriously re-evaluate your self righteous attitude. Your loser ass couldn’t pay for this site even if it WAS free 😂 I’d bet my last dollar on that. So yeah, Go right on ahead and write your blind item to no one about photosynthesis. May you someday be as hilarious as you already think you are. No one is holding their breath 😂

Hugo Pedersen said...

#3 is one hundred per cent Burgess and the novel (and movie) is A Clockwork Orange.

Unknown said...

I agree with other commenters that this is modern day book burning. Re-writing history.

Certain goose-stepping followers were doing that too, under the dictatorship of this moustached fellow.

Boo said...

@ZEROH TOLLRANTS and @UNKNOWN, you both said it perfectly. Bravo. 100% yes.

longtimereader said...

I ADORE lovecraft, he had an amazing imagination and wrote wonderful stories. His obviously racist attitudes were conventional of someone of his time and place.

#TEAMGEELJIRE CLASSIC said...

His most famous works are all barely concealed plagiarizations

Conan wasn't ever trying to hide it was all just Bible names

Jennifer Tyler said...

A Clockwork Orange one of my favourite novels and the film is one is my favourite films and will continue to be. So shoot me.

A fact about the novel. Thank goodness I read the British version of the book. Burgess wrote a article for Rolling Stone that the American publishers dropped the last chapter which of course was important to the whole message of the novel. But they couldn't see it. Now you can get the glossaries of nadsat, the slang Burgess invented for the book online. I could have used that when I was 16.

Jennifer Tyler said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jennifer Tyler said...

Ragnar I totally agree. You don't have to like it but it is important not to edit out the offensive bits as long as you understand the historical context. I mean do you read Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer as written or do you make it a PC version. If you are lucky enough to be taught critical thought and evaluation you can study or try to understand that which is considered morally wrong in today's context in its original context. Birth of a Nation - what a movie. It made Roots look like a Disney adventure in comparison.

When I read about the Vikings and Henry VIII and slavery, I sure hope I am not getting the sanitized version of history lest it make me clutch my pearls and history is often better communicated via fiction rather than a dry history text. I like to read both.

Sadly it also seems the human species has a long way to go in terms of evolution - I guess it depends on what you think evolution or improvement is. We learn from reading about all cultures in various times in history and soak up as much as you can. Also best to read as many viewpoints about history as you can. Ah yes that means you can read or care about reading or care about history or care about these kind of questions in a world where we converse in soundbytes called tweets or posts on other forms of social mdeida. If humans don't care, bound to keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

Bill Beard said...

Yawn - "However, he was also a big believer in white supremacy and was deeply xenophobic and amti-immigrant." - i.e. anyone who isn't a communist.

Unknown said...

@gossblogger

Thank you for your well-reasoned reply. I know better than to expect any intelligent responses to my posts at this site and that is perfectly alright, this is not exactly the forum for meaningful discourse, which is why I tend to stick to the the more ribald and bawdier tones set forth in the latter half of my post. So when someone takes the time to digest my missive I am always pleased.

I am both a retired Air Force NCO and a former academic with a bit of everything else in-between. At 60 I have a wealth of life experience and have lived on four continents. I comply with most theories of cultural relativity and respect most cultures. I decry stereotypes, as I believe that life is far too situational to generalize.

I read something every day, no rhyme or reason, just to keep my mind exercised. Today, in an effort to find a possible analogy to the recent unveiling of the age-old casting couch system and prevailing social unrest. I found an excellent 65-page pamphlet on the rampant sexual decadence and general lawlessness of the uber-socialist Wiemar Republic, specifically Berlin circa. 1918-1932. I was led there by a passage I read some years ago when studying German history:

"Amid the general collapse of values, a kind of insanity took hold of precisely those middle-class circles which had been
unshakable in their order. Young ladies proudly boasted that they were perverted: to be suspected of virginity at 16 would have been a disgrace in every school in Berlin." Stefan Zweig, Austrian writer.

The similarity being that the breakdown of polite society inevitably leads to a correction (in the case of Wiemar, over-correction).

Love to continue but I've already written past the point of nausea for most readers. I look forward to your future posts.

Ragnar, 6 year reader, very recent poster.

Cuddlebutt said...

Thank you, Ragnar.

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