its getting cold, burn more books

you know how sometimes you watch a movie or read a book or something and one particular scene never leaves you?
well in the day after tomorrow, ive always found the scene where they have to burn the library books to keep warm amusing
that movie is also the reason i know what chauvinist means

so anyways, as far as burning (and banning) books goes... i am vehemently against it
to anyone that even thinks about doing either to any book, i have no respect for you
actually thats probably the nicer way of saying what i want to
for a better idea check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc0mxOXbWIU

i suppose ive made it clear that i dont think literature that might provoke a strong reaction should be censored
thats absolutely ridiculous
first of all, i think that anything that doesnt get a strong reaction even qualifies as literature
every piece of writing that ive ever read and thought was good made me think
my mood changed while reading, my opinions changed, and by the end i was slightly different
literature should provoke strong reactions from readers
otherwise it isnt literature

then i have to point out, if you dont want to read something, dont
do not instead make it your job to make sure no one else reads it
anyone ought to be able to read whatever they want without someone stopping them
and similarly, nobody has to read anything they dont want to
if you find a book offensive, suck it up and finish it or put the book down
how is banning it a justifiable action?
because if you cant handle it nobody can
right

specifically with slaughterhouse five, i had nothing that i was offended by
i enjoyed reading the book and had no issues with it
at some parts i did acknowledge that some people might not like reading this material but i was still fine with it
for example, all of the sex related terms and actions might be too much for some people
vonnegut throws them around the book as if theyre nothing but they might not be nothing for certain people
the descriptions (and drawings of) certain body parts can easily be seen as offensive
however, i still feel that if you are offended by it, you need to put the book down

as discussed in class, the sense of anti-americanism is also likely offensive
vonnegut, being an american, was probably looked at as being unpatriotic
he goes and fights for america in wwii and then writes a book that bashes them
i understand why people might find that offensive, but its only because theyre unwilling to accept the truth
vonnegut was writing about reality when he described americans and their behavior
any american who finds that offensive needs to take a step back and reassess the way they see americans
this goes back to my first argument, when i said that reading leaves me as a different person
you need to have an open mind and let what you read help you mold your opinion
you cant just pick a side and firmly believe in it without being open to change
its that sort of behavior that leads to people getting offended anyways
there is truth in vonneguts words, so if an american is offended by that they need to change their mentality
in addition, vonnegut isnt writing an anti-american novel
he does not go on and on about how horrible the americans are
he simply looks at things as they are and describes them when he needs to
vonnegut doesnt look at the germans or british or russians or anyone else with bias
the americans get the same sort of treatment

as far as the other novels we have explored this year, i only found brave new world slightly discomforting
i am an advocate for strong, meaningful relationships
i think that it is infinitely significant to have connections with people that mean more than you can describe
in brave new world, that bond just went to hell and everyone just had sex
that way of life is exactly what i dont believe in
because of that, when i first read about it i didnt enjoy it very much
as i got through that novel, it wasnt as bad, and it made me appreciate the relationships i had
it seems to me that sexual things are the most (potentially) offensive topics in books
slaughterhouse five and brave new world got into trouble because of the references
im very comfortable with the idea of sex, but even i was still troubled with the promiscuity of brave new world
i think its very understandable that people would not appreciate those books
some of my peers i know shudder at the word sex, so i can imagine how they reacted to these novels
1984 i didnt have any issues with
i just thought it was a fantastic book

so yeah thats how i feel about all of this censorship and whatnot
i realize its a confusing mess of jumbled words, but thats what happens when you have nothing intelligent to say



- jakevin