It does seem pretty blatant
1 Like
Whereas those who criticised the wife of a sitting American president giving out an award for a film which had seed money from the CIA and, as most films involving military hardware, sponsorship and some script “support” from various branches of rbe US military were also “naive” iirc.
Well, yes. People who failed to realize that the US military has a huge influence on just about any movie that portrays the military are naive. Is that the same as the government saying what books are eligible for an award? There are plenty of films out there where certain ideas have no doubt been suggested by various agencies. I don’t know what would happen if the producers chose to ignore those suggestions, but I doubt it would lead to jail or execution, both of which are common outcomes in China.
There is a long and deep history of banning books and information in the US, too, of course…
This is not to defend what’s happened here or the general issue of China seeking to wield cultural power to make themselves look better in the eyes of the global public, but we don’t exactly have some sort of spotless record with regards to this kind of thing. The Hollywood Blacklist, for example DID see people going to jail for refusing to name names. And plenty of people went to jail for violating the comstock laws, for doing such “evil” things as sending information about birth control and abortion through the mail.
I’d argue that the focus shouldn’t be on “who is worse” but on the general problem of states seeking to control cultural and knowledge production in general. It’s a problem of modern, mass society, not of one ideology over the other.
I’d also say that I’m not sure what World Con should do here, as there is a growing sci-fi literary scene in China that shouldn’t be ignored or shut out of the community because of what their government does… but that comes with pressure to leave out those that the government considers dissidents. I don’t know if there is a good answer, because both seem unacceptable to me… 
2 Likes
@robertmckenna and @BakerB - here is some follow up from Neil Gaiman…
The situation seems to be more complicated than just the Chinese government making demands, for what it’s worth. I suspect whatever happened, it will not come out until later on.
the question does remain, do we support communities like this in countries that have authoritarian tendencies (including, to some extent our own) or do we abandon them completely to retain some kind of “purity” (or however you want to frame it)? The problem is that we’re living in an increasingly authoritarian world, where free speech and free thought are under greater threat than ever, all over the place. Navigating that is going to be difficult going forward for those of us who really do believe in freedom of speech, thought, and action. I wish it weren’t so, but here we all find ourselves.
3 Likes
Speaking of book censorship, i read this recently which must have been a daunting prospect to research and put together. It seems the history of the library is one of censorship and fires, endless fires.
1 Like
Quite fun, but somehow not engaging, I think due to the lack of tension or the construction of the mysteries not being that interesting. The book was co-written by Stephen Baxter and Terry Pratchett, but apart from a little joke about alternative uses for books, you can’t barely feel Mr. Pratchett’s presence along the pages.
Basically it’s the conquest of the old American West, but without natives, gunfights, cavalry or sheriffs, set in a string of parallel Earths. Despite the phenomenon that allowed all the humanity to reach pristine planets just like ours, the book only superficially touches on how the world reacted to the discovery of the multiverse. The entire story is told from the point of view of pioneers who conveniently do not have to dispute territories with natives, as the parallel Earths are mostly uninhabited.
4 Likes
Yeah, the two or three of these that I read all fell rather flat.
1 Like
I liked the first one, but the others no so much.
1 Like
But why should one read Black Reconstruction in the twenty-first century? In short, because Du Bois is writing about issues that remain of tremendous political importance, including the nature of racial oppression and the racism of white workers. Unlike most contemporary analysts of race, moreover, Du Bois approaches these issues from the perspective of political economy. He rejects an approach to racial oppression that starts with prejudice, discrimination, or culture, trying instead to dig beneath these and understand how they are rooted in the material interests of different classes. Instead of insisting on the separation of race from class, as so many liberals do, Du Bois insists on their intimate connection.
3 Likes
The Flat Earth is another Terry Pratchett series entirely. 
4 Likes
2 Likes
Someone give these people some Anne MacCaffrey!
4 Likes
2 Likes
Oh I need to get that!
1 Like
Yeah. It’s on my “to buy” list.
Have you read James Spooner’s The High Desert?
It’s more of an auto-biography than a history, but it covers some interesting aspects of punk scenes in the late 80s / early 90s from a perspective of a Black punk.
2 Likes
I have not. That’s added to the list, it sounds really good. I checked and was disappointed to discover my library doesn’t have it.
I do love ‘We need literary reverse cowgirl’ tho 
As someone who is regularly mocked for liking SFF and other genre fiction by my GF who is all snooty cuz she did an Eng. Lit. degree, I am all for this as a manifesto.
2 Likes
Lugged a box of books to McKay’s in Nashville today to trade out. They didn’t take the 26 volume complete Illustrated Gardening Encyclopedia 1971 (hit me up if interested) but did take the complete set of Witcher books (Pussycat read them twice and decided she didn’t care for them).
McKay’s is a crazy huge used book, movie, game etc store. You drop off your books and they have dozens of people back there with computers and literal conveyor belts and after an hour they tell you how much you get in trade. The place is always packed, and they had even more shelves with narrower aisles than last time I was there. It’s becoming a nightmare for me, honestly. And their prices are pretty high. I had a book picked out that I put back when I noticed the old price sticker from Half Price Books still on it for for $5 less than the McKay’s price! And a cd I picked up still had a price sticker from Grimey’s for half what McKay’s sticker said! If you’re going to rip us off at least remove the lower price sticker from the original store!!!
Anyway I found this book I’d wanted for five years now:
It was $25 good condition. Also got this Marlys’ book for $10:
When I lived in Chicago ‘88-‘93 I once stood behind Linda Barry in a line to use an ATM. I REALLY wanted to talk to her and tell her what a huge fan I was, but I didn’t want to be be all rude and bothersome. Also, I was a coward. This was very early in her career and I guarantee you I was the only person standing in that line who knew who she was (other than her of course). Sometimes I wonder if my life would be drastically different if I had spoken. We might have hit it off and become good friends and I never would have moved back south!
7 Likes
