That’s understandable and I agree I don’t want to do anything to benefit him. I read books from my library. So, I’m hoping that keeps him from benifiting too much. He’s a popular author, so they’re going to buy his books regardless, so my patronage shouldn’t affect their buying decisions. Even with that, I still felt bad reading the latter books. Oh, crud, I did buy one of his books, but it was at the dollar store and I think he lost money on that purchase.
Do you have a problem of reading the books of dead authors who were bad in some way? Because that would start to rule out a lot of literature.
Not particularly because times were different then, unless they were writing equally reprehensible things which in case i wouldn’t read in the first place. For current authors, actors and the like they have no excuse to have certain views against minorities or LGBT. Most, if not all, of the people i actively avoid are contemporary living-breathing people.
The one author i can think of that is dead that’s racist is HP Lovecraft but then again i’ve never read his works and i’m comfortable avoiding him.
I love Ender’s Game, and have recommended it to many people over the years.
My new way of recommending it is to follow the rec with a suggestion to borrow it from the library, because of issues with wanting to support an author with his views.
It seems like a compromise, because you can’t always hate the art because of the artist, but you can choose to not contribute to supporting them or their estates.
I unfortunately bought mine new but i’ve since lent it to friends if they wanted to check it out. Which reminds me i have to track down some other books of mine… hmmm…
it generally depends on the context of the reason for reading the book. for example, as part of a major term paper about the origins of white supremacy i wrote for a college history class, i read chamberlain’s “foundations of the 19th century” which i would have never read for enjoyment otherwise. a miserable slog and a relentlessly awful perspective but also a foundational work for understanding modern anti-semitism in england and germany.
Oh, that’s a good point! There are quite a few books in that category. The one Hitler wrote who’s title is escaping me. Reading books by horrible people for acedemic purposes seems like a clear exception to the ‘rule’.
Not so much that as I read some literary criticism that pointed out that he seems to like young men a little too much in his writing and yeah he does… ewww. My Ender books had gone to Friends Of The Library by then happily.
Definitely stop before the wailing in the story meets a crescendo and you become the gate to Yog-Soggoth, but then Les Mes seems to have gotten a pass. Pretty thin care, there.
