This quote comes from a 1966 fictional novel called 'The Fixer' by Bernard Malamud. It's about a Jewish man in the 1910s Tsarist Russia (in kiev, Ukraine now) who was wrongfully accused, is arrested and imprisoned and reused to confess. It's ultimately about antisemitism and the dangers it poses. The book was pulled from school libraries in 2022 south carolina, but was returned after further review.
Anyways what do you think of this quote?
I disagree.
There are many kinds of people with many kinds of minds. And sometimes when the situation and life gets tough for some people the negativities grows in their mind. The attraction towards negativity increases. And the power of pen is really really very strong. If something is told to you verbally it's effect will be for short period like for few days or max for few months after that it would fades away. But if something is told to you in written form it's going to be in forever in mind.
Same time the writer of book is also normal human being with all kinds thoughts good and bad. And what he writes is actually what he strongly believes. And so if he believes in something negative then he is going to write that down. In his writing that would be reflection of negativity and not only that but he is also going to justify it in that book. So he is kind of serving his negativity to the person with the reason included that why it is right to see the world this way.
And so such negative book sometimes can become so much powerful to convince a person into their point of view and if that person is not strong minded, or if he is not full strong into some good principled (which is generally they are not as normally a negativity is more attractive more stronger than any good things) in that case it is going to brainwash that person. Writing is so much impactful.
So yes some books can be wrong books in reality.
Books are meant to tell stories and history and quote honesty, some book are vile in nature. However, history is that, History and just because some wrongs were made, lying about it doesn’t fix the situation.
I think a lot of books were pulled because of controversy with history. Now, a lot of matters are being pulled because they force lgbtq ideologies on children in families are not having it.
There’s a lot of grey spaces and it’s hard to say which should be pulled and which shouldn’t because everyone is entitled to their truth and beliefs but also with provisions.
I agree with you quote. Books aren’t evil per se, it’s the folks that fear what’s in the books and the ones who have written them with malice that have their own agendas and issues around them.
I do agree at least here in Japan similar to what I posted in your previous question about exposing possibly adult content to kids. Yet kids in Japan are raised with a set of values and we have a homogeneous culture that strongly reinforces them.
I could see, when lacking a strongly reinforced set of cultural values at the fundamental level, why parents might be a lot more worried about media exposure since kids might end up deriving their values and education from the media.
I really think that problem should be rectified though by parents and teachers in a way where people don't have to be so paranoid about what their kids are exposed to since their kids are raised with a solid set of values that are largely impervious to the influence of media.
Opinion
1Opinion
Agree. Mein Kampf should be an obligatory book to read in 6 class.
I'm kidding, books can be dangerous but ignoring them is more effective than to try banning those.
There are many wrong books
for one