tempestuously (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tempestuously) wrote2010-07-21 06:37 pm
tempestuously) wrote2010-07-21 06:37 pm
This book has not yet been rated
I am relieved to hear that my family might actually be going back to school.
About 100 pages into "The Way of Shadows." Still unsure on Azoth but he's fairly young so he'll have time to grow on me. I'm more interested in the young duke Logan and his magic mentor. Very Arthurian. I like.
"The Way of Shadows" returned me to a previous thought that I never quite expressed in my last discussion on triggers. My opinion as to the necessity of warnings remains unchanged, but I have been doing my best to cut stuff because I don't wish to hurt anyone by omission. Rule of thumb, if it's under a cut, there's a 75 percent chance it contains something objectionable.
Reading this book got me to thinking. We demand warnings on our movies and tv shows. On our video games. On our comics/manga in the U.S. On our music! On our fanfiction. And on our RP logs. The argument is that the written word can carry the same memories as an image and be every bit as intense and disturbing. So should we have warnings on books? I mean, I had no idea going into "The Way of Shadows" that it was going to involve some highly triggering material within the first 30 pages. You don't read fantasy novels and expect child rape. (Note, I am not criticizing the book for including this. I am just using it to pose a query.) It's a little different from picking up a vampire novel and being offended because it includes the gratuitous nonsense most commonly found in the Anita Blake series. You're reading a book about blood-suckers. Anything else is fair game at that point.
But what about those amorphous novels that are just supposed to be slice of life tales or fantasy or sci-fi? Should you expect no-holds-barred out of fantasy? Should you expect rape or prostitution or suicide out of gay novels? How does the reader know what they're getting into and should they?
Fanficcers warn their readers from the start about all of the possible offensive aspects that might await them. I mean, we have warnings for slash. Not gay sex. Slash. Just because we are writing about two guys/gals that express love toward one another. I find this ridiculous. Maybe I don't want to read a story where a girl and boy all of the sudden spend an entire chapter making out (I'M LOOKING AT YOU VAMPIRE KNIGHT), should I be warned of potential het make-out sessions? But then again, people want to know if they're going to encounter horrible torture or graphic depictions of drug abuse. I guess, I kind of get that if you're reading something for a specific canonical interpretation, you want to read what you want to read and that may mean no slash or no character death. But still.
That said, you get no warnings when you pick up a book. Your best choice is to be proactive and read reviews before reading. But what if you don't want to get spoiled? Isn't that what warnings amount to in the end? But what about those SHOCKING scenes that come out of nowhere in an otherwise harmless book? Or what about those scenes that push the envelope when you were used to something else. Take the scene in Memnoch the Devil. Either you know what I'm talking about or you don't. Why are books the one medium that carry no warning? And while fanfics carry warnings, should original fiction if it's operating in the same realm as professional writing? Should original writers have to warn if they're going to do unpleasant things to their characters before you even read?
Is there a balance that can be established? Is it something that will become more prominent with the advent of the e-book and e-book readers? Should it?
I don't know the answer to most of these questions, but as one who enjoys delving into the darkest of subjects and constantly wonders about the benefits and disadvantages of monitoring the creative world, they are ones that stick with me. I guess for now the saying holds true: You can't judge a book by its cover.
About 100 pages into "The Way of Shadows." Still unsure on Azoth but he's fairly young so he'll have time to grow on me. I'm more interested in the young duke Logan and his magic mentor. Very Arthurian. I like.
"The Way of Shadows" returned me to a previous thought that I never quite expressed in my last discussion on triggers. My opinion as to the necessity of warnings remains unchanged, but I have been doing my best to cut stuff because I don't wish to hurt anyone by omission. Rule of thumb, if it's under a cut, there's a 75 percent chance it contains something objectionable.
Reading this book got me to thinking. We demand warnings on our movies and tv shows. On our video games. On our comics/manga in the U.S. On our music! On our fanfiction. And on our RP logs. The argument is that the written word can carry the same memories as an image and be every bit as intense and disturbing. So should we have warnings on books? I mean, I had no idea going into "The Way of Shadows" that it was going to involve some highly triggering material within the first 30 pages. You don't read fantasy novels and expect child rape. (Note, I am not criticizing the book for including this. I am just using it to pose a query.) It's a little different from picking up a vampire novel and being offended because it includes the gratuitous nonsense most commonly found in the Anita Blake series. You're reading a book about blood-suckers. Anything else is fair game at that point.
But what about those amorphous novels that are just supposed to be slice of life tales or fantasy or sci-fi? Should you expect no-holds-barred out of fantasy? Should you expect rape or prostitution or suicide out of gay novels? How does the reader know what they're getting into and should they?
Fanficcers warn their readers from the start about all of the possible offensive aspects that might await them. I mean, we have warnings for slash. Not gay sex. Slash. Just because we are writing about two guys/gals that express love toward one another. I find this ridiculous. Maybe I don't want to read a story where a girl and boy all of the sudden spend an entire chapter making out (I'M LOOKING AT YOU VAMPIRE KNIGHT), should I be warned of potential het make-out sessions? But then again, people want to know if they're going to encounter horrible torture or graphic depictions of drug abuse. I guess, I kind of get that if you're reading something for a specific canonical interpretation, you want to read what you want to read and that may mean no slash or no character death. But still.
That said, you get no warnings when you pick up a book. Your best choice is to be proactive and read reviews before reading. But what if you don't want to get spoiled? Isn't that what warnings amount to in the end? But what about those SHOCKING scenes that come out of nowhere in an otherwise harmless book? Or what about those scenes that push the envelope when you were used to something else. Take the scene in Memnoch the Devil. Either you know what I'm talking about or you don't. Why are books the one medium that carry no warning? And while fanfics carry warnings, should original fiction if it's operating in the same realm as professional writing? Should original writers have to warn if they're going to do unpleasant things to their characters before you even read?
Is there a balance that can be established? Is it something that will become more prominent with the advent of the e-book and e-book readers? Should it?
I don't know the answer to most of these questions, but as one who enjoys delving into the darkest of subjects and constantly wonders about the benefits and disadvantages of monitoring the creative world, they are ones that stick with me. I guess for now the saying holds true: You can't judge a book by its cover.
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A good question, and one that I had been wondering about myself for a long time. Take, for instance, 'Bridge to Terabitha' - the movie version has a rating/warning, but the book does not. Does this mean "They"[1] assume the book is less upsetting? Do "They" think that less people will read it than see the film? If so, why? I cried over that book when I was a child. :/
[1] "They" being persons reponsible for ratings and warnings (I'm guessing that's mainly the Censor's job?)
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But I don't see why there aren't warnings for dark or graphic subject matter, violence, sex--or sexual violence. (It's actually sort of a peeve of mine that in many movies with rape scenes, the warning is just for sex. NOT THE SAME AT ALL.) I don't think it would be particularly limiting to works to warn for, at least, a certain level of potentially troubling content, so people can be prepared for it in a general sense.
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In this case, the book is about assassins so I assumed graphic subject matter would be involved. But again, child rape is not something one normally associates with assassins. And in some books, again, it might be hard to properly warn because the controversial materials might come without warning and be a crucial plot point. It's a tricky scale.
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Yeah, seriously - what is up with that?! @_@;