Books Written Before the 1950s

[Anonymous]

It's so hard for me to read a lot of books written during the 1800s and early 1900s because they are so politically incorrect.


They say so many things about women and blacks that would be verboten today. For example, see the ones below:

http://books.google.com/books?id=g2N2AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=prognathous+negro&source=bl&ots=LEHwwQsMG2&sig=91NhnMJ8o6npft_gOIlkjTN4Vm0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KeVuUvuOD4rOkQfO7IHgAQ&ved=0CDIQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=prognathous%20negro&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=A31bAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA274&dq=%22woman's+constitution%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0Ph0UtfLJ4_msATrhYGoBA&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22woman's%20constitution%22&f=false



It's amazing that people once thought such books were appropriate. I'm so lucky to be living in the 21st century, and I'm grateful for the social activism of my predecessors.

[Anonymous]

I am sorry, but I went to those links thinking I would find books such as "Huck Finn," "Tom Sawyer" or even " Uncle Tom's Cabin" because they refer to black people as "niggers."
We might also find Shakespeare. I mean, the "Merchant of Venice" is not exactly PC in its portrayal, of Jews. I am sure that there are many other "non-PC" books that are in the classic literature category. What exactly is your point OP? That such books no longer deserve a reading because they no longer conform to what we consider polite? So called "political correctness" is dangerous when it strays beyond the boundaries of good manners to thought control.

In his classic dystopian novel "Fahrenheit 451" Ray Bradbury described how books were first burned by minorities, "each ripping a page or a paragraph from this book, then that, until the day came when the books were empty and the minds shut and the libraries closed forever."

We ostensibly live in a free society that guarantees freedom of speech. With that comes a concomitant responsibility to listen. It does not mean there is a freedoms to be protected from offense.

"The real world is the playing ground for each and every group, to make or unmake laws. But the tip of the nose of my book or stories or poems is where their rights end and my territorial imperatives begin, run and rule. If Mor­mons do not like my plays, let them write their own. If the Irish hate my Dublin stories, let them rent type-writers. If teachers and grammar school editors find my jawbreaker sentences shatter their mushmilk teeth, let them eat stale cake dunked in weak tea of their own ungodly manufacture. If the Chicano intel­lectuals wish to re-cut my “Wonderful Ice Cream Suit” so it shapes “Zoot,” may the belt unravel and the pants fall."

RIP Ray. You fought the good fight. Thank you for your stories.

[Anonymous]

Seems like the OP is giving thanks for the progress that our society has made.

No reason to beat him/her up.

[Anonymous]

Well evidently if you follow social climbing advice from the 1950s books you can get movie deals with Dreamworks

[Anonymous]

You are eliminating the entire literary canon because you might feel offended? That's ridiculous. I could say I don't want to read Jane Austen because her characters' ultimate goal was to marry well and her novels didn't accurately portray the lives of the servants. I could say I didn't want to read the Constitution because I knew when it said "All men are created equal" the framers didn't really think it was so.

Way to learn. Silly, silly person.

[Anonymous]

Well, actually, the Constitution does not say "all men are created equal." I can see you didn't pay attention in history class or civics. The Consitution does say blacks are 3/5 of a human being.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are eliminating the entire literary canon because you might feel offended? That's ridiculous. I could say I don't want to read Jane Austen because her characters' ultimate goal was to marry well and her novels didn't accurately portray the lives of the servants. I could say I didn't want to read the Constitution because I knew when it said "All men are created equal" the framers didn't really think it was so.

Way to learn. Silly, silly person.

Not sure how you've arrived at this conclusion.

The OP never said all books. She said a lot of books.

[Anonymous]

I think you need to read the stories in context. Mark Twains portrayals are a far cry from Amos & Andy or Step-n-Fetch.

(BTW, PP, Jane Austen's writings are more social satire and commentary on manners and shouldn't be boiled down to characters just wanting to get married.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, actually, the Constitution does not say "all men are created equal." I can see you didn't pay attention in history class or civics. The Consitution does say blacks are 3/5 of a human being.

The premise, not the actual words. Strange nit picker. You get what I'm saying about OP.

[Anonymous]

We need to keep books like that alive, lest we forget where we came from and the progress we have made, and where we could devolve to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to read the stories in context. Mark Twains portrayals are a far cry from Amos & Andy or Step-n-Fetch.

(BTW, PP, Jane Austen's writings are more social satire and commentary on manners and shouldn't be boiled down to characters just wanting to get married.)

That's what I meant. They have value. They shouldn't just be seen that way. Yeesh. But OP is choosing to eliminate reading certain things because she's not seeing the larger picture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need to keep books like that alive, lest we forget where we came from and the progress we have made, and where we could devolve to.

This. And also be aware that even though your little corner of the world may have made progress, many people out there still hold these views.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need to keep books like that alive, lest we forget where we came from and the progress we have made, and where we could devolve to.

OP here:

As much as I hate to say this, I agree with you. Such books serve as a reminder of what we should not repeat.
Otherwise, history has a strange way of repeating itself.

[Anonymous]

Guess the Bible is out for OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Guess the Bible is out for OP.

What makes you say this?