the "N" word to be removed from Huck Finn

Not really, no.

But, I'll presume you were being fair (ha ha ha) and realised I was talking in general terms.

Wasn't one e.g good enough for you?

 

You're just a talking box of surprises!

Whatever terms you were talking in, what you said (ie. that people view this censorship as tantamount to a complete banning of Huckleberry Finn) is just not true. It's a ridiculous thing to say.

One might have been, if you'd given me one!

I doubt it though.

 

I did not say that.
I wasn't even talking about how they view this new version.
I meant, some people would like everybody to think because it has been banned in some schools the entire school system has banned it.
Or it is banned but keep the fact it is only banned in some schools on the down-low, as it isn't as bad as giving the impression it has been banned from all schools (regardless of age).
So I was saying some people shout "IT HAS BANNED" but mumble "in some primary schools and some other schools."

That's why I asked you what you meant...

 

Well, why didn't you just say so...

 

Then, there are the people who ignore that this book (and all books) isn't a piece of random driftwood or other 'found' item....

It is a PERSON'S expression of their own thoughts and ideas...

Of course that doesn't matter... What matters is the opportunity to make more money.

 

Right on!! Give 'em hell Tom. :bomb:

 

I did.

 

It should be banned! If the school system deems the language too offense,enough so to change the wording, they might as well just put another book in the curriculum.

 

It wasn't the school system. Jeez have you read this thread?

 

This, along with every other good book, should be put on the "banned" bookshelf in every school library. Perhaps with some sort of punishment for being caught reading them, listed below the word banned.

Every kid in school would be quoting the shit.

 

Twain was a regionalist writer...how is one to fully experience the time and culture in which it was written if expressions of that time and culture are removed? I think it has more power with the word in it...to show to these kids in schools how far we have come, and what it was really like back then.

 

I've read this thread and it made my hair stand on end. It seems that H.Finn is deemed inappropriate for children because of a single word. That thought is just ridiculous and far-fetched. It's never the words that make a book unsuitable for children under a certain maturity level but the concepts and ideas of a book! When children are able to grasp those, they are also ready to hear the words used to describe them.

Banning and censorship of any book work against free speech and author rights. The idea of inappropriateness that lies behind it is even more absurd and potentially dangerous. Fahrenheit 451 comes to mind.

 

Is there a problem with that though? surely if the book is banned because of a single word, then it is better the book is read with the word replaced than to insist that the word remain in the book and therefore condemn it to be banned and unread.
I cant think of a better issue to illustrate the idea that one should not throw out the baby with the bathwater.
I would prefer the word were taken out and replaced so the book could be read in schools

 

To say the book is banned because of a single word is just pointing out how ludicrous such an idea is and how ill conceived the mindset is - that police, and courts and people in positions of authority should be the bottom line arbiter of what we should, or should not be allowed to read.
The ultimate direction this takes literature is that those in authority should have the say-so in what we write and what we are allowed to think.

Should a board be put in place that scrutinizes what we write and supplant it with what we should say - according to those in power. Shall be take out the word evil and replace it with good, black with white, strong with weak - all in the name of a "better, kinder remark." - according to someone - who really knows whom.

The very idea of what stonk has said scare the hell out of me. Perhaps we should replace niggar with a less offensive word - and while we are at it lets replace this word with that work - and these with those - and this concept with that. Perhaps Fahrenheit 451 should be required reading - or at least what is left after offensive thoughts and words are replaced.

God help us if more people think like stonk. +

 

I understand what everyone is saying, that more people will be exposed to the book if the n word is replaced, but I still think its ridiculous. It just shows how incredibly politically correct our society has become. America's history is gritty. Why are we so afraid to expose our teenage population to that grittiness? Why hide what really happened?

 

******.

it's only a word.

 

Stonk's post was sensible and on the money.

What few seem to be keeping in mind is we're talking about one edition among hundreds that is replacing the word "******."

And the reason that one edition is being printed is because the others have already been banned by particular school boards. The kids can't read the other editions containing the word. Which means they can't read Huckleberry Finn - period.

Nobody is arguing that censorship is right. But it exists. No chest-thumping, freedom-touting HF poster can change that. The book is banned in some jurisdictions. Take your indignation out on those to whom it belongs -- folks in those counties who banned it.

My question (and I presume Stonk's) is: Is it better to disallow kids from being exposed to Twain's work altogether, or is it better to allow them to read it with one word changed?

To me, it's a no-brainer. And should be to anyone who truly appreciates literature (while loathing censorship).

 

How confused can you get. You will find that whichever education authority took the books off the curriculum is now allowing them back on the curriculum with a word changed. That education authority will have a political master. Do you think people are so stupid they think this is just some self imposed board? LOL. The people elected the government. If you didnt vote for them TOUGH LUCK!
such an attack as yours might lead people to suspect there is some deeper motive behind your reasoning that goes somewhat deeper than wanting children to be educated.

Either you want children to read books by authors who are worth reading and sacrifice a word for the sake of writing a different word or you want to simply include the word "******" in a book and deprive children of reading it. As you well know its people with ideas like yours that prevented children from reading those books and meanwhile people like you who are old enough to know better are simply making political pawns out of children rather than educating them.

Its ideas like yours that scare the shit out of me. If people like you had got their way we would still have a bible written in Latin and people would be murdered for daring to suggest it should be translated to English. As happened back in history. Also I expect you think Chaucer should be read in the original "Old English" that he wrote in, and if people had your way nobody would be able to translate a word from one language to another incase it should be impossible to translate a word exactly and the authors had to make a decision based on their best educated guess. LOL 2/10 try harder, language changes and so do words. There are many things that are political regarding the words they use including most translations and revisions of the bible. IT IS YOU THAT ARE ANTI EDUCATIONAL NOT ME
Its you that wants to throw the baby out with the bath water

what do you care more about - people reading huckleberry finn and enjoying it and getting the idea of what it was about, or saving the word "******" and depriving the children of a true education in a book?
I am certain that a 10 year old reading huckleberry finn will enjoy it just as much whether the book contains the word ****** or not, perhaps you could teach them what the word means after school finishes. Add a little venom to it when you do so they understand it oh so well !

 

Those gosh darn slavers

 

Your literature-loving no-brainer answer has just one flaw. Unfortunately it is a rather major one: it's a bad compensation and might soon become common practice, while the fundamental problem (book banning) will continue to be ignored.