Here is a selection of pieces from the world’s literary pages this weekend.
Writing in the New York Times, Michiko Kakutani lambasts the decision to remove the word ‘nigger’ from Mark Twain’s anti-slavery classic, Huckleberry Finn.
‘Haven’t we learned by now that removing books from the curriculum just deprives children of exposure to classic works of literature? Worse, it relieves teachers of the fundamental responsibility of putting such books in context — of helping students understand that “Huckleberry Finn” actually stands as a powerful indictment of slavery (with Nigger Jim its most noble character), of using its contested language as an opportunity to explore the painful complexities of race relations in this country. To censor or redact books on school reading lists is a form of denial: shutting the door on harsh historical realities — whitewashing them or pretending they do not exist. Mr. Gribben’s effort to update “Huckleberry Finn” (published in an edition with “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by NewSouth Books), like Mr. Foley’s assertion that it’s an old book and “we’re ready for new,” ratifies the narcissistic contemporary belief that art should be inoffensive and accessible; that books, plays and poetry from other times and places should somehow be made to conform to today’s democratic ideals. It’s like the politically correct efforts in the ’80s to exile great authors like Conrad and Melville from the canon because their work does not feature enough women or projects colonialist attitudes.’
Jane Gardam has revisited Old Filth; she tells the Guardian what it means to have been one who Failed In London, Tried Hong Kong.
“Empire is what the book’s about, really. When I was young and the empire was beginning to disintegrate, the idea was absolutely unbelievable, particularly to children who’d been taught that the sun never set . . . that’s what all my books are about, the end of empire.”
An almost old Rose Tremain talks to the Telegraph’s book club about her latest novel, Trespass.
“I don’t think it’s this book that has made me look back on my own life particularly. I have always looked back. But there is this tendency when you reach the age that these people are, and I am, to see the shape of your life and to ask: have you done the right thing, loved the right people, done what you set out to do. “You do the additions. You don’t before – there is so much future to make things right. Time exists in which to make amends, or indeed to forgive the people who need forgiving, which in a way is what this book is driving towards.”
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