Comments on: Censorship in Greenville

By: johnofjack

johnofjack — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 22:00:50 +0000

I’ve read that book and would agree that it’s disgusting. I’d go one further and say that it’s genuinely shocking. Luckily no one had me at gunpoint forcing me to read it, or to recommend it, or even to discuss it.

The book undoubtedly has literary merit. It tackles the racism and insinuations of sexual perversion throughout Lovecraft’s work and makes them both explicit, and the comic works as a story as well as a commentary on Lovecraft’s stories. I would gladly defend it on a challenge committee. Our job as librarians is to put aside whatever personal distaste we may or may not have for a work and to defend and encourage free speech.

James decided to remove this book because she objected to its content. That is clearly censorship, and clearly inappropriate.

By: Jo

Jo — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 22:05:10 +0000

You know, now, that Greenville’s going to have a run of interlibrary loan requests for Neonomicon. Just sayin’ …. there’s nothing like a bit of scandal to stir up interest in a book.

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 17:57:17 +0000

I wonder what kind of precendent this sets in Greenville. Also, if the fact it was a graphic novel influenced the decision any. I could see, from a certain perspective, how violence/sex in pictures is different from violence/sex in print.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 09:11:22 +0000

You know, I used to help people access websites that I found disgusting: The people running them didn’t cavil at lies and innuendo that I thought were out of place in civil discourse. On a regular basis, I also run across books in the collection that I believe to be out-of-line, disgusting, and seriously lacking in any kind of literary merit. And yet I do my job and help patrons with the likes of Ann Coulter and her ilk.

I haven’t read the book that was the subject of this story, but I suspect that what matters most to me is that I could if I wanted to — in some other library. The director’s actions contradicted the library’s own collection development policy. Personally, I think that should be grounds for termination. But she’ll probably get some kind of good-dog award from the local censorship group. Used to go to Greenville all the time when I lived in Georgia. If this is what passes for considered evaluation, I’m just as happy to not have to go there again.