[embeccy]

"She prayed to be swallowed into the earth and perhaps reborn as a tree, where the only thing she would be expected to do was grow."

- Hannah Nicole Maehrer

[cam1lla]

“Authors should not be ALLOWED to write about–” you are an anti-intellectual and functionally a conservative

“This book should be taken off of shelves for featuring–” you are an anti-intellectual and functionally a conservative

“Schools shouldn’t teach this book in class because–” you are an anti-intellectual and functionally a conservative

“Nobody actually likes or wants to read classics because they’re–” you are an anti-intellectual and an idiot

“I only read YA fantasy books because every classic novel or work of literary fiction is problematic and features–” you are an anti-intellectual and you are robbing yourself of the full richness of the human experience.

[moonshinemagpie]

"you are functionally a conservative" is such a good and clarifying insult

Literally right after I saw this post, I saw another post in a discord chat for BOOK EDITORS in which an outspokenly liberal editor talked about how Nabokov should have never been published because he wrote about p*dophiles and described women's bodies in ways that made her uncomfortable. She described his writing as "objectively terrible" and said she wanted to burn his books. And other editors were bringing up classics they didn't like and talking about how they wanted to throw them in the trash. This wasn't like a light "unpopular opinion!" conversation. This was actual book editors talking about how books should be destroyed and censored.

There is something so scary and toxic in global culture right now. The revival of fascism is influencing everyone's mindset and approach to art, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum.

I see far more books being censored today than when I was a kid. Librarians handed me The Catcher in the Rye, The Sexual Politics of Meat, and Animal Farm when I was literally 8-11. My mom would never have taken a book away from me. I read everything from the Tao Te Ching to the Qur'an to atheist texts under my desk at school. Teachers thought nothing of it or encouraged it. Books seemed universally acknowledged as sacrosanct to me.

Now I can't find any adults who don't hesitate or want to make exceptions when it comes to censorship. Even the most liberal social activist librarians I know go, "well except for book X..."

Functionally conservative. It's so important to have the language to express that.

[cam1lla]

Thank you for this addition!

[cricketcat9]

And, following up on the previous post …

“This makes me uncomfortable” is NOT a valid reason for censorship

These fucking book editors should remove themselves from the profession ASAP 😡

[prismatic-bell]

The only reason a book should be removed, the ONLY reason, is “we are keeping it in the restricted section for research because its only intended function is to cause harm.”

And to be clear, when I say this, I’m talking about shit like To Train Up A Child and The Protocols of Zion. One is a text responsible for the deaths of multiple children because it’s an abuse how-to, and the other is entirely fabricated “protocols” from a group that never actually existed but is claimed to represent all Jews, and it’s basically one long antisemitic screed.

And even these should be available. Just. Not where they’re gonna be used to start a white supremacist cult.

[speaklolita]

[prewars]

New York Magazine

[cuppatealove]

Oh these are lovely! Posts about hilariously bad punctuation become depressing after a while. How joyful to celebrate the witty and masterful!

[myjetpack]

No cartoon from me in today’s @guardian so here’s one from the archive. Also, my book REVENGE OF THE LIBRARIANS is out now and makes a good gift. Details at www.tomgauld.com

[hashtagloveloses]

no like it's fine im ok im normal im well

[sportsnarrative]

Sparknotes does social media a bit too well

[skullvis]

When you understand that kids and teenagers being salty about literary symbolic analysis comes from a very real place of annoyance and frustration at some teachers for being over-bearing and pretentious in their projecting of symbolism onto every facet of a story but you also understand that literary analysis and critical thinking in regards to symbolism is extremely important and deserves to be not only taught in schools, but actively used by writers when examining their own work to see if they might have used symbolism unintentionally and to make sure that they are using symbolism effectively:

[cartel]

me: *displays affection by giving you links to posts i think are relevant to your interests*

[beachgothgay]

The ides of March is coming up what’s everyone getting me?

[emperor-ing-deactivated20191108]

[im-a-fully-realized-creation]

[sixmonthsandgone]

“Why do you read so much?”

[femalerustcohle]

this dudebro in my english class said that ophelia deserved to die because “she led hamlet on” and my teacher threw her book against the wall

[sparkledeactivated-deactivated2]

your teacher’s aim sucks

[stumupm]

Dr Seuss: ‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more!’

Illumination:

[quantummindclassicalheart]

Then they got an idea! An awful idea! THE BRANDS GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA! All the marketers thought, “Why should tickets suffice? With the Grinch selling knick-knacks, why, we’ll be paid twice!”

Forget all the morals! There’s cash to be made. From frosting to forklifts to Grinch Gatorade! Just slap his face on there and tint it with green And prepare for profits, yes, profits obscene!

From a seasonal, festival holiday grump, The Grinch had been played for a capital chump. “No more! Won’t you forget these trinkets?” he pleads. “Christmas isn’t junk! It’s your bonds and your deeds.”

For a moment, they paused. Was there more to this day Than products and placements and big bonus pay? The PR men sniffed and they shrugged and they sighed. Then they threw him some cash and they went back inside.

[stumupm]

You win best addition to my post

[verylostpenguin]

Personally I love books that put the footnotes at the bottom of the page instead of at the end of the book so that I don’t have to keep flipping back and forth like an absolute barbarian

[ourhiddenworld-deactivated20210]

I thought it’d said like an absolute librarian for a second and honestly? That made more sense.

[imthemuthafuckingcricket]

What up, I’m Fitzwilliam Darcy, I’m 28 and I never learned how to fucking talk to women

[duetly]

@drearncatcher37

[shrlockstrk-deactivated20180822]

What I mean when I say I like a villain:

I like their story

I like their motivations

I like their skills/powers

I like their intelligence

I like their quotes

I find them interesting

I like their relationship with other character(s)

What I definitely don’t mean when I say I like a villain:

“They’re just misunderstood”

I’m defending every single one of their actions and I think they’re 100% innocent

I’m a dumbass who doesn’t know that they’re a villain

[housmania]

Tip: This Valentine’s Day, don’t be romantic. Be Romantic! Recite Lord Byron on the edge of a barren cliff! Feel the gusts of the thunderstorm blow through your hair as you sob! Become a reclusive poet who trusts no one and is only seen at 2 am, wandering half-dressed through the streets and muttering in Old High German! Drown your lonely heart in laudanum and die at age 34 of tuberculosis, martyrdom in a small and ill-fated revolution, or wasting away from a disease that makes you look wan but poetic! Forget “forever alone”: You’ll always have your haunting past, your wasted ambitions, and the melancholy of a life unlived to keep you company!

[leethompkins-old-deactivated202]

im always so self concious about writing dialogue bc im always like “does this sound ok. would this character rlly say this. is it worded correctly???” and for absolutely nothing bc riverdale is out here making millions just by repeatedly smashing the predictive text button