No Excuse. Just Read!
Many of us criticize if not condemn China’s suppression of expression and censorship of books, movies and other media. But is the situation here really so bad, or are we just making a big fuss about it showing we are not completely ignorant? Is that an act of a sensible person?
I was reading a special issue of WLT today, focusing on censorships all over the world. And I came across this passage: “Since there are no laws that can protect us from ourselves, no criminal code is capable of preventing a true crime against literature; though we can condemn the material suppression of literature - the persecution of writers, acts of censorship, the burning of books - we are powerless when it comes to its worst violation: that of not reading the book. For that crime, a person pays with his whole life; if the offender is a nation, it pays with its history. ” - Joseph Brodsky 1987 Nobel Prize acceptance Speech.
So is the censorship in China so impenetrable that left out no decent books? I don’t think so. The real problem is we DON’T READ, but not there is nothing worth reading. So if you want to criticize the censorship in China, make sure you do this AFTER you read!!!
Posts
