Does what you believe influence what you read? To what extent?
This question has been prompted by the controversy surrounding the release of the movie version of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game as a result of Mr Card’s outspoken opposition to homosexuality. I haven’t read the book or seen the movie, but as far as I’m aware there is no opposition to homosexuality in the pages of the story itself, but the controversy has arisen because of the views he has aired publicly through other media.
I don’t want this blog to become yet another forum for debating homosexuality, so if you are commenting here, please do NOT comment on that subject. What I am asking is this: how far does what an author believes in their private lives influence your decision on whether or not to read their book, especially if it’s clear that their personal beliefs do not appear on the pages of what they have written?
I think what an author believes will always influence his/her writing to a certain extent. After all, we are a product of our beliefs. They affect our lives. That’s why we have them. However, I wouldn’t necessarily refuse to read a book written by someone who is an atheist, for example (and I have probably read many of them!) just because my views on the existence of God differs from theirs. Of course, if the book has blatant themes that I disagree with, I will probably avoid it, as it is likely to make me angry, but sometimes reading someone else’s opinion on something, even if it’s only through the pages of their novel, can create greater understanding of differing points of view. After all, we are all people, even though we hold different points of view on sensitive subjects. I think this fact often gets lost in the passion for our causes, but I think trying to see others’ points of view can be helpful in creating a better understanding of each other.
I’ve read many books by authors’ with different views and values to my own. I believe this is one of the positives of reading books – developing an understanding of others who think differently from oneself and with whom you may well not agree on many issues.
Even if I decided to personally boycott an author because of such differences, I would be very wary of any public campaign to boycott a movie or book – unless perhaps it openly expressed detrimental attitudes or opinions that was likely to incite harm to others.
I think this is a worrying trend – to silence people with different opinions of your own – especially when the person targeted is no longer part of that public debate nor does his/her work address the issue in question one way or another.
I have sometimes cut short a reading because the ‘mood’ and temper of the book offends me. The views of an individual character may not be acceptable, but if there are other characters who provide balance in the story line I would accept the story as a portrayal of a section of the community that is different to my own. There have been occasions when I have refused to read a second title of the same author when I have found his/her personal lifestyle imposes unpleasantantly in the book. That is my prerogative as a reader. But I would not embark on a public campaign against the author or his/her work.
Does what I believe influence what I read? Yes and no.
I haven’t read Fifty Shades of Grey, and I have no intention of doing so. I’ve read several reviews from people I trust (mostly non-Christians), and I’m satisfied that I’m not missing anything by not reading it. And there are thousands of other books I don’t want to read because of their content.
What you are talking about is boycotting a book because of a personal issue with what the author believes.
Again, I’m in two minds about this. This subject is behind the last big shakeup on Goodreads, where they removed dozens of reviews that were supposedly about the author, not the book.
One view is the personal beliefs of the author shouldn’t make a difference to whether or not we want to buy and read their books.
The opposing view is that buying their books is putting money in their pocket, and people have the right to choose who they do and don’t support financially.
The examples given are plagiarists or authors with criminal convictions for murder and paedophilia (or, in one case, whose husband was convicted of paedophilia. Court reports show she knew it was happening and did nothing to stop it). Then there are the general “badly-behaved authors”, the ones who pick fights with reviewers.
One well-known author is currently active on the Amazon US discussion forums, sharing her views about reviewers (in summary, anyone who gives her books less than five stars on Amazon is an embittered amateur and shouldn’t have reviewing privileges). No, I’m not going to be buying or reading her books in the near future.
But these cases are outliers. For the most part, I don’t think an author’s personal beliefs impact on whether or not I will read their books, as long as they can write a good story that hooks me. Because, like you, I like to understand how other people think, and reading a novel is a good way of doing this.
Good thoughts, people!