As with lots of #goldenagecrimefiction we need to wrestle with how to deal with reading work with historically acceptable ( be some!) but contemporary repugnant language and views. There‘s lots of ways to deal with this - and some interesting current debates around it. Any thoughts…….
AmyG I think it was just the times that the book was written. I am always taken aback, though. 9mo
Mitch @AmyG it really jars on the page and floods me with disappointment an a level of guilt for ready and enjoying. I do appreciate the introductions to some of these reissued books that give context and opinion on these issues 9mo
AmyG Yes, I appreciate that, too. But i am still amazed at the blatant racism of the “upper class”. 9mo
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lauraisntwilder I got an old copy online, so no introduction. There was one line that literally made me say, "Whoah!" outloud. I think there's a truthfulness to the fact that the racist characters aren't seen as villains, as they would be in contemporary fiction. The fact that it was commonplace is part of what makes it so hard to read now. 9mo
kwmg40 These aspects make me very uncomfortable too, but I accept them as commonplace for the times in which the books were written. What I find even more horrifying is rereading some of my Golden Age favourites and realizing that I myself didn't notice anything problematic when I'd first read the books decades ago! 9mo
Ruthiella My book was a reprint from 1985 and had no introduction. I‘ve read a lot of Christie, however, and expect those attitudes when reading books like this. Still jarring-especially when the murder victim allegedly deserved their fate because their behavior was “immoral”. 🙄 9mo
jlhammar Yeah, there were some real doozies in here! Can't escape without usual racism, classism, sexism, etc. I know to expect it, but still can't help but find it a little shocking that readers (& writers) at the time wouldn't have thought a thing of it. I think how the women were spoken about was particularly appalling. I mean, Linda Campbell didn't seem like a great person or anything, but the whole minx-who-had-it-coming thing was rather off-putting. 9mo
quietjenn I pretty much go into these things kind of expecting that they'll be elements that I find jarring and objectionable, but were likely very realistic of their time. I think the most noteworthy things is just how common and casual it all was. 9mo
batsy Agreed, so much of golden age detective fiction and even modernist literature are rife with these issues. Sometimes it's overt and sometimes it's more subtle. 9mo
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