Philip Pullman On Censorship And Free Speech
Philip Pullman, addressing an audience at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, was asked about whether his latest book, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, was offensive. Here's his reply:
"It was a shocking thing to say and I knew it was a shocking thing to say. But no one has the right to live without being shocked. No one has the right to spend their life without being offended. Nobody has to read this book. Nobody has to pick it up. Nobody has to open it. And if you open it and read it, you don't have to like it. And if you read it and you dislike it, you don't have to remain silent about it. You can write to me, you can complain about it, you can write to the publisher, you can write to the papers, you can write your own book. You can do all those things, but there your rights stop. No one has the right to stop me writing this book. No one has the right to stop it being published, or bought, or sold or read. That's all I have to say on that subject."
Click here to see the video of Philip Pullman making this quote.
posted by pgenrestories at 2:56 PM
4 Comments:
...and he stormed out of the theatre after this. I didn't notice but I read he came accompanied by security guards (something to do with angry letters about the book). My husband commented it seemed he was really waiting for that question to be asked :D It was a good talk, hope somebody would broadcast the entire thing.
You know what, Catherine? It's really cool that we have you to report first-hand about literary goings-on where you are. :D We wouldn't know things like this if not for you. Thank you very much!
and thank you! Yep, if I had my way I would rather have that for a job - going to all the lit events around here and just writing about them hehe
That would be ideal!
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