To: sandbar
Quit with the personal attacks against me and address the argument. In case you've forgotten, I argue that Webb's fiction should not be used as ammunition against him in a political campaign.
There is the exception, of course, should his books be a thinly veiled vehicles intended to advance his political or philosophical views--the authors Ayn Rand and Sinclair Lewis spring immediately to mind--but Webb has a reputation as a serious writer of serious fiction, based largely on his novel, 'Fields of Fire'. He isn't known as a pornographer or--based on any evidence I know of--as a proponent of child molestation.
A writer describing a horrific act or presenting characters who do terrible things does not mean that writer champions those acts or ascribes to the views of the characters he or she creates. Attacking a writer's character on the basis of such scenes, however repugnant those scenes might be to a given reader, or--for that matter-- however badly written, does a disservice to the author, however much one may disagree with his political viewpoint. Go after Webb on the basis of his words and actions as a public and political person, not on the basis of the fiction he writes.
That's the argument I'm making. If you think you can refute it, by all means try.
To: Rembrandt_fan
Attacking a writer's character on the basis of such scenes, however repugnant those scenes might be to a given reader, or--for that matter-- however badly written, does a disservice to the author,Is it necessarily a "disservice" for people to say how they feel about this?
If there's nothing wrong in what Webb has written, why should he mind an honest discussion of his work?
70 posted on
10/26/2006 6:00:16 PM PDT by
syriacus
(LORD, bless the good people of Iraq and our troops AND confound those who plot evil against them..)
To: Rembrandt_fan
If I recall correctly, a certain LAPD detective was completely villified and discredited for having "used" the so-called N-word in the development of a fiction book.
81 posted on
10/26/2006 9:32:38 PM PDT by
AmishDude
(Mwahahahahahahahaha -- official evil laugh of the North American Union)
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