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Books have a way of wrecking a person’s life. Well, okay, not wrecking, that’s far too strong. Ruin maybe. Well, no not ruin either. Let me try again. Books have a tendency to keep a person from being settled in her opinion of things. The opposite could be true too, books could serve to always confirm a person’s opinions and beliefs. I guess it all depends on what sorts of books a person reads. For me, the first one tends to hold sway.
Most recently my opinion of Andrea Dworkin has been ripped to shreds. I am reading a book of essays called Icon edited by Amy Scholder to review for Library Journal and I just finished an essay in it by Johanna Fateman on Andrea Dworkin. I can’t say that I have ever read Dworkin. I have read bits and pieces, passages, quotes, never an entire book of hers. By the time I came along to college and took a women’s literature class, Dworkin had already pretty much been written off by feminists because of her anti-porn and, purported, anti-sex, stance. I wasn’t especially concerned with porn, but when you are twenty, the thought of being anti-sex, even if you weren’t having any, was preposterous. So I wrote off Dworkin too as a kooky feminist who had gone way too far. I was all, feminism yay! But I just didn’t see the reason it had to go to such extremes.
But this Fateman essay is forcing me to re-evaluate my opinion of Dworkin. To be sure she did go way out there, but she had reasons. And now, from the perspective of 20+ years, I can also understand that sometimes one needs to go to extremes in order to get any sort of attention on an issue that people don’t think is a problem or refuse to believe is anything to be concerned with.
And did you know Dworkin wrote novels? A couple of memoirs? And some supposedly excellent literary criticism? I certainly had no idea. And now this (not) stupid essay has made me want to go and dig some of those things up, especially the criticism, to discover for myself just what made her so known and influential before everyone turned on her.
If I hadn’t agreed to review this book for Library Journal, and if there hadn’t been an essay in it about Dworkin then I could still be going on my merry way with not a thought about the woman. But now, blast it all, I am not going to be able to let it go. I will have to investigate further. Darn books, why can’t you just let me be ignorant? I don’t have time for this. Books have to go an ruin everything.
In reading a book, I believe it is essential to ignore the author, and focus on the book. Some books by the same author are better or worse than others. I find this true of many writers. What matters is THE BOOK.
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Richard, in the case of Dworkin it is impossible to ignore her, the books and the person are intertwined. She had an agenda and she is not going to let you forget what it is in person or in writing. Definitely every author has some books that are better than others, a sad but true thing 🙂
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Books are like that. Every time you think you’re out, they reel you back in.
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Jenny, I know, sneaky books!
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Yeah, I know. Books are pesky things, aren’t they. And your revelation about Dworkin reminds me of my opinion about my parents, to wit: as I got older, they got smarter. Who knew? Will be interested to read further as your investigation continues!
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Grad, oh you made me laugh! The manner in which the intelligence of parents fluctuates is alarming. First they are like gods, they know everything, then they suddenly don’t know anything, and eventually they settle down somewhere in the middle and we manage to forgive them for it. 🙂
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Oh!!! I know how you feel….I mean we go through life with this whole set opinion and then suddenly we read something and Yikes!!! Time to re-evaluate!! I have never read Dworkin…let me know how you find her work and I will follow suit!!!
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In a world where Beyonce is about as far out as feminism gets I admire the guts and edge of Andrea Dworkin. As you say she had reasons for her rather dogmatic puritanism (she seems a very American figure). I have not read much of her work and I would probably not agree with a lot of her opinions but feminism needs to disturb complacency.
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Ian, oh you made me laugh with your Beyonce remark! Dworkin did have courage, she definitely has to be allowed that. I think you are right that she is a very American figure. It will be interesting to see if her ideas are dated or whether they still hold up.
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cirtnecce, how dare a book make me re-evaluate! 😉 I will definitely let you know about Dworkin though when I am possibly going to be able to fit her into my reading pile I have no idea.
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Now blog posts are forcing me to reevaluate, darn blogs! To me Dworkin was just a name in a list of feminists, now you’re telling me she’s actually a real person with a life and some reasons behind her opinions? Oh my. Tell us about your exploration!
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Smithereens, LOL. If it’s any consolation, blog post make me reevaluate sometimes too! Just from the little bit of biography I got from the essay Dworkin did not have an easy life, raped when she was young and an abusive marriage, it’s no wonder she had some of the opinions she did.
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Oh, but so much better than to settle with an initial opinion and never question, never research, never evaluate, never evolve!
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Jenclair, I am in complete agreement with you!
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Am I showing my age, my ignorance or both? I am going to have to go and look Dworkins up to find out anything about her at all. 😦
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Alex, Dworkin is very American, was out there in the 70s and 80s. She did publish in the UK though too so you could probably find here stuff at a library. Sadly, it seems much of it is out of print.
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This is an interesting stream of thought, I mean — how books ruin everything. As you mentioned, it’s sort of a wrong way of saying what you are really meaning. For me, the way I would put it is that books tend to send me off in twenty different directions, studying and cross-referencing not only their subject matter, but also, finding out more about the authors themselves. This obsession eats up eons of time for me. Books make me overly curious is what I am saying. To a maddening degree, almost. If I am reading a novel about the Holocaust [for instance] — I begin to study tons of other resources about that issue. Or, as in the novel I am reading today, that explores the problems of illegal Mexican immigration — I get all immersed in finding out more about that. Or, as I said — even the authors themselves — I end up exhausting everything I can learn about them on places like YouTube etc.
It’s incredibly time-consuming, extra-peripheral work. And I can’t help but do it!
It’s not so much that they “ruin” anything, but they absorb much more of my time than the initial reading.
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Cipriano, overly curious, yes! But can one be too curious? I suppose that depends on whether or not your life is like a thriller or spy novel. And if your time was not taken up with all the things that book lead you to, what else would you be doing? I’m not sure I’d be using my time for anything better 🙂
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Boy, they do–books have ruined me as well. I have never read Dworkin, wasn’t even sure what she was all about, but your post intrigues me. She sounds interesting and sort of polarizing–will have to look her up now.
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Danielle, it’s a good way to be ruined, right? 🙂 Yes, Dworkin is a very polarizing figure. Now that I have access to her books, I am trying to figure out when I might be able to start reading!
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I once said I hated Irises when my friend said they were the most stunning flower in the world, and she loved Van Gogh’s painting of them. I disliked the painting at first very much. Years passed, and I got a garden. My mother gave me – Irises to plant in it! Irises! I took them because they were free. Lo, the next year when they bloomed, their soft petals delighted my soul, and delicate colours, and fierce desire to be seen. a flower like none other. I love them now. And when I look at Van Gogh’s painting, I understand it much better. Maybe you weren’t ready for Dworkin then, but are now 🙂
I’m just happy we have books and art so that there is always the chance to learn, and recover from our initial judgements! 🙂 Thanks for making me laugh, as ever, Stefanie.
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Susan, oh what a wonderful story about irises! And in the service of making a good point too! 🙂 What would we do without books or art to teach us and help us see anew?
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