And Why Should It Have?

Oliver and his publisher, Penguin Random House UK (PRH UK), have conceded to Guardian Australia that no consultation with any Indigenous organisation, community or individual took place before the book was published.

It's a children's fantasy novel. Why on earth should anyone have to consult anyone before publication? Except maybe a test audience of children, to see if they like it?

But let the reflexing cringing begin!

“I am devastated to hear I have caused offence and wholly apologise for doing so,” Oliver said in a statement to the Guardian. “I am listening and reflecting and working closely with my publisher on next steps.”

Oh, good grief, man, show some balls and tell the race grifters to fuck off! 

PRH UK also issued a statement saying it apologised unreservedly.

“Penguin Random House UK publishes this work and takes responsibility for the consultation, or what we would call an authenticity read of the work,” the statement said. “It was our editorial oversight that this did not happen. It should have and the author asked for one and we apologise unreservedly.”

And that's why you will be forever beholden to these charlatan activists! 

Neither author nor publisher has committed to withdrawing the book from sale, however, a move Natsiec said must happen immediately to rectify the harm caused. The body’s chief executive, Sharon Davis, said the book perpetuated harmful stereotypes, trivialised complex and painful histories and “ignores the violent oppression of First Nations people, raising serious concerns about the cultural safety of First Nations readers – especially young people”.

If your 'young people's' safety is compromised by reading a book, then their parents have failed them. 

Davis said such errors exposed the author’s “complete disregard for the vast differences among First Nations languages, cultures, and practices”, while the book’s reduction of First Nations beliefs and spirituality to “magic” was “a longstanding stereotype that diminishes our complex and diverse belief systems”.

Readers are invited to ponder the chutzpah here, give the furore over the Aboriginal Telescope that David Thompson highlighted. 

Dr Anita Heiss, a Wiradyuri author and publisher-at-large at Simon & Schuster’s First Nations imprint, Bundyi Publishing, said Oliver’s book confirmed what she had been advocating for over many years. “First Nations peoples need to be involved at every stage of the process from acquisitions to editorial, to sales and marketing. Only then will our stories be told with the complete respect they deserve,” she said in a statement. “There is no space in Australian publishing (or elsewhere) for our stories to be told through a colonial lens, by authors who have little if any connection to the people and place they are writing about.”

It's called 'fantasy' for a reason! Do  we have to strap Neal Asher to the next one of Musk's rockets so  he can write about sci fi? Lock Stephen King in a haunted house in Maine so he can write more horror? 

No, of course not. 

Creeping Wokism

It's really creeping in everywhere, now. Reading a review of 'The Rings Of Power' in an online blogsite from the US publisher Tor books, I came across these examples:

Bear in mind I'd come here to have a read of what someone else thought of a fantasy tv show, in a fantasy literature-focussed online magazine. 

I'd expected critique of the writing, direction and faithfulness to the source material. But instead, I got the same old tired woke nonsense I get from everywhere else. 

Which is probably why, scanning down any list of new sci-fi or fantasy literature coming out, especially ones for the 'young adult' audience, the words 'queer' or 'trans' leap out at you. A lot. 

A culture that can't breed new members must, after all, find a way to recruit them.

Which Schools, Joanne..?

Harris, who taught in an all-boys school for 15 years, said “the way we educate our children” must change if we wanted to see fewer crimes against women. 

She said: “We have to stop girls being apologetic when they have done nothing wrong. We have to stop boys being entitled when they’re actually not entitled to have more than anybody else. We’ve got to stop teaching them differently as teachers, that will help a lot.

“Also we’ve got to stop giving them the message that it’s wrong for a boy to read books about girls. Because even schools are giving them this message. And this is where the problem happens, where women’s voices are perceived as less.”

I mean, if you don't name any (and in these modern times, what school would dare give such a message?) we might think you're just talking absolute bollocks, mightn't we? 

 

 

As Cults Go, It's Rather Innocuous....

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett on the latest thing that makes you one of the 'smug middle classes':

The big book purge began when I decided to go through the shelves and discard any book I was vaguely embarrassed to have in the house, for reasons of quality, subject matter, politics or author (look at your shelves and you probably have your own equivalents). Since then, I’ve been jettisoning them every few months with no regrets. Only twice have I needed to look something up in a book I’ve thrown away, and rebought a cheap secondhand copy.

Budgeting in her household must be fun... 

The poster shows a cat and bears the slogan: “THAT’S WHAT I DO, I READ BOOKS, I DRINK TEA AND I KNOW THINGS.” Apologies if you own this poster, but to me it encapsulates everything that is smug and middle class about the cult of book ownership. I don’t mean reading – provided you’re lucky enough to still have a local library, that is a pastime that is accessible to almost everyone. No, I specifically mean having a lot of books and boasting about it, treating having a lot of books as a stand-in for your personality, or believing that simply owning a lot of books makes one “know things”.

God, the 'Guardian' really is an awful rag, isn't it?