PD US, Wikimedia Commons
By Breason Jacak
Especially among conservative circles, it is easy to see how works published or written longer ago than the current year might come under harsh scrutiny from the editors of large publishing houses. It is not the time to panic just yet. However, with Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming becoming subject to rewrites and censorship as well as large retailers banning certain books from their platforms, it might be time to ponder what books you have been meaning to buy before you either cannot or it has been altered past the author’s intent. Granted, while some of these books are politically controversial, it would be foolish to suppose that any such censorious instincts end at politics or the hot-button topic of the minute.
Therefore, with a focus on literature and entertainment, let’s dive in to four books I’d ask you to consider before to acquire while they are unmolested and purchasable.
- Arthur Machen was a Welsh author who wrote some of the earliest entries of what evolved into the horror genre. The collection here is the Oxford World Classics, which features the Great God Pan and others of his seminal works such as the White People and the Inmost Light. Machen dabbled in esotericism and occultic studies, which seemingly scared him into a High Church Anglican, which lends his stories a definitive air of the sinister, with his Welsh background helping to inform the atmosphere of his works (often taking place in Wales). Mr. Machen these days would not be in good company among modern authors and editors due to his reactionary views, his support of Francisco Franco, and the portrayals of women and the disabled (both physically and mentally). These are works where once you have read them, you will see that not just a few writers in the mid twentieth-century borrowed or were heavily influenced by their author.
- The Barsoom Trilogy (probably known to you as John Carter or the Mars Trilogy) was one of the most influential pulp sci-fi series ever written, leaving its mark on novels and films to this day. The hero of these stories is John Carter: proud Virginian former Confederate cavalry officer who, even on Earth, sought adventure and plied his warrior’s trade not only out of desire for adventure, but also an innate desire to fight and satisfy his sense of honor. You can probably see how this archetypal man could embody toxic masculinity to some. Add his backstory in the American South of the mid-nineteenth century, and it is not hard to see him becoming the target of modern iconoclasts (in spite of the character’s many statements against racism). The first three books are fun, thought-provoking, and filled with imaginative locales and locals.
- The Children of Hurin, by JRR Tolkien, is one of the more controversial works by the esteemed professor. The dust cover states that this is one of Tokien’s earliest Middle Earth creations, with its origins possibly being from his WW1 days. It is not very difficult to see why one would want to obtain the earliest of Tolkien’s work unmolested. On the matter of controversy, not even all Lord of the Rings fans are universal in adoration of this work. To summarize what divides them: there is no happy ending, and good does not necessarily triumph. Nonetheless, the book is a great work of tragedy. If you do not want to support the Tolkien Estate’s questionable decisions, I would advise tracking down a used hardcover.
- M.R. James was an antiquarian by trade, but he is remembered for being a master of the ghost story. Mr. James produced over 30 chilling stories, bringing a then novel interpretation of the ghost story by combining a realistic contemporary setting with supernatural horror. His work has inspired dozens of television programs, radio productions, and films. I am a little surprised at his continued popularity, considering his unflattering opinions on such avant-garde (for his time) writers such as Aldous Huxley, James Joyce, and Radclyffe Hall. This collection seems the easiest way to get all the ghost stories in one volume.