Win a Free Copy of James Jones' Newly Restored "From Here to Eternity"

NO! NEVER!!!

Not in this for the contest, but IT IS "NOT" OKAY TO CENSOR BOOKS!!! Those who 'censor books' can't take the 'reality of life' as it is! They live inside a little bubble where everything has to be perfect! There is NOTHING wrong with the book 'From Here to Eternity'! What is wrong with the TRUTH? I feel people who want to 'censor books' like to stay living inside a little 'perfect bubble' and be happy by withholding the TRUTH of life! I will take life on as it IS! UNCENSORED!! My kids WILL read UNCENSORED books! WHY would I hold back the TRUTH from them??? They NEED to know life as it IS! They need to enter life as an adult FULLY aware of what is out there and what history is. I don't care WHO is offended by what words are used to describe whatever is needed. Why? When the books are written, they are written in the 'times' that it took place. THOSE WORDS DESCRIBE WHAT REALLY WENT ON DURING THAT TIME! So some people can't take it? MY ANSWER: DON'T READ THEM!

Books shouldn't be censored!!

No. It is never okay to censor books.

I don't think it is ever ok to censor books. I think you have the freedom to read what you want to. garrettsambo@aol.com

Obviously, the freedom of speech we have in America may be the number one greatest thing about our country, and censorship is (in many cases) a direct attack on that freedom. I think we always have to look at it in context of the time period and the situation. It's easy for us to look back now and say censoring Jones' novel was a disservice to him as an artist, but maybe the book would have gotten too much negative press and not been as popular otherwise. Maybe it wouldn't have been published at all. Today, where an artist in America has more freedom of expression, I bet you still find publishers asking writers to tone down violence, sex, etc., especially if the book is meant for a large audience. I personally don't think ratings or warnings work at all and I think many people are conditioned to ignore them at this point. And then there's the Internet, where children can be exposed to just about any scene of graphic violence or pornography that the human mind can imagine. Your response might be "there are filters to stop them seeing that," but you know as well as I that they have friends without the filters, even if you have them, and how old should a child be before we stop "censoring" them? I think an author in our country always has a choice (and today that includes self-publishing) about whether or not they want to censor part of their work. Remember, even then, it wasn't the government censoring his book, it was the publisher, and you might argue Jones could have taken his work elsewhere. For whatever reason, he didn't, but I do think it's great to be able to see a novel as it's meant to be and be able to compare it to the originally published text.

No censorship. I would very much like to read this edition. Thanks for the opportunity. GLTA

I'm a little ambivalent about the new "From Here To Eternity." On the one hand, James Jones clearly was upset by the decision to expurgate his work. On the other, he agreed to the cuts and lived for a quarter-century after its publication and didn't try in his lifetime to restore the cuts. So should we abide by that decision?

Books should never be censored. Parents can decide what is ok for their children but adults should be able to decide for themselves. Censorship of a book isn't freedom of speech and we are all entitled to freedom of speech.

I don't think books should be censored it takes away their value and meaning cookster77@aol.com

I've long believed that the only acceptable censorship is whatever parent choose to impose on their own children; there's no place for censorship by governments. If a book, essay, or other creative work is censored, then no one gets the chance to read it.

A book should never be censored; choose to read it or not and, likewise, leave that option for others.

Books should not be censored because people should have the right to think and choose for themselves. If a book offends you, don't read it, but we can learn from differing opinions and points of view. By censoring books, you are not giving people the opportunity to think for themselves.

I think censorship can create more problems than it aims to solve. Certainly there is subject matter which can be inappropriate for certain audiences, but as a society, we have established several working models to help people determine whether exposure to information is deemed "safe" or not... Take the ratings for video games...

No.

No. Keep the originals. We cannot learn from our past if we alter it. Future generations cannot understand, or appreciate, how the nation has developed and what has or has not worked without constructively learning from our past.

I didn't even know books could be censored until I was a sophomore in high school. I understand creating censored versions as an option for younger audiences, but completely removing sections of a book completely goes against creative expression and free press. Hail to the originals!

no i'm a strict believer in the constitition (if you don't like it dom't read it) mverno@roadrunner.com