Christmas can be a book lover's favorite time of year. So many new books, so many reading opportunities. That's how I felt this Christmas. Two books that I received really stood out to me, and those, among others, are going to be discussed within this post.
The first book I received was also a book I gave as a gift: The Paris Orphan. It seemed like a very promising story with an intense plot, and as a World War II geek, I was immediately hooked. So was my younger sister. We both went crazy when we found it at Target, and I managed to slip it into my basket without her detecting it. Christmas morning came around, and my sister was thrilled to find The Paris Orphan under the tree. I was also thrilled to find a copy for myself as a gift from an aunt.
The second book I received for Christmas was one of a set of 6 Jane Austen books: Pride and Prejudice. I had recently watched the movie at a friend's birthday party, and I was dying to know the full story.
Well, I began to read both books a few days after Christmas. I was intrigued by both. Then I reached some parts in The Paris Orphan that were very... passionate. And very inappropriate. Hoping it was a little thing that would pass, I read on. Unfortunately, more "passionate" scenes with very inappropriate adult content kept popping up. Although I hate to get rid of a book I haven't finished, I ended up returning The Paris Orphan because I knew that, as a Christian, I shouldn't be reading these things. I also encouraged my sister to return the book for a more appropriate one, and she readily agreed to return it for a book that was just as interesting and wouldn't pollute her mind.
Luckily, things were different with Pride and Prejudice. There is not a single inappropriate passage. It is a beautiful love story that manages to have love without inappropriate scenes.
What strikes me about these two books is the date they were published. Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813, and The Paris Orphan was published in 2019. There is a 206-year gap between these two books, and it is quite obvious to me that society's standards of appropriate content has changed drastically in that time.
I've found that the more recent a book is, the more inappropriate scenes you can expect to find. For some strange reason, I've found that people nowadays are primarily interested in books with inappropriate affairs or extreme cursing. I've developed a good rule of thumb that works most of the time: If it's on the New York Times Bestsellers list, it probably isn't appropriate. It seems that the best books don't make it on the list. I wonder if that is because they lack the "action" of an inappropriate romance or a story about characters with a clean vocabulary? I wouldn't be surprised if some authors have had to change their books to give them some "action." Hey, what's a bit of suggestive content if it boosts sales? Will a tiny bit of cursing really deter people?
As someone aspiring to become an author, this thinking enrages me. In my opinion, you shouldn't have to change your moral code to boost sales. You should be able to write a clean, appropriate book and have it adored by readers everywhere. Can you imagine what it would be like to have a passionate romance scene in, say, Little Women? It would be outrageous! However, it seems that nowadays, it's practically impossible to find a good book without at least a little bit of cursing in it, or worse.
One of my strongest beliefs is this: If we want the world to change, we have to actually do something about it. Sitting at the kitchen table saying "Woe is me, if only I could find an appropriate book!" isn't going to solve the problem. I'm challenging everyone that reads this post to think about what they read on an everyday basis. Is there a certain author that doesn't seem to avoid those passages that make you want to look away? Then maybe you should stop reading his or her books. It isn't always easy to stop reading a book, especially if it has an interesting storyline, but the best thing for us to do is put the book away and find something appropriate. Society may say that inappropriate books are the only ones worth reading, but I believe we can change society's opinion by voicing our own.