Today I'm asking some questions that I've been wondering about for a while now. Do you mind foul language in a book? When is it warranted? How much is too much? Is the presence of swearing enough to make you stop reading? I rarely read reviews on Amazon, but I've looked at a few recently and was surprised at the number of people that objected to "the F-word" and seemed to judge the book solely by what they considered bad language, without considering characterization, plot, etc.
Here are a couple from A Big Storm Knocked It Over by Laurie Colwin:
I personally love Laurie Colwin's non-fiction food writing along with much of her fiction, and had honestly never thought of her writing as containing much vulgarity. I don't think I would actually read Go the F*** to Sleep by Adam Mansbach to a child, and the book may just be a gimmick, but it clearly expresses what every exhausted parent has thought at some point in their lives. There are plenty of one-star reviews for it on goodreads:
There is an app called Clean Reader that will remove profanity from electronic text. It allows users to search the text, and “put a non-transparent ‘highlight’” over anything potentially offensive. The blanked-out word is replaced with one judged suitably safe. I respect readers' rights and personal preferences, but this sounds dangerously close to censorship to me. E.B. White wrote, “vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.” Holy motherforking shirtballs (this will make sense if you've watched The Good Place), sometimes a good swear word is just what is needed.
I think that including expletives for their own sake is often a sign of poor, sloppy, or immature writing, but sometimes they are necessary to make a point or make dialogue ring true. I respect a reader's right to not read language that offends them, but I'm not prepared to discount a book solely on the basis of bad language. I'm much more offended by bad writing, poor plotting, and weak characterizations. What do you think?
I think words only have as much power as you give them. I am not offended by foul language, but I do sometimes think less of a writer if it seems like they're relying too much on cursing or using it out of laziness. But at the end of the day, they're just words. I am more offended by words that hurt or belittle people.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the F word. I am not a fan, and get tired of hearing it and reading it. However, it has never ever been the deciding factor in whether or not I enjoy a book. It's not a word I use myself, but I realize that every person in the world uses it every day, about a million times. So I'm used to it.
ReplyDeleteAnd frankly, I would fight anyone who criticizes Laurie Colwin to the death. But that's just me. :-)
What other people consider offensive language is frequently not what I would consider offensive language. I agree with Sarah, it is much more offensive to me if I read intentionally cruel text that does not serve the context of the story. Recently, I read A Town Called Alice by Nevil Shute. It's a very old book, but a great one. I highly recommend it. However, there is some racial name calling of some groups of people. The way it is presented is, IMHO, appropriate to the WWII era, and it makes the text more historically accurate. There are people on Goodreads that will not read this book because of that. I just don't forking get that - LOL! You are on a roll, Bonny, with these questions. Keep them coming, they are great for discussion.
ReplyDeleteNot offended. Not a fan of overuse, either.
ReplyDeleteI've run into the same types of reviews regarding profanity and/or sex in movies & series... one boob scene and they're done!
Ha....sometimes a topic like this is a zeitgeist for the times. This is the third time this has come up for me in the past 2 days.
ReplyDeleteI am currently listening to Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson. It's an entertaining, fast moving story, but the F word is used liberally, even by the children in the book. I'm old enough to be part of the culture where this is the worst word that you could use....remember the days of "I'm going to wash your mouth out with soap"? So, I do think it is a generational thing.
Then in Preet Bharara's podcast with Kurt Anderson from last week (just listened to it yesterday). There is a segment about the use of the F word, especially in print, which reinforces my opinion about generational changes.
And now, your post.
My answer to your question would be: It depends. If the use of foul language reflects a coarseness and vulgarity to the whole book's theme and content, then I'm not likely to stick with it. I have trouble reading Jim Harrison books as an example....it seems that the coarseness and vulgarity of the language is a badge of masculinity in his work. No thanks.
But if, as in Nothing to See Here, the language reflects a moment in time of the culture...well, who am I to clutch my pearls and miss out on the rest of the story?
That said, in the past year or so I have found that I cannot read a book with a lot of violence in it, even when it is there to accurately portray the setting of the book. The Shadow King is the most recent one. My book group did it in July and several of us could not finish it because of the depiction of violence in war.
Language is ever-evolving, so even though the f-word was considered to be the worst word ever when I was growing up, I think it has largely lost its power (for me, anyway). There are plenty of generational changes, but sometimes I have to remind my sons that they are speaking to their mother when all I can concentrate on is their language instead of what they are saying. I thought Nothing to See Here was original and intriguing but barely noticed the language.
DeleteI hadn't really thought about violence, and haven't read The Shadow King, but after reading the reviews on goodreads, I am probably unlikely to try it. Violence in real life is difficult, and so is reading about it. My younger son's girlfriend listens to true-crime podcasts, and I still have trouble understanding how these are entertaining. (But, again, it may be a generational thing.) Thank you for your considered and thoughtful reply.
My feelings about foul language are similar to yours. I'm not offended by it, but I don't like overuse of it.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it surprises me how much I can ignore, both in my reading and listening! I have also wondered how some language came to be considered foul, but that's maybe another question for another day. :-)
DeleteI agree with your take on this Bonny. I'm not offended...I do get annoyed when foul language is used in excess. But no censorship please! If you don't like it, don't read it. Plus, in my opinion, when over-used it becomes less impactful. I like your last paragraph and agree.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely not offended! I found it very interesting, though, how many library patrons were offended by the "f word" when audiobooks first became a thing. Books that had been on the shelves for years and no one said a word about them were offensive when people listened to them because of the profanity.
ReplyDeleteA well placed f-bomb always works for me but just like in conversation with someone - enough is enough. I don't believe I would stop reading something because of language. I can say though that there are a few words that I really don't like and when they show up - seemingly unnecessarily in a book it does make me cringe a bit!
ReplyDeleteNot offended at all. The pearl-clutching reviews are a bit bizarre to me, though. I wonder how you even screen for that type of thing when you're choosing a book???? (The best things about books - also TV shows and movies - you can just close the cover or turn them off if you don't like them for any reason at all.)
ReplyDeleteNot offended by this in the least. I am with Kym... those "holier than thou" reviews are not likely people who's review would stop me from reading a book (in fact, it just might spur me on to read it... lol)
ReplyDelete(and I am nodding my head at Kym's "best thing" about books... movies... TV shows... exactly!)
I don't mind an expletive if it belongs in the story. What I don't like is writer's who overuse foul language. Like Sarah I find it lazy and sloppy. Brutality especially when directed against women and children is quite hard for me to read.
ReplyDeletesince I have a salty mouth (who me?) I do not mind language in a book. However I could not read Rowling's The Casual Vacancy because of language and truly awful people. So I guess it depends on the book and the usage.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kym and Kat. If it feels overused I might wonder at the authors abilities, but usually I don't even notice bad words. People will say they couldn't stand all the f-words and I'll wonder what they're talking about! I have a big of a potty mouth and that might be why? LOL
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