Review by Corybarclay -- The Banned Book about Love
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Corybarclay
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- Latest Review: "The Banned Book about Love" by Scott Hughes
Review by Corybarclay -- The Banned Book about Love
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Banned Book about Love" by Scott Hughes.]
2 out of 4 stars
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The Banned Book About Love, written by Scott Hughes, is really a short story that's about 20 pages long. It was originally titled I Love Brock Turner, but was banned by Amazon after a few days and 1,181 downloads, due to "misinformed complaints from outraged people."
The book is a self-help story of sorts, centering on the trial and conviction of Brock Turner, a college student who received six months jail time after being convicted of drunkenly raping a young woman. The Brock Turner case is a widely-known event that has sparked outrage from many people from around the world, mainly due to the considerably light sentence of the defendant.
Based on the original title of the book, it goes without saying that The Banned Book About Love is very controversial. It is a story that tries to veer people from "self-righteous" hate, or any form of hate, really, and instead prompts people to love unconditionally. It uses Brock Turner's trial as an example of how people follow the mob mentality of hate and outrage, and are therefore hateful themselves. It continues on by telling readers that love is hard and hate is easy--love takes labor and effort to feel, while hate takes nothing to feel.
To me, using Brock Turner as an example of a man to love is a tough sell. Even though the story is well-written, and I can see the value that some people might get from its message (it's not a religious book, mind you), it comes across as somewhat self-indulgent and condescending, just purely based on the content matter of "love versus hate." Scott Hughes also claims to love pedophiles, terrorists, psychopaths, etc.
That being said, Scott Hughes would be the first to admit that it's easy to say you love people, but much harder to practice love. It is definitely a swift, interesting read, but it's backing a cause and idea that is just very hard for me, as a reader and flawed human being, to get behind.
The book talks about alternative methods to incarceration, lighter sentences for non-violent crimes, and rehabilitation. There are six short chapters, the beginning of one starts with this: "I don't mean to minimize what Brock Turner did. That would be beside my point; it would be irrelevant to what I do mean." In my opinion, that is exactly what his book is doing--minimizing what Brock Turner did--but who knows, others may disagree with me.
I rate the book 2 out of 4. It might be useful to some, but not to me, personally.
******
The Banned Book about Love
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2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
The Banned Book About Love, written by Scott Hughes, is really a short story that's about 20 pages long. It was originally titled I Love Brock Turner, but was banned by Amazon after a few days and 1,181 downloads, due to "misinformed complaints from outraged people."
The book is a self-help story of sorts, centering on the trial and conviction of Brock Turner, a college student who received six months jail time after being convicted of drunkenly raping a young woman. The Brock Turner case is a widely-known event that has sparked outrage from many people from around the world, mainly due to the considerably light sentence of the defendant.
Based on the original title of the book, it goes without saying that The Banned Book About Love is very controversial. It is a story that tries to veer people from "self-righteous" hate, or any form of hate, really, and instead prompts people to love unconditionally. It uses Brock Turner's trial as an example of how people follow the mob mentality of hate and outrage, and are therefore hateful themselves. It continues on by telling readers that love is hard and hate is easy--love takes labor and effort to feel, while hate takes nothing to feel.
To me, using Brock Turner as an example of a man to love is a tough sell. Even though the story is well-written, and I can see the value that some people might get from its message (it's not a religious book, mind you), it comes across as somewhat self-indulgent and condescending, just purely based on the content matter of "love versus hate." Scott Hughes also claims to love pedophiles, terrorists, psychopaths, etc.
That being said, Scott Hughes would be the first to admit that it's easy to say you love people, but much harder to practice love. It is definitely a swift, interesting read, but it's backing a cause and idea that is just very hard for me, as a reader and flawed human being, to get behind.
The book talks about alternative methods to incarceration, lighter sentences for non-violent crimes, and rehabilitation. There are six short chapters, the beginning of one starts with this: "I don't mean to minimize what Brock Turner did. That would be beside my point; it would be irrelevant to what I do mean." In my opinion, that is exactly what his book is doing--minimizing what Brock Turner did--but who knows, others may disagree with me.
I rate the book 2 out of 4. It might be useful to some, but not to me, personally.
******
The Banned Book about Love
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Corybarclay's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "The Banned Book about Love" by Scott Hughes
