Review by RSDEMARS -- The Banned Book about Love
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RSDEMARS
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- Latest Review: "The Banned Book about Love" by Scott Hughes
Review by RSDEMARS -- The Banned Book about Love
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Banned Book about Love" by Scott Hughes.]
3 out of 4 stars
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The Banned Book of Love by Scott Hughes
Scott Hughes book is a non-fiction short read, that is meant to evoke emotions on what it means to love and hate. The book starts with the controversial court case of Brock Turner who was convicted on three counts; “assault with intent to rape an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object” (Hughes). Turner was only sentenced to six months in jail, which is why this case was controversial. This book in itself is controversial, first available on Amazon but was quickly banned based on its content and when you look at the title of the first chapter, I Love Brock Turner” you can see why. However, if you continue to read the rest the story you will see that Hughes loves Brock as a person not a rapist.
The author works to immediately cause an emotional response by stating he loves Brock Turner but this book is more than that. While we are on that subject of book, this is subjective if it can be called a book as it is more of rant or article and is very short read. Nevertheless, Hughes tries to engage the reader by making them think about what it means to love and hate. He poses this question more as philosopher than a writer.
Hughes arguments are based on the notion that people choose to hate more than love because it easier. That it easy to love a child or person who does great things versus loving someone who has committed a crime like rape. This is an interesting concept as it challenges the conventional thinking, it is our natural reaction to hate a rapist and child molester. Hughes argues that we should love them the same, and uses religious passages along with quotes from Martin Luther King Jr to justify his position.
Where I think Hughes might lose readers is in the style of writing. The front of the book is heavy on love for criminals and it is not till later that he shares his reasoning. Also, as I stated earlier it is more of a rant which is okay but I wonder if this book could have been shorter and still arrived at the same conclusion. He also refers back to earlier passages by saying “remember what I said earlier” which could come off as preachy.
I gave this a rating 3 out of 4 as I believe it does an adequate job when it comes to getting the reader to think about what it means to love. The controversy surrounding this book is undoubtedly from people who judged the book by the title and first couple of pages and it is underserving of the ban that it has received from Amazon and to be honest – prudish would be the word I use. I think this book is a good read for anyone looking for quick philosophical read, not meant to entertain but make you think about how you love and how you hate.
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The Banned Book about Love
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3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
The Banned Book of Love by Scott Hughes
Scott Hughes book is a non-fiction short read, that is meant to evoke emotions on what it means to love and hate. The book starts with the controversial court case of Brock Turner who was convicted on three counts; “assault with intent to rape an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object” (Hughes). Turner was only sentenced to six months in jail, which is why this case was controversial. This book in itself is controversial, first available on Amazon but was quickly banned based on its content and when you look at the title of the first chapter, I Love Brock Turner” you can see why. However, if you continue to read the rest the story you will see that Hughes loves Brock as a person not a rapist.
The author works to immediately cause an emotional response by stating he loves Brock Turner but this book is more than that. While we are on that subject of book, this is subjective if it can be called a book as it is more of rant or article and is very short read. Nevertheless, Hughes tries to engage the reader by making them think about what it means to love and hate. He poses this question more as philosopher than a writer.
Hughes arguments are based on the notion that people choose to hate more than love because it easier. That it easy to love a child or person who does great things versus loving someone who has committed a crime like rape. This is an interesting concept as it challenges the conventional thinking, it is our natural reaction to hate a rapist and child molester. Hughes argues that we should love them the same, and uses religious passages along with quotes from Martin Luther King Jr to justify his position.
Where I think Hughes might lose readers is in the style of writing. The front of the book is heavy on love for criminals and it is not till later that he shares his reasoning. Also, as I stated earlier it is more of a rant which is okay but I wonder if this book could have been shorter and still arrived at the same conclusion. He also refers back to earlier passages by saying “remember what I said earlier” which could come off as preachy.
I gave this a rating 3 out of 4 as I believe it does an adequate job when it comes to getting the reader to think about what it means to love. The controversy surrounding this book is undoubtedly from people who judged the book by the title and first couple of pages and it is underserving of the ban that it has received from Amazon and to be honest – prudish would be the word I use. I think this book is a good read for anyone looking for quick philosophical read, not meant to entertain but make you think about how you love and how you hate.
******
The Banned Book about Love
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like RSDEMARS's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "The Banned Book about Love" by Scott Hughes
