In The Age today, Clare Cannon believes that young adult readers are unable to engage with the moral complexity of The Hunger Games as well as she can, a view which I should think anyone who's ever been a young adult reader might find a bit patronising.

What I found a little irritating and disingeuous was that she doesn't mention that the site of which she is an editor – goodreadingguide.com – is dedicated to culling the available body of literary work down to those compatible with Christian values.

In visiting the site to confirm my suspicion of this fact, I noted the point that was actually hilarious, however: goodreadingguide.com endorses The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. I am now extremely curious about where the recreational use of cocaine fits into Christian values, and why this was never raised during the seven years I attended Sunday School. (Though I do note that apparently the stories that comprise this volume may have been carefully selected so as not to include any untoward material – a story containing adultery was apparently pulled after the first imprint. So maybe it is the sanitised version of Sherlock's adventures, for those of a delicate and impressionable intellect.)

comments