http://thenewdorkreviewofbooks.blogspot.com/2010/10/should-art-be-separated-from-artist.html
I follow "The New Dork Review of Books" blog, and there was an interesting point brought up by the writer. Does the author/musician/artist's way of life influence if you should enjoy their work? Have you ever heard something about that particular person that ever caused you to stop and think you were no longer going to enjoy anything done by them because you were so offended by their actions? The blog brings up Roman Polanski. Has his revenue from his films decreased because he's not allowed to step foot in the country or be arrested for child molestation?
The question posed made me think. If I were to learn about an author's strange lifestyle, I don't think it would affect my decision to read their work. I don't purchase most of my books, they are borrowed, so it isn't a problem for me. I guess if I heard about a crime against a child, it might turn me off from checking out a book by them at the library, but I've never thought about it. Many of my favorite authors were brought to my attention because of the cover art. If it catches my attention, then I read the summary and go from there. For example: "The Lonely Polygamist" was definately an attention getter, just by the title alone.
The cover art/title isn't always a guarantee I will like the story. There are many times I put down a book after reading so much of it, although I don't follow any such rules as "50 pages" limits to give it a chance. I know some people give it time, and say they will try to read so many pages before putting it down, but I just know when it's time to end it.
The blog points out that Hemmingway, for example, was not a person you would want to know, yet every high school in America has him on their reading list. Hitler's autobiography is always on a "must read" list somewhere, and we all know what he did. (I will admit I have that on my list to read, but only from a historical standpoint, I really want to know how his mind worked) Are you influenced by the author's lifetime acheivements beyond their written word, or do you read them because you enjoy them? Maya Angelou is a great person to talk about, she has achieved much more in her life than I can ever imagine doing, but I really can't read her stuff, it just doesn't interest me.
I think it's great we live in a world today where I can go to my local library and get just about any type of reading material I would like to see whenever I want. I could never live someplace like China with all of the restrictions to the outside world (which I think it is terrible about the guy who won that peace award and probably doesn't even know because he is a political prisoner in his own country). Not all humans are perfect, and we can't just assume because they make one mistake that no matter what they do we should just ignore them. I know that one of my favorite authors, Jeffrey Archer, has been in prison for some reason in England, but I've never searched to find out why. I just know I enjoy his books.
Does anybody else refuse to read something or listen to music done by an artist who has committed a terrible crime? Or do you even care to find out about their personal life?
I can't say that I've thought about it, especially with books. I guess part of it is being really uninformed about what is going on in the world. :) But I would tend to agree with you that I don't think it would affect my decision. I've thought about it sometimes in music (because it seems that musicians and actors are more in the news in terms of what they've done wrong) but never actually NOT bought the CD. It's an interesting idea.
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