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Pete Shanks's avatar

Despite being raised in an upper-middle-class English family, I don’t think I ever read Chesterton and I have no intention of filling that hole in my education. I bet my grandma read him and surely my mother must have. And laughed. Reading these extracts helps me understand: the self-centered, cynical and prejudiced old bastard could write.

Me, I was raised reading either higher or lower on the literary ladder: Homer, Virgil, Shakespeare, Dickens; Ian Fleming [who should be thrown onto the bonfire], Leslie Charteris [Patricia Holm and a certain sly wit, along with the cynicism he was born into and the racism he faced, saves him], and Agatha Christie, whose world was generally very nice, except for the murderers.

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Whipstitch's avatar

Don't worry, Karen, they're bringing back respectable racism. And, especially, antisemitism.

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Karen's avatar

I know! I am so sick of having to keep fighting this shit.

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Moravagine's avatar

Yes, but Father Brown, and and and...

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Spencer Fleury's avatar

All the ammunition Chesterton gives you to attack him, and you still opt for a lazy body-shaming dig? Would have expected better from you.

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Karen's avatar

I have no problem with body shaming people like him. Since he refused to five women respect I think he’s earned every possible insult. Since such language might bother less horrible people, I will change it.

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Spencer Fleury's avatar

“I have no problem with body shaming people like him” If I were to say that I have no problem using the C-word for people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, would that be acceptable to you? I doubt it. We fat people see you doing this, and deflecting with “but he deserves to be shamed for being fat because he’s horrible for other reasons” is quite frankly a bullshit rationalization.

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