The Living Shadow: Politically Incorrect

[James Trimm]

All,

I have been re-reading The Living Shadow (the first Shadow story)
for the first time in years. One thing that struck me was how not-
politically correct it is.

The narrator refers to a cab driver as a "negro" and quotes him
in "eubonics dialect". Later Chinamen are referred to as "Chinks"
(all-be-it by crooks). Later the narrator constantly refers to
Chinamen as being "yellow" and refers to two large Chineise thugs
as "yellow giants"...

[B Barnard]

It was not politically incorrect for the time it was written. Can't judge it by our standards today.

[Melody]

That made me wince also. But it was the time...

The most annoying thing is I can't recommend it to my asian or black friends who would probably like it otherwise.

[Hank Harwell]

You beat me to it.

B Barnard said:

It was not politically incorrect for the time it was written. Can't judge it by our standards today.

If you read any of the stories from the Pulp Era, you'll quickly find a total lack (by today's standards) of PC. Female readers will often object to the total helplessness of female characters. Remember, these were written nearly 80 years ago, and attitudes were quite different.

[Melody]

Actually, I would say that some of Gibson's female characters are not half bad. They all seem reasonably intelligent. However, I haven't read any of the books with Margo Lane, but I hear Gibson didn't like her character very much because he was forced to add her to the novels.

Hank Harwell said:

You beat me to it.

B Barnard said:

It was not politically incorrect for the time it was written. Can't judge it by our standards today.

If you read any of the stories from the Pulp Era, you'll quickly find a total lack (by today's standards) of PC. Female readers will often object to the total helplessness of female characters. Remember, these were written nearly 80 years ago, and attitudes were quite different.

[Melvin Creston Williams]

Politically correct, or politically incorret were concepts that were unknown in the 1930's and 1940's. They had no meaning then. Things then were what they were. That was an age of black and white, not shades of gray. People did not live in "political" or "racial" clouds. ............The Shadow Knows.