The Bonfire

[hatusu]

According to the news-
"“A university has scrapped the term 'trigger warning' because it fears its use alone could upset snowflake students.Warwick University has deemed the phrase too 'provocative' for those on its literature and drama courses and is instead now using the term 'content notes'.In common with dozens of universities, Warwick uses such warnings to alert students to sensitive material, so they can prepare themselves for a potentially unpleasant experience.But '"Trigger warnings" are now referred to as "content notes" due to the word "trigger" being itself a provocative word."
So thats basically the whole of Shakespeare on the bonfire, Bram Stoker, the Brothers Grimm, most of my childhood reading , and Im amazed I didnt have a nervous breakdown reading Dickens. Then there was the appalling violence in tv programmes - Tom and Jerry, Sooty and Sweep - the list is endless.
So what literary horrors have you managed to escape from surprisingly unscathed?

[newcastle]

So what literary horrors have you managed to escape from surprisingly unscathed?

Quite a few

But , to me, a ‘literary horror’ Is a book which bores me into discarding it after a few pages, or one which promotes ideas which I find so irritating I can’t bear to read on....etc. etc.

I have to confess I’ve never come across the term ‘trigger warning’ in relation to literature. If, as seems to be the case, it’s used routinely in university literature courses, my initial reaction Is .....perhaps the students should consider another discipline . Can you really be traumatised by literature?

Well, according to some psychiatrists, apparently you can!

We routinely categorise films on public release, issue warnings about the content of TV progammes, even about flashing images....so why not ‘disturbing’ literature? How one decides what might be disturbing is an obvious problem. Personally, I can’t imagine being ‘ disturbed’ by a book or article. Bored, yes, Infuriated....occasionally. Repulsed....very occasionally. But not driven over the edge.

I’m far too thick skinned for that.

So....in answer to Hatusu’s question....I can’t think of any. And that’s from someone who reads 4-5 hours EVERY day. Nothing I’ve ever read from start to finish has ‘disturbed’ me.

I could give you a huge list of books not to waste your money on

[Teddyboy]

"due to the word "trigger" being itself a provocative word.""

Ah yes!

It could make students think of triggers on guns, and lead them to try one out in a crowded place!

Or it could be very traumatic for some non-meat eater to think that a horse was subjected to the humiliation of being given a name by an unthinking human, who tortured it by forcing it to carry him on its back.

Or it could even cause hysterical convulsions in a 'friend' of people of colour, 'cause it rhymes with a word which white people are forbidden to utter, but which people of colour can use freely and frequently.

Or it could be because it belittles a section of manual workers who sweep the streets, by association with a disgustingly portrayed man with learning difficulties on the TV!

What a heartless lot you are.

[hatusu]

"Or it could be because it belittles a section of manual workers who sweep the streets, by association with a disgustingly portrayed man with learning difficulties on the TV!"
It took me a while to work that one out but I THINK I got there in the end ....."Only Fools and Horses"?

[hatusu]

And dont get me started on the death of Bambi's mother - Im still traumatised!

[HEPZIBAH]

"Or it could be because it belittles a section of manual workers who sweep the streets, by association with a disgustingly portrayed man with learning difficulties on the TV!"
It took me a while to work that one out but I THINK I got there in the end ....."Only Fools and Horses"?

《Gulp》Having read this thread, it could be claimed that particular programme title is doubly worrying and disturbing. ;-)

I personally think it's OK if a book is disturbing, in as much as it is likely to, or should, make the reader think more about the topic or what the author was conveying (or at least was trying to convey).

One author that often leaves me disturbed in this way is Jodi Picoult. There is always an element of moral dilema and I find myself asking "What would I do if I were in that situation?"
However, I usually then have to ask the same question from the perpective of various characters.