Why does this bother me?
Apr. 4th, 2007 08:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apparentparadoxAs I posted previously, I recently read a book by Anne Perry. It was only when getting Wikipedia links for that posting that I discovered that she's a convicted murderer -- Heavenly Creatures is the movie about it.
I find myself having very mixed emotions about reading any more of her books, and I find that very strange. In the abstract, I think that I believe that once someone has "paid their debt to society" that they should then be dealt with fairly and the crime no longer unfairly held against them. Right now, though, I'm not feeling that way, and I don't know why.
It would certainly be different if she were making money off the crime. In that case, I simply wouldn't read her books. But, these books have nothing to do with the crime, and she apparently has made an effort to distance herself from that but isn't hiding it either -- her own website makes reference to it.
I'm pretty sure that if nobody had died, then I'd feel differently. Or if it had been a crime of the moment rather than a premeditated murder.
I wonder if part of my uneasiness is because she served only 5 years (being a minor when the crime was committed). If she had served 20 years, for example, would that make a difference?
I'll really have to do some thinking before I read any more of her books, and I'll need to do some introspection on how I really feel about convicted criminals. Maybe I'm not as open-minded as I had thought.
I find myself having very mixed emotions about reading any more of her books, and I find that very strange. In the abstract, I think that I believe that once someone has "paid their debt to society" that they should then be dealt with fairly and the crime no longer unfairly held against them. Right now, though, I'm not feeling that way, and I don't know why.
It would certainly be different if she were making money off the crime. In that case, I simply wouldn't read her books. But, these books have nothing to do with the crime, and she apparently has made an effort to distance herself from that but isn't hiding it either -- her own website makes reference to it.
I'm pretty sure that if nobody had died, then I'd feel differently. Or if it had been a crime of the moment rather than a premeditated murder.
I wonder if part of my uneasiness is because she served only 5 years (being a minor when the crime was committed). If she had served 20 years, for example, would that make a difference?
I'll really have to do some thinking before I read any more of her books, and I'll need to do some introspection on how I really feel about convicted criminals. Maybe I'm not as open-minded as I had thought.