"Do you think there is such a thing as an evil book?"

No.

There are books that incite hatred and violence. There are books to lull people into giving someone else money. There are books that make kids want to play wizard and dragon slayer and see what's down the rabbit hole.

I can read Mein Kampf and not try to exterminate the Jews. I can read Dianetics and not start hooking myself up to an E-meter to become "clear". I can read Harry Potter and Alice and not try to levitate feathers and pop down rabbit holes. (Though I confess to being eight and really hoping that I could go escape through the bathroom mirror. When it didn't work, I gave up.)

Because I've learned how to think about the information I'm taking in. The two most important questions I've earned to ask are "Why?" and "What is/if X?" I also learned to go find out.

The more people who learn that, the less perception of "evil books."
 
rebecca said:
There is ONE evil book: the Necronomicon.

That's it.
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I thought of that after I posted, but I didn't want to be silly for once, and there are "Necronomicon"s out there.

They suck. I can't even e-mail Yog-Sothoth with them.
 
I don't think a book can itself be evil. It can be used for evil, as justification. One could argue that it could cause evil, by giving ideas to people who will use them for ill. But I don't think the object can itself be evil. Sort of like technology, it's intrinsically neutral.
 
Jane Austen's "Persuasion." Without a doubt the most evil book in creation. Samuel Clemens had a great quote about his library being all the better for not having any Jane Austen in it.
 
and the answer is...

a definite "yes." Books written by wicked people are evil in and of themselves because they are a reflection of that evil.
 
There definitely are books there were created for an evil purpose - or, more precisely, a purpose that we would consider evil; the respective authors surely did not think so. For example:

Mein Kampf
the Turner Diaries
the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
the Malleus Maleficarum
...

Depending on your POV and on how narrowly or widely you define evil, I guess you also add:

the Anarchist Cookbook (or whatever it is called)
the Communist Manifesto
most, if not all, of L.R. Hubbard´s work
...
 
headscratcher4 said:
Trust me, the Seattle Yellow Pages.
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Oh my god, there's one in the other room right now, as I type this.

Shhhh . . . I think I hear . . .

AARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!
 
Chaos said:
There definitely are books there were created for an evil purpose - or, more precisely, a purpose that we would consider evil; the respective authors surely did not think so. For example:

Mein Kampf
the Turner Diaries
the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
the Malleus Maleficarum
...

Depending on your POV and on how narrowly or widely you define evil, I guess you also add:

the Anarchist Cookbook (or whatever it is called)
the Communist Manifesto
most, if not all, of L.R. Hubbard´s work
...
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I don not agree. The books, the paper and ink are not evil. Maybe the writers are/were evil, but their book just can't be evil. A car can't be evil (please, no remarks about Stephen King novels, ok?).

I can read Mein Kampf and I will certainly not turn bad, I might understand the evil of nazism a litle better though, so mein kampf could actully be a good book. The same goes for the rest of the list, if the books can make us understand a certain part of history, or a certain idea better, are not even these books a way to better knowledge, and thus good books!
 
Jeffrey Archer's Honor Among Thieves is a pretty evil book. After only two chapters it levitated across the room and made me want to break things. Evil. Definitely.
 
Anders said:

I don not agree. The books, the paper and ink are not evil. Maybe the writers are/were evil, but their book just can't be evil. A car can't be evil (please, no remarks about Stephen King novels, ok?).

I can read Mein Kampf and I will certainly not turn bad, I might understand the evil of nazism a litle better though, so mein kampf could actully be a good book. The same goes for the rest of the list, if the books can make us understand a certain part of history, or a certain idea better, are not even these books a way to better knowledge, and thus good books!
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I didn´t say the books are evil. I said they were created for an evil purpose. That doesn´t mean they were/are always used for it, or that, if they are used for it, this is always successfull.
 
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