There's trouble brewing in the British newspaper The Guardian. They're calling it "The Amis Racist Row."
It's a long story about how it became a big deal, but it started with English author Martin Amis saying something about Muslims on television. People took exception to what he said, and now he's defending himself, most notably in an essay called, "No, I am not a racist."
Martin Amis was one of the few writers, along with Kurt Vonnegut and Canadian Douglas Coupland, who first made me truly interested in books. Amis, particularly his books Time's Arrow and London Fields, did more than simply change my world; he shook it like an Etch-a-Sketch.
Regardless of all this 'racist row' stuff, there was one thought in the essay that I found particularly interesting.
"What you say about something is never your last word on any subject. But what you write should aspire to be just that: your last word."
I agree with him. Sadly, as someone who is paid, in part, to opine daily, I don't always get the time I need to think something through completely, or to read enough to fully understand the implications of an action. In the run-up to the referendum on electoral reform, I hopped the fence so many times I could be an Olympic hurdler.
Also, I'm sure if I had the wherewithal to go through my nearly three years worth of blog entries, I'm sure I would find numerous errors in thought or expression that I now regret.
What I'm saying is, because of the internet, because of instant publishing, writing has changed. I agree that what one writes should aspire to be one's last word on a subject. With little time to consider one's words, however, it is an aspiration that will very rarely be met online.
Online, writing is talking.
I'm not saying anything new here, but it's all worth considering again when reading.