Obscenity these un-printable censors

November 12, 2008 1:03 PM

I'm reading "For Whom the Bell Tolls", for the first time, that I got from the library. Every obscenity is printed as "unprintable", "un-nameable", or "obscenity". Obviously Hemingway didn't write that, and it's annoying. Would a modern printing still have these edits?

I'm a grown adult. I am not offended by the work "fuck". I am offended by the disruption in the meter and phrasing, since I have to run it through my mind and figure out the tense and form of the intended word.

Was there any renegade publisher that printed uncensored books? Do the modern printings still do this? The one I'm reading is from the 70s, I think.

posted by hwyengr to writing & language (4 comments total)

Different times, different mores. See

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Whom_the_Bell_Tolls#Language
posted by aught at 1:11 PM on November 12, 2008

I believe that is actually in the original, unless the Wikipedia entry is wrong:

In another odd stylistic variance, Hemingway referenced foul language (used with some frequency by different characters in the novel) with "unprintable" and "obscenity" in the dialogue, although foul language is used freely in Spanish even when its equivalent is censored in English (i.e. joder, me cago). The Spanish expression of exasperation me cago en la leche repeatedly recurs throughout the novel, translated literally as "I obscenity in the milk." Appraising these stylistic elements of the prose, however, demands explicit consideration as to why Hemingway consciously chose to write in this manner for this novel, as he unquestionably did.

posted by muddgirl at 1:11 PM on November 12, 2008

I'm always afraid to Wiki books and movies that I haven't finished. The plot section usually gives away the ending. Thanks, though.
posted by hwyengr at 1:17 PM on November 12, 2008

I have the Library of America first edition repro. I'm not sure I want to volunteer to look up every instance of the word "fuck", but if there are some specific things you need help with, drop a line.
posted by timsteil at 6:44 AM on November 13, 2008