“You know that your church has always taken a view on these matters very different from ours, from the day that the first printing press was assembled. Your church did not want your holy scriptures in the hands of ordinary people. We felt differently. To us, printing was an avokat ha kodesh, a holy work. Some rabbis even likened the press to an altar. We call it 'writing with many pens' and saw it as furthering the spread of the word that began with Moses on Mount Sinai. So, my good father, you go and write the order to burn that book, as your church requires of you. And I will say nothing to the printing house, as my conscience requires of me. Censura praevia or censura repressiva, the effect is the same. Either way, a book is destroyed. Better you do it than have us so intellectually enslaved that we do it for you.”

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About Geraldine Brooks

Australian-American journalist and novelist

Geraldine Brooks is an Australian-American journalist and novelist, known for her fiction and reporting. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 2005 novel March. Brooks has written both journalism and novels, and March brought her major recognition. Her work is associated with literary fiction and with the eye for detail that comes from a background in reporting.

More from Geraldine Brooks (95 quotes) →

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Books by Geraldine Brooks

People of the book

2009

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Year of Wonders

2001

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Caleb's crossing

2011

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The Secret Chord

2015

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