“Books should also be age restricted”

Book Review by Amanda Mould

THOSE IN PERIL by Wilbur Smith

We constantly see age restrictions applied to movies, magazines and television programmes. But this is rarely, if ever, the case with a book.

In my view, Those In Peril by Wilbur Smith should carry an age restriction on 18 NSLVP. I am not saying this to be prudish but because, although Wilbur Smith is a fantastic storyteller, his graphic descriptions of events in this book need to be censored.

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The story is about Somalian piracy and Muslim extremists. The description of the gang rape of a young woman is extremely detailed and graphic, leaving nothing to the imagination. The violence is of such an extreme nature that a movie like Blood Diamond pales in comparison. Reading the jacket of the book and the reviews does not prepare you for what lies inside. The written word is powerful and can evoke a person’s imagination so much more than a movie or a magazine.

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The sexual intimacy shared with the primary characters in the book also leaves one with no need to imagine, as it is written in explicit anatomical detail. People need to be warned before purchasing a book by a famous author that the content might offend someone. This is especially necessary if the author’s prior books were not as vivid and left a lot to your imagination. A good storyteller will leave something to your own imagination and build on the story line more that on the shock value.