'BORSTAL BOY'
SIR,—In questioning our decision (it was in fact mine) not to print a certain four-letter word in Brendan Behan's Borstal Boy Pharos raises an interesting point. It is certainly true that half the joy of Mr. Behan's style is his capacity, as Pharos writes, to capture the rhythm of dialogue and that to this particular rhythm the missing word has a considerable contribution to make. But dialogue is for speech and the constant repetition of the word in the cold formality of type detracts from this rhythm and accentuates only its typographical ugliness. It was partly for this reason and certainly neither on our printer's behalf nor for any fear of legal repercussions that it has been omitted. 1 now think it was a mistake to insert on a very few difficult occasions a dash or a mis-spelling in substitute and this is being rectified in a subsequent edition. Another factor which influenced the decision was the fear that the book might be driven under the counter and this would have been utterly regrettable. As it is, Borstal Boy has been banned both in Ireland and in Australia, whose adult populations are not considered of sufficient maturity to withstand the shock of truth or the impact of a considerable but possibly undisciplined genius.—Yours faithfully,
ROBERT LUSTY Y
Hutchinson and Co. (Publishers) Ltd.. 178-202 Great Portland Street, WI
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