Booker prize novel sparks free speech row in Czech Republic
(The Guardian Books News)

Alan Hollinghurst book attacked as `pornographic´ after radio broadcasts a short excerpt from itA Man Booker prize-winning novel exploring gay relationships in Thatcher-era Britain has sparked a row over morality and media independence in the Czech Republic, after it was condemned as `pornographic` when it aired on the country´s leading cultural radio station.Liberal critics believe the controversy over transmission of an extract from Alan Hollinghurst´s The Line of Beauty is being whipped up by conservatives to muzzle broadcasters in a move they liken to events in Hungary, where the rightwing government of Viktor Orbán stands accused of curtailing press freedoms and reining in public media outlets.Hollinghurst isn`t the problem, it`s just a pretext. The problem is me and open-minded people like me Continue reading...