Your favourite banned book

[martins]

Apparently this week is Banned Books Week http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm celebrating the right to read what you want. Looking through the list of challenged (and in some cases actually banned books) I realise that they contain many of my favourites. Even classics such as Orwell, Huxley, Salinger or Steinbeck seem to face challenges in schools and public libraries. Newer challenges include children's books like Pullman's His Dark Materials (for killing God, presumably), or Rowling's Harry Potter (for promoting witchcraft!).

What's your favourite banned book?

 

[Urwumpe]

Clearly "Brave New World"... while Lord of the Rings is equally entertaining, Brave New World leaves bigger traces...

 

[dnt462]

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, not my favorite but i read it a couple of years ago expected it to be on, did like the book though

 

[Brad]

Even classics such as Orwell, Huxley, Salinger or Steinbeck ....

WHAT!? Steinbeck has a banned book?!?!:jawdrops:

One of my favoriate quotes is a Stienbeck quote: "Some men spread their hate like butter on warm bread."

 

[Kelpie]

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, I loved this book as a teenager , and I'm happy to say that at least 40% of these Titles I have in my personal library. Surprised that Heinlein's Stranger In A Strange Land Isn't Mentioned

 

[Andy44]

Maybe my brain was banned, but I looked at that site and I don't see a link to the actual list anywhere. Maybe the list is banned?

 

[Ark]

Without a list I can't know for sure if these are on it, but common sense dictates someone somewhere has banned 1984 and the Anarchist Cookbook. 1984 because it's awesome. The Cookbook because half the explosives recopies will kill the user if attempted, and because it has a bunch of phone hacking techniques that haven't worked since the 70s.

 

[cjp]

Well, the Bible has been banned numerous times, and there are still countries where you'd better not be seen selling or giving away bibles.

Somehow the Bible doesn't seem to fit on this list of books, which are frequently banned because of their sexual or violent content. OTOH, if you are banning books because of explicit sexual and violent content, then the Bible should really be one of them.

There are some books on this list which seem to be banned only by a single school somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Can I have a filtered list which only includes banning by governments and by authorities with government-like powers, and excludes isolated incidents?

 

[StarLost]

What is the criteria for "Banned" books. Banned almost universally, or just in a small jurisdiction? Banned by a legitimate court/government or just by a religious group?

My vote: "The Coming of the Cosmic Christ" by Matthew Fox.

For those that don't know, I believe Matthew Fox is a Roman Catholic cleric now under an order of silence from Rome.

 

[Artlav]

Interesting. I always thought that banning something is like pointing a big red arrow on it with "this is interesting" label. Surprising someone still does it today.

 

[Andy44]

I always thought that banning something is like pointing a big red arrow on it with "this is interesting" label.

So true. But people who ban books are like any other prohibitionists; they are true believers. To a true believer, logic must never get in the way of the Truth.

 

[Kelpie]

Try this link http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/index.cfm
gives some of the list

 

[replicant]

Yeah, as soon as I see "banned", my first thought is why? What don't you want me to see or know? No doubt it must be something that will weaken your power or influence over me

 

[cjp]

I heard that Germany has banned Hitler's "mein kampf". Now that wouldn't be so surprising, if not for the way how the German government does this: by owning copyright to the book, and not printing it.

 

[Andy44]

Germany banning books... I guess Indiana Jones won't get his autograph this time.

 

[dack]

mmm...interesting...

 

[Arrowstar]

1984 by Orwell is probably my favorite of the classics. Additionally, if they're banning Pullman's His Dark Materials, I am going to incredibly sad. Those are a fantastic read and The Golden Compass is my all-time favorite novel.

Some of these other ones I just don't get. Of Mice and Men? Really? I think people overreact sometimes. :/

 

[Linguofreak]

Some of these other ones I just don't get. Of Mice and Men? Really? I think people overreact sometimes. :/

After having that one forced on me in High School, I'd say that it should be kept off required reading lists. Those who are masochistic enough may read it if they wish, but forcing kids to read it is just cruel and unusual...

In fact, a number of books on that "banned and challenged classics" list are ones that got rammed down my throat in high school and do not strike me as really deserving their reputation as classics. They probably shouldn't be banned, but they shouldn't be required reading either, and ought to be forgotten. Gatsby was horrible, Mice was horrible, Farewell to Arms was horrible, as was Separate Peace.

To Kill a Mockingbird is the one book on that list that's marked as one that has been banned or challenged that I have actually read and liked.

[rant]And I'm sorry, but Lord of the Flies ought to be kept completely out of school libraries, and needs to be somewhere on a "worst 100 books of all time" list. That one left me deeply, deeply, disturbed. It shouldn't be a banned or challenged classic because it shouldn't be a classic. Once again, the masochists can read it if they wish, but making it a requirement for passing any class that's required for a diploma from any institution is a crime. And it's definitely R-rated. Adults can read it if they wish, but I've been under the conviction since I was a minor that minors ought to be prohibited from reading that book, rather than forced to do so. Having it as part of an elective course for literature majors in college is all well and good (for some values of "well" and "good", and as long as it's clearly labeled with a 'we are not responsible for any psychological damage you may suffer' warning), but having it as part of the mandatory 10th grade English curriculum like my school did... Ick. Take it off the classics list, and move Lord of the Rings up to the top ten like it deserves. And list it as three seperate books instead of the whole trilogy as one item. And put The Hobbit up there with it. And Silmarillion. Lumping the whole trilogy together and sticking it down at 40 on a list of classics is also a crime.[/rant]

 

[eveningsky339]

[rant]And I'm sorry, but Lord of the Flies ought to be kept completely out of school libraries, and needs to be somewhere on a "worst 100 books of all time" list. That one left me deeply, deeply, disturbed. It shouldn't be a banned or challenged classic because it shouldn't be a classic. Once again, the masochists can read it if they wish, but making it a requirement for passing any class that's required for a diploma from any institution is a crime. And it's definitely R-rated. Adults can read it if they wish, but I've been under the conviction since I was a minor that minors ought to be prohibited from reading that book, rather than forced to do so. Having it as part of an elective course for literature majors in college is all well and good (for some values of "well" and "good", and as long as it's clearly labeled with a 'we are not responsible for any psychological damage you may suffer' warning), but having it as part of the mandatory 10th grade English curriculum like my school did... Ick. Take it off the classics list, and move Lord of the Rings up to the top ten like it deserves. And list it as three seperate books instead of the whole trilogy as one item. And put The Hobbit up there with it. And Silmarillion. Lumping the whole trilogy together and sticking it down at 40 on a list of classics is also a crime.[/rant]

It wasn't that bad. Disturbing in some ways, sure. But the author's ability to trace societal problems to their root-- human nature-- is impressive.

 

[StarLost]

After having that one forced on me in High School, I'd say that it should be kept off required reading lists. Those who are masochistic enough may read it if they wish, but forcing kids to read it is just cruel and unusual...

In fact, a number of books on that "banned and challenged classics" list are ones that got rammed down my throat in high school and do not strike me as really deserving their reputation as classics. They probably shouldn't be banned, but they shouldn't be required reading either, and ought to be forgotten. Gatsby was horrible, Mice was horrible, Farewell to Arms was horrible, as was Separate Peace.

This experience is very similar to what made me despise English Literature classes in secondary school. In Grade 10, my Literature instructor was an ex-United Church minister who insisted on teaching a Modern Lit class out of the Christian bible. That brought about my first official rebellion and attention from the relevant scholastic authorities. The next year, my Modern Lit instructor insisted on accepting only opinion answers that conformed to the opinions of her university professor.

I was lucky in Grade 13. It was the one year of the last 100 that English Literature was not mandatory. I took 3 Maths, 3 Sciences and promptly escaped to Uni.

I find it difficult to understand just how certain books get onto a curiculum. My experience seems to show that it is dictated by a very few persons who have a very narrow political agenda. And, of course, political fadism is also involved. The Classic "Merchant of Venice", is banned here by reason of antisemitism (yep, let's ban it, not open it up to critical discussion). Who decides what is a classic?

Did the experience sour me on reading? Not in the slightest. It actually taught me to seek out material that was actually worth reading, like the works of Marcus Aurelius, Sun Tsu, Lao Tse, Heinlein, Matthew Fox, Tacitus, etc. You get my drift. I have a healthy addiction to the printed page. Unfortunately, too often the most common reaction to an experience like mine is a pathological dislike for reading and a consequent reinforcement of illiteracy.

But it does seem to reinforce the idiocy of so-called experts ... and their propensity for assuming that their expertise carries over into other fields.