The American Library Association's annual Banned Books Week is September 25 - October 2. Today in the Parade section of the Sunday newspaper a few of the banned books were highlighted. I was appalled at some of the titles that are banned. Reasons for the banned books are:Too Political ~ All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque), 1928; A Farewell to Arms (Ernest Hemmingway), 1940; For Whom the Bell Tolls (Hemmingway), 1940; The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck), 1939; Dr. Zhivago (Boris Pasternak), 1957; In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (Peter Matthiessen), 1983.
Too Much Sex ~ Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert), 1856; The Sun Also Rises (Hemmingway), 1926; Jaws (Peter Benchley), 1974; Forever (Judy Blume), 1975; I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou), 1969; How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (Julia Alvarez), 1991.
Irreligious ~ On the Origin of Species (Charles Darwin); 1859; The Lord of the Rings trilogy (J.R.R. Tolkien), 1954; Bless Me, Ultima (Budolfo Anaya), 1972; Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling), 1997-2007; The Last Temptation of Christ (Nikos Kazantzakis), 1960.
Socially Offensive ~ The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (Franklin), 1791; The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne), 1850; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain), 1884; As I Lay Dying ( William Faulkner), 1930; Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell), 1936; Ann Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (Ann Frank), 1947; To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee), 1960; The Color Purple (Alice Walker), 1982.
These are just a few of books that are banned. It is incredible to me that some of these (if not all) titles are banned. How are people supposed to formulate their own ideals and version of right and wrong if never exposed to various viewpoints. Many of these stories I have read and feel that my life was made better by the reading of them; that I was exposed to more in life than what encompassed my immediate surroundings; and that held differing viewpoints from the people around me. These books expanded my knowledge base. Granted some books are a bit risque but it does not mean that one should avoid reading.
For me to have missed out on reading Hemmingway or Steinbeck would have been a travesty... and to have not been able to read Harper Lee's magnificent book on the South would be incomprehensible. I need to go back and read many of these again to see exactly what the "controversy" is. This is as good a reason as any for reading or rereading many of the classic books that have been written over the years; many of which had a deep impact on my thinking.
8 comments:
I'm glad you're posting this. It really is hard to believe that people have succeeded in getting these books banned. The Birchers were behind a lot of these, including Huck Finn.
I have a poster up for this year's Banned Book Week but I think I'll lift yours and put it up as well - if'n you don't mind.
Have thought of writing about it but I think I'll let you at it because you're already doing a superb job. Thanks.
Hi Lizzie
are these books banned NOW?
or were they when they were first released?
If it is NOW that is shocking...
Happy days
Delwyn, yes this is in the here & now and it is shocking! I'll have more as the week goes on with a link to someone who did a lot of research on the topic.
Thanks Leslie. By all means add to this. It is one of the things that will get me on my soapbox.
banned where? I know there is always a controversy about school libraries banning books but certainly not in public libraries.
Public libraries are always being assaulted by ignoramouses for having certain books on their shelves. It is a constant battle that all libraries face with much support from the American Library Assn.
You are not kidding? And you live in the "Land of the Free"? Where it says in the Pledge of Allegiance "...with Liberty and Justice for all"?
I have read about half of these titles and LOVE many of them. As you said To Kill a Mockingbird, Huck Finn, Steinbeck and Hemingway, Darwin, Anne Frank.... you`ve GOT to read these books. They should all be on the list of MUST READ books! Who can BAN them? Local authorities? School secretaries? Churches?
In Germany our mess with the Nazis started when book were banned and later burned. It went on with "degenerate art" and later "degenerate people".
This is a very dangerous way of thinking, believing books should not be allowed to read.
Can you publish your post at the New York Times?
Angela, I have read most of these books and want to RE-read them. In many instances parents object to various books being available for their children/teenagers. They think some of these are too sexually explicit, too irreligious, too political, too racist. Granted the word "nigger" is in To Kill A Mockingbird, but the story shows what ignoramuses speak that way. I came from a part of the country where that word was tossed about easily, but I knew better & this book let me see that other southerners felt the same way about the way Negroes were treated. But just because unpleasant words are used in writing does not make the piece any less valid -- it may make it more valid. Can you imagine banning The Diary of Anne Frank? It was challenged in one school... more on children & young people's books tomorrow.
There are many more on lists around the country.
Good post!!
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