The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, Ulysses, Beloved, The Lord of the Flies, 1984, Of Mice and Men, Lolita, Catch-22, Brave New World, Animal Farm, The Sun Also Rises, As I Lay Dying, A Farewell to Arms, Gone With the Wind, Native Son...
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Lord of the Rings, Lady Chatterley's Lover, In Cold Blood, Sophie's Choice, Brideshead Revisited, Rabbit Run...
The titles above represent some of the most frequently banned books across schools and libraries in the US. According to the American Library Association (ALA), there are three primary reasons a group of people may request that a certain book be banned and removed from libraries. They include:
1. the material included sexually explicit language
2. the material contained "offensive language"
3. the material is considered "unsuitable" for any age group
The list is surprisingly lengthy and fortunately, many of the bans have been challenged in the court system. But there are plenty of smaller schools who take the step of removing certain books and hardly anyone is aware of that fact. This week is "Banned Books Week," and I encourage you to find out if your local library or school has a process for banning certain books. Write letters and get involved. At the very least, go to your local book store this week and purchase at least one of the books. You can find the ALA list of frequently banned books here.
British philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote in the 1800s:
If all mankind, minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.
11 comments:
Wow really ????
I have read quite a few of those books.
Lord of the flies when I was at school.
I think the world has gone crazy in many ways.........perhaps this is just another one of them ??
I went to the website and am astonished at the list of challenged/banned books; some of the best I've read.
A lot of the books listed were part of my reading lists in high school. They enriched my life. The real agenda is to ban thinking.
I've read almost all of those -- As a writer, I find it amazing how little it takes to offend some people. ut as a writer, I write what seems true to the story and don't try to please everyone.
I've also read most of those. I must have been naughty.
Interesting post. I will check to see what this area considers un-readable.
Like many other commenters, I read a number of those books in school - they were assigned reading! I also read a couple with my mom when I was in middle school (we'd read them "in sync" and talk about them).
What is the world coming to??? Crazy.
and it still goes on. Last nights Rochester Post Bulletin reported one book removed from a high school curriculum on the complaint of a single parent. No further information was provided.
Thanks so much for writing this post. It is shocking how small minds can send us back to the stone age. Those listed books are ones that I re-read over the years and treasure. I often wonder how the United States got so pathetically conservative ... we don't learn by closing our minds (or, especially those of our children) to what's real.
I've read a number of these too. I listened to an audio version of Catch 22 - fabulous!
Bravo!
Yes, I noted Banned Books Week. When I was teaching in our local community college, one of my colleagues offered an elective course on Banned Books. That would be a great & fun course to teach.
It is so sad and disheartening today to see how many people--in the U.S. as well as elsewhere in the world--think they can simply stamp out ideas they don't like by banning knowledge.
My hope--for the future of humanity--is that there will always be people like you (and me) who resist with all our might such efforts at mind control.
Thanks for your comments, everyone. Indeed, some of the most often banned books are among the greatest literature.
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