Banned Books

[UmarilsStillHere]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
J. K. Rowling
PR6068.O895 H37 1998 SSH Stacks

2002
Challenged in Moscow, Russia by a Slavic cultural organization that alleged the stories about magic and wizards could draw students into Satanism.

2002
A federal judge overturned restricted access to the Harry Potter book after parents of a Cedarville, Arkansas fourth-grader filed a federal lawsuit challenging the restrictions, which required students to present written permission from a parent to borrow the book. The novel was originally challenged because it characterized authority as “stupid” and portrays “good witches and good magic.”

2003
Challenged, but retained in New Haven, Connecticut schools despite claims the series “makes witchcraft and wizardry alluring to children."

Rolf! I love how some people can pick just about anything up as excuse to ban something, nanny-state much xd

And the lord of the rings is Satanic? What? xd Its one of the most clear cut good v evil storys out there.

[Godot]

I just went out and bought "Satanic Verses"
I want to see whats got all those ppl up in arms.

A book I am amazed isn't on the list is "Letters from the Earth" by Twain.
talk about controversial for its time... wow.
a lot of this stuff can be accessed at the Guttenberg Project online,
if any one is interested.

[Mbwana]

I enjoyed reading anne frank, lord of the rings, harry potter and huckleberry finn

really surprised they were on the ban list :/

[Syd_Vicious]

Also check out: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/banned-books.html

They have some links to other resources of literary bans. Pretty interesting that they did not show a variety of plays such as Oedipus Rex (incest, self mutilation, patricide) and Lysistrata (double entendre and explicit obscenities). I guess for those though it takes the ability to read (the latter did end up on one ban list) rather than looking at an illustrative cover or seeing it on the big screen. A lot of the bans seem to be due to a religious issue or misunderstanding(s) with a few dabbling in cultural sensitivities.

I especially had an interest in History Channel's (Hist Int) "Banned from the Bible" duo documentaries.

[Ulmanyar]

Many of those books are compulsory reading in many of our schools

I loved this one:

To Kill a Mockingbird

2004
Challenged at the Stanford Middle School in Durham, North Carolina because the 1961 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel uses the word “nigger.”

Some people just can't see things in a historical perspective..? ^^

Also, it made me think of this one:
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/mockingbird

[LoneSword]

Originally Posted by Pizdzius

1984
Because Orwell's novel is "pro-communist and contained explicit sexual matter.

pro-communist? lulz


And Brave New World? Banned, so the kids can't see that it's real today!


I am VERY surprised though that Lord of the Flies wasn't banned anywhere. I remember reading it when I was 10 and it had HUGE impact on me. I remember it to this day even if I've read it back then oO
Even reading One Hundred Years of Solitude didn't thrill me like that book did ;P

Yeah, seems like depicting the dangers of a communist totalitarism is kind of a problem. Afer all, you're talking about communism. F*ckin' commie!!

100 years of solitude... I'm so parcialized. I absolutely HATE García Márquez's guts. The magic realism didn't work for me, at all. And was obligatory reading at high school. I deserted the damn book anyway, and readed Tartuffe, by Molière.

[Pizdzius]

Originally Posted by LoneSword

100 years of solitude... I'm so parcialized. I absolutely HATE García Márquez's guts. The magic realism didn't work for me, at all. And was obligatory reading at high school..

You know, I am surprised to see this as school book. I read it for myself, I was bored most of the time, but I LOVED the little dark-humour bits and Marquez' way of playing with words

[LoneSword]

Originally Posted by Pizdzius

You know, I am surprised to see this as school book. I read it for myself, I was bored most of the time, but I LOVED the little dark-humour bits and Marquez' way of playing with words

Yeah, I recognize that the guy is a real genius. The style, composition, development of the plot and depth of the characters are flawless. But is SO damn boring!!! Borges was a spanish speaking author too, and his texts (by my standars, this is just an opinion) are way better.

BTW, this whole thing about banned books reminds me about that old Catholic Church catalog of forbidden texts, the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. There's some interesting reading in there.