Yay yay yay!
I've been reading this list for awhile now...down to the last 20 or so.
There are some truly amazing books on this list....Native Son, Invisible Man, Lord of the Rings, The World According to Garp, The Naked and the Dead...LOVED them....
So excited to see you posted this!
I'm stunned at some of the books on the list. Winnie the Pooh is the one that really stumps me. Being in the media, I get a lot of phone calls from people demanding we take a stand against certain books and getting upset when I tell them if we do, it would be on the other side - we newspaper people want MORE people reading, not fewer. But any controversial subject (sex, violence, religion or lack of it, witchcraft, magic, the supernatural, rebellion against authority figures, the general angst that goes with adolescence) will do it, but who objects to Pooh Bear? Because he's gluttonous?
It's too bad no one objects to the books that are REALLY offensive, like Glenn Beck's book. But I guess that just means people who truly love books and understand the point of reading them also understand even the stupidest books shouldn't be burned.
The school bookstore here always has a display of books to buy that are frequently challenged or banned. I bought "A Wrinkle in Time", as well as the other books as part of a boxed set.
Why was this book challenged? Interestingly, for two very opposite reasons. The first, the "obvious witchcraft" (where was that exactly?) and use of the Medium--unsurprisingly, this challenge started in my home county. The other reason it was challenged was because they listed Jesus as a hero who, along with others, fought the darkness invading this world.
It reminds me of a Rorschach test--you see in the book whatever you want to see. You're heightened to religion? Boom, you'll see anti-Christian themes. Or, in other cases, a mention of Jesus as a hero becomes offensive. Of course, this is not how most people operate, but generally people who want something to rail against will usually be able to find their reason, however illogical it may seem to everyone else.
Somehow, I always knew our children needed to be protected from Captain Underpants.
Who accused And Tango Makes Three of being sexist and anti-ethnic? I mean, the other reasons I can twist my mind far enough to understand, but... really?
I wasn't allowed to read Harry Potter. Luckily I don't obey my parents and read it anyway, and am still a huge dork for it three years later. It was a conservative Christian homeschooling thing. There was some debate in the homeschooling group we belonged to over Pokemon cards, because the Pokemon would 'evolve', and naturally that reeked of Evolution and therefore Satan.
I remember people talking about how they were afraid of Harry Potter, and they didn't know why exactly but they didn't want their children 'getting into' it. I guess they might have been getting in over their heads when it came to reading fantasy stories. That's some dark stuff, Harry Potter, what with the magical power of love and all.
There was also this Onion article, clearly fake, but it circulated around the Internet among Christians and homeschoolers a few years ago, and it was presented as real. [www.snopes.com]
By the way . . . I wonder how many of these parents are banning the bible? There's lots of sexuality, rape, violence, profanity, and prostitution in there. And murder. And . . Well. Everything.
@deeemer: As one of my teachers in high school told us, the bible is one of the most soap opera like pieces of filth we will ever read in school. Especially the old testament.
@deeemer: And god ordained incest. Bears mauling a group of children because they made fun of a bald guy, stoning of raped women, and all other sorts of family fun!
@deeemer: I had a teacher in junior high that tried to get us to read that. Two days after assigning it though, he took all of the copies back, saying that parents where complaining about the language in it, and objecting to the idea that it promotes breaking the law. A group of parents (my hippy mom among them) stood in the parking lot of a convenience store across the street from the school and handed out free copies to any student that would take one. Because of the controversy of the whole thing, I'm pretty sure that a LOT more students ended up reading the book than just my AP English class. It is ironic, as I'm sure you know if you've read the book, and later in high school we learned that this is actually a pretty common thing in the US, for (IMO) uneducated parents to ban this book about book banning. In hind sight however, I'm kind of glad that it happened, because it really opened my eyes to the idea that the authority figures in your life might not really know what the fuck they're talking about at all, and that it's my own personal responsibility to question that authority and speak up if I don't agree.
The banned books list was always my to-read list. Then as now, I'm often scratching my head about why these particular books were so controversial and wondering what's on the banners' reading lists (or am I giving them too much credit?) The banned book list introduced me to Robert Cormier, still one of my favorite authors. I see the Chocolate War is still pissing right-wingers off. Also glad to see Phillip Pullman making the list.
@MissFiFi: *rubs hands together and cackles evilly* Mwahahahaha, excellent! I think you'll really like it. All of his books are intelligent and provocative and interesting.
Seriously, the more I think about it, the more I think this:
If you have to dry the dishes
(Such an awful boring chore)
If you have to dry the dishes
('Stead of going to the store)
If you have to dry the dishes
And you drop one on the floor
Maybe they won't let you
Dry the dishes anymore
getting a book banned is maybe the funniest thing I've ever read. I mean, funny in a "what is WRONG with people?" sort of way, but still... funny. Also, Shel Silverstein was my introduction to poetry, and I love him. And I still do the dishes most of the time so, what now book banners?
@Dodgergirl: Shel Silverstein is da bomb. One year for christmas I got my brother where the sidewalk ends he really was happy about it. The giving tree still makes me cry and is probably the reason why I'm such a huge tree hugger.
I still remember in 6th grade (2001), there was one girl who wasn't allowed to read Matilda or Harry Potter. At the time I didn't get it (because my parents didn't care what I read). Now it just seems upsetting.
@ElbertIke: We had a couple of girls who weren't allowed to read The Crucible in AP, despite the fact that, you know, THEY'RE NOT REALLY WITCHES and pretending that they are GETS THEM IN TROUBLE.
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09/28/09
I've been reading this list for awhile now...down to the last 20 or so.
There are some truly amazing books on this list....Native Son, Invisible Man, Lord of the Rings, The World According to Garp, The Naked and the Dead...LOVED them....
So excited to see you posted this!
Actually this list...
[www.ala.org]
09/27/09
It's too bad no one objects to the books that are REALLY offensive, like Glenn Beck's book. But I guess that just means people who truly love books and understand the point of reading them also understand even the stupidest books shouldn't be burned.
09/27/09
Why was this book challenged? Interestingly, for two very opposite reasons. The first, the "obvious witchcraft" (where was that exactly?) and use of the Medium--unsurprisingly, this challenge started in my home county. The other reason it was challenged was because they listed Jesus as a hero who, along with others, fought the darkness invading this world.
It reminds me of a Rorschach test--you see in the book whatever you want to see. You're heightened to religion? Boom, you'll see anti-Christian themes. Or, in other cases, a mention of Jesus as a hero becomes offensive. Of course, this is not how most people operate, but generally people who want something to rail against will usually be able to find their reason, however illogical it may seem to everyone else.
09/27/09
Who accused And Tango Makes Three of being sexist and anti-ethnic? I mean, the other reasons I can twist my mind far enough to understand, but... really?
09/27/09
I remember people talking about how they were afraid of Harry Potter, and they didn't know why exactly but they didn't want their children 'getting into' it. I guess they might have been getting in over their heads when it came to reading fantasy stories. That's some dark stuff, Harry Potter, what with the magical power of love and all.
There was also this Onion article, clearly fake, but it circulated around the Internet among Christians and homeschoolers a few years ago, and it was presented as real.
[www.snopes.com]
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Burned by Nazis in 1930; challenged by the US school system 50 years later.
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I didn't know Mr. Cormier was on the banned list, but on reflection, of course that makes sense.
Who draws these things up again?
09/27/09
They're a listing of which books parents and religious folks are requesting to have banned from public libraries.
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09/27/09
If you have to dry the dishes
(Such an awful boring chore)
If you have to dry the dishes
('Stead of going to the store)
If you have to dry the dishes
And you drop one on the floor
Maybe they won't let you
Dry the dishes anymore
getting a book banned is maybe the funniest thing I've ever read. I mean, funny in a "what is WRONG with people?" sort of way, but still... funny. Also, Shel Silverstein was my introduction to poetry, and I love him. And I still do the dishes most of the time so, what now book banners?
09/27/09
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09/27/09
Not that I'm still baffled by that or anything...