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Posted By : Dave - 3/19/2006 12:06 PM
Interested in seeing what book have been been banned and were?
 
 
A few good examples:
 
Little House on the Prairie. Laura Ingalls Wilder. <!-- #BeginLibraryItem "/Library/Wilder-Prairie.lbi" -->Buccaneer; Harper; Transaction. Challenged at the Lafourche Parish elementary school libraries in Thibodaux, La. (1993) because the book is "offensive to Indians." Banned in the Sturgis, S. Dak. elementary school classrooms (1993) due to statements considered derogatory to Native Americans. It always amazes me how people would rather ignore or revile literature from a past era, rather than use it to teach acceptance and tolerance. Obviously the characters depicted in the novel do not have "politically correct" 21st century viewpoints. Why not use the opportunity to discuss how things have (hopefully) changed?
 
The Martian Chronicles. Ray Bradbury. <!-- #BeginLibraryItem "/Library/Bradbury-Martian.lbi" -->Bantam. Challenged at the Haines City, Fla. High School (1982) for profanity and the use of God's name in vain. Challenged at the Newton-Conover, N.C. High School (1987) as supplemental reading due to profanity. Challenged at the Gatlinburg-Pittman, Tenn. High School (1993) due to profanity.
 
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Anne Frank. <!-- #BeginLibraryItem "/Library/Frank.lbi" -->Modern Library. Challenged in Wise County, Va. (1982) due to "sexually offensive" passages. Four members of the Alabama State Textbook Committee (1983) called for the rejection of this book because it is a "real downer."
 
The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Jacob and Wilhelm K. Grimm. Translated by Jack Zipes. <!-- #BeginLibraryItem "/Library/Grimm.lbi" -->Bantam. Restricted to sixth through eighth grade classrooms at the Kyrene, Ariz. elementary schools (1994) due to its excessive violence, negative protrayals of female characters, and anti-Semitic references.
 
James and the Giant Peach. Roald Dahl. <!-- #BeginLibraryItem "/Library/Dahl-James.lbi" -->ABC-Clio; Knopf. Challenged at the Deep Creek Elementary School in Charlotte Harbor, Fla. (1991) because it is "not appropriate reading material for young children." Challenged at the Pederson Elementary School in Altoona, Wis. (1991) and at the Morton Elementary School library in Brooksville, Fla. (1992) because the book contains the word "ass" and "promotes" the use of drugs (tobacco, snuff) and whiskey. Removed from classrooms in Stafford County, Va. Schools (1995) and placed in restricted access in the library because the story contains crude language and encourages children to disobey their parents and other adults.
 
Welcome to the Monkey House. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. <!-- #BeginLibraryItem "/Library/Vonnegut-Monkey.lbi" -->Delacorte; Dell. A teacher was dismissed for assigning this collection of short stories to her eleventh grade English class because the book promoted "the killing off of elderly people and free sex." The teacher brought suit and won in Parducci v. Rutland, 316 F.Supp.352, (M.D.Ala 1970).
 


Dave
SFReader Webmaster
 

Posted By : Raph - 3/20/2006 3:59 AM
Very, very interesting, Dave.

I think it's funny to see what offends some people, and that they use it as an excuse to try to force their own personal viewpoints onto others. What's not funny is how many times the idiots actually get away with it.

I thought the most amusing one was C.S. Lewis's The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe because it portrays mysticism. freaked

I hope someday to have one of my books banned! I'd be in very good company. lol


Mike O.


Posted By : erazmus - 3/20/2006 4:31 AM
Mike,
Banned is good, but give me a good old fashioned book burning any day! I hope to have my books burned! Thats the sign of real success!
Its also how I first heard of J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter had some how flew in under my radar until I caught a news article about a fundamentalist church burning copies and railing about the book promoting 'Satanism" to children. I just had to check it out then! Apparently, so did six or seven million other people.
A fawtaw (sp) is nearly as good, but is a bigger pain in the ass--going into hiding and all that. Still, how many of us had ever really heard of Salomon Rushidie before "Satanic Verses" got him a standing death sentence in Iran? I actually bought a copy because of that, though I found the book to be unreadable. I suppose they burned copies in Iran as well.
I must needs make sure, when I finally do achieve in print status, that the publisher sends a copy to bonfire inclined churches, preferably ones with their own TV programming. Its for sure copies burned don't get returned for credit and never wind up in the remaindered pile.
Mike


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Posted By : gwthomas21 - 9/29/2006 3:53 PM
I pretend to not understand people who burn books, then I recall how much I dislike Scientology. It's not hard to see how if you find something diametrically opposed to your own view, you would want to destroy it. There, I just grew as a person. (Tom Cruise sucks!) No, sorry, I guess I didn't.

GW


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Posted By : von Darkmoor - 9/29/2006 6:49 PM
Drew a smile there, GW. Thanks.

Mike, I picked up the Satanic Verses due to the same reason but I actually enjoyed it. I then picked up whatever his book was after that but couldn't get into it. Thankfully, I'd gotten it at the library. But you're right: I only dream to publish a book that gets me on someone's hit list!


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Posted By : carnifexpress - 9/30/2006 7:32 PM
Great link, I could read stupidity like that all day...

Thinking about putting a huge warning label over some of my books, sure it will generate sales for those who want to burn the book but never actually read it.

Armand Rosamilia


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Posted By : MichaelEhart - 10/3/2006 6:35 PM
The good thing about a book burning is you get the sale, but eliminate the pass-along.
I actually did a paper on the (real) Satanic Verses, not the book, in college. When the Rushdie book came out, I scooped it up, only to be very very disappointed. Horribly written.

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Hard to believe two lines could cause such trouble.


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Posted By : Gustavo - 1/4/2008 3:10 PM
I've never understood the imbeciles who call for banning, restriction or burning of any books. I think it's a symptom of insecurity in your beliefs - if your dogma is attractive, it will survive, otherwise, no amount of book burning for religious reasons will save your church from disappearance. The same can be said for outmoded social beliefs... The Catcher in the Rye was controversial when launched - today, it's tame to the point of being boring. Any teen today could write something more shocking.

Great list, BTW.


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Posted By : Steven the Git - 4/6/2008 1:06 PM
Maybe we should buy and burn each others' books. Still get the sales and we can pretend we're so controversial we're hot!  jumpin

To be honest I mainly said that just to use that smiley. blush

I read Catcher in the Rye at school and it was so dull. If ever a kid needed a good slap!
But quite agree, to burn or ban things that happen to disagree with your views, even just slightly, is laughable. It shows tremendous insecurity.


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