Celebrate Banned Books Week. Read.
The American Library Association, among many other groups, is sponsoring Banned Books Week again this year, September 24 through October 1. Did you know that many books now consider among the classics of western literature have been challenged, if not outright banned, by various groups, communities, and governments?
Ulysses. 1984. To Kill a Mockingbird. Catcher in the Rye. The Great Gatsby. The Grapes of Wrath. Animal Farm. Fahrenheit 451 (umm, irony, anyone?).
Here is just a small collection of banned book lists:
A list of classics frequently banned or challenged (ALA).
A list of authors and works banned by the Catholic Church (wikipedia).
The ten most challenged books of 2010 (ALA). The Hunger Games? Really?
A list of books banned by various governments (wikipedia).
A list of books commonly challenged or banned in the US (wikipedia).
And here is my own experience with banned books, which I posted last year. I also have a Six Sentence version of that experience, here.
You know what to do. Go read.
Also: The ALA has a dedicated channel on YouTube where readers discuss their experiences with “subversive” books. Pretty cool.
(Somewhat) related posts:
OMG, Adam, I was NOT aware of this “Banned Books Week”
This is plain and utterly ludicrous! I checked the list of classics frequently banned and there are no words that can express the ignorance and illogical reasoning behind it. So, if we’re not supposed to read these amazing literary works, what’s left? Comic books? Paris Hilton’s “Confessions of an Heiress”, and the rest of so-called authors? So whatever happened to freedom of expression? Thank you for sharing this great post!
Claudia
25 Sep 11 at 12:13 pm
Thanks, Claudia. Sad, isn’t it?
adam
26 Sep 11 at 7:57 pm