Banned Book Week------hmm Ok I admit it-I read it

[trymahjong]

I read about this in Chronicle today--

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/books/article/Banned-Books-Week-marks-another-year-4831002.php

 

Tony Diaz is an interesting opponent of banned books  with his Librotraficante.

 

There is an abundance of regularly banned books.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_commonly_challenged_books_in_the_United_States

 

I reviewed the whole list. Many of them I've read. It seems a strange phenomenon the whole process of banning books. 

 

 

 

[august948]

That list is a little misleading as it is mostly books that have been banned by libraries here and there and can include things that probably shoildn't be in, say, an elementary school library. I'd be more worried about (and interested in seeing) a list of books banned by the US government from being sold or distributed in the US.

[Marcus Allen]

Here is a "funny" incident. Remember all the fuss over the first Harry Potter book? Especially in conservative churches and many religious schools. Here is the interesting thing; the original title marketed in England was HP and the Philosopher's Stone. But as a marketing move to appeal to Americans, it was marketed as HP and the Sorcerer's Stone. I wonder if the negative hoopla about that book would have been diminished if they would have kept the original title. It's so ridiculous and a bit hypocritical to me. Land of the free and such. I am adamantly against censorship. I believe any type of censorship should be monitored by logical parents, not the government. Having said that, I think 120 Days in Sodom was banned for many years in the US and other countries, but believe it or not, we are among only a few govts. That actually allows the book to be marketed.

[august948]

There was concern (probably rightly so) that Americans wouldn't know what a philosopher's stone is.  The hoopla would have still been there, though, as the books are about witchcraft and that gives some folks the heebee-jeebees.  Same thing happened during the height of popularity for Dungeons and Dragons.  Some folks thought it would lead everyone down a gelatinous cube infested path to hades.

[trymahjong]

Funny how the list of banned books evolves --

Many of those on the list seem to show up as required reading while I was at University-

 

Out of Curiosity I read those that  showed up as required reading when my children were in High School and University-

 

Now I am planning on extending that curiosity to read the newer books that show up on required reading for my Grandchildren.

 

The result is that, I got a "snapshot" of what ever was the "hot button" issue that prompted the ban.