Banned Book Meme

[shadowkat]

Impossible week ends. Ever reach a point in which things just feel impossible and you want to give up?
This morning basically felt like a continuous loop of that old Abbott and Costello routine Who's on First except with Peoplesoft (it really is a misnomer, should be called Peoplehard or Peopleimpossible). I'd repeat it all here verbotim, but it would give us both a headache. One a day is enough, methinks. Gist? I basically spent from 8am to 12 noon attempting to get one thing done and hit nothing but brick walls. Finally just gave up. But hey, I tried.

Didn't help that I was wired last night and didn't make it to bed until 12:30, getting up at 6.
So felt edgy and strung out all day long.

Doing those memes, the film, book, tv, etc...makes me realize how eclectic my taste truly is. I hail from a family of dilettantes. We aren't fundamentalist on anything. The problem with this is I'm always a bit shocked that other people aren't the same way, which of course they aren't. Does make life interesting.

Here's another one - This is the Top 100 Banned Books according to the American Library Association for 2000-2009 - put in bold the ones you have read.



Most of these I've never heard of - which means I don't have kids and am above the age of 30.

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier (STILL??? It even had a movie made.)
4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck (oh well, at least East of Eden got booted off the list finally)
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman (probably for being irreligious)
9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Myracle, Lauren
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
11. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
12. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
13. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain (it's been banned for as long as its been in print and by both sides, ironically enough)
15. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
16. Forever, by Judy Blume
17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
18. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
19. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger (also been banned as long as they've been in print)
20. King and King, by Linda de Haan
21. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
22. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar (I'm guessing for the sex)
23. The Giver, by Lois Lowry
24. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
25. Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan
26. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
27. My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier
28. Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
29. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney
30. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
31. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
32. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
33. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
34. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
35. Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
36. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
37. It’s So Amazing, by Robie Harris
38. Arming America, by Michael Bellasiles
39. Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
40. Life is Funny, by E.R. Frank
41. Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher
42. The Fighting Ground, by Avi
43. Blubber, by Judy Blume
44. Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
45. Crazy Lady, by Jane Leslie Conly
46. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
47. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, by George Beard
48. Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez
49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
50. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
51. Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan
52. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
53. You Hear Me?, by Betsy Franco
54. The Facts Speak for Themselves, by Brock Cole
55. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Green
56. When Dad Killed Mom, by Julius Lester
57. Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause
58. Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going
59. Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes
60. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
61. Draw Me A Star, by Eric Carle
62. The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard
63. The Terrorist, by Caroline B. Cooney
64. Mick Harte Was Here, by Barbara Park
65. The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien
66. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
67. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
68. Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
69. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury (oh that's just ironic.)
70. Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen
71. Junie B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park
72. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
73. What’s Happening to My Body Book, by Lynda Madaras (and now we know why there are so many teen pregnancies)
74. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
75. Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry
76. A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
77. Crazy: A Novel, by Benjamin Lebert
78. The Joy of Gay Sex, by Dr. Charles Silverstein
79. The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss
80. A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck (Oh I loved that book.)
81. Black Boy, by Richard Wright - (is it just me or are there a lot of minority writers on this list, particularly African-American writers?)
82. Deal With It!, by Esther Drill
83. Detour for Emmy, by Marilyn Reynolds
84. So Far From the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Watkins
85. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher
86. Cut, by Patricia McCormick
87. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
88. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood (a sci-fi tale about a fascist society)
89. Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissenger
90. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle (and a lot of intelligent books about religion and science on this list.)
91. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
92. The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
93. Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
94. Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine
95. Shade’s Children, by Garth Nix
96. Grendel, by John Gardner
97. The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende
98. I Saw Esau, by Iona Opte
99. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume (the whole bit about a girl getting her period - again, we wonder why there are teen pregnancies?)
100. America: A Novel, by E.R. Frank


Well, haven't read all of them, but some of the titles definitely intrigue me.

By the way -

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal (can't remember the rest - I think - Thurston)
East of Eden
Carrie by Stephen King
Dead Zone by Stephen King
Ulysess by James Joyce
Candide by Voltaire
The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner
The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway
Lord of the Flies by William Fielding

all used to be on the 1990-1999 list.

Comments

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

69. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury (oh that's just ironic.)

A few years ago (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUq2d2OFRkk&feature=player_embedded), some people tried to have it banned (during Banned Books Week) because it was unfair to firemen. I seem to recall a follow-up story in which the complainer said something along the lines of "Firemen DIED in 9/11, and this is how Bradbury repays them?"

(is it just me or are there a lot of minority writers on this list, particularly African-American writers?)

Well, you know, racism is only still a problem because SOME people keep bringing it up. That's really no reason to make kids uncomfortable. And by kids, we mean parents.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall a follow-up story in which the complainer said something along the lines of "Firemen DIED in 9/11, and this is how Bradbury repays them?"

They do know it was written 50 years before 9/11 right?

This is what happens when people spend more time texting their friends then actually paying attention in school.

Well, you know, racism is only still a problem because SOME people keep bringing it up. That's really no reason to make kids uncomfortable. And by kids, we mean parents.

Ah yes, that explains why Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is still on the list. (While The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is notably absent..)

Sigh, a good book is supposed to make you uncomfortable.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this, I think I'll print it out.... I've read a few of these books, but not near enough (since they are banned I want to read them! lol).

My Grandmother (who was a devout Roman Catholic) always read all the books on the church's banned list because she felt that if some celibate priest could read it (in order to ban it) then she could too.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Smart Grandmother. And my pleasure - had to do some looking, couldn't find a list for 2010. Usually they just do the top ten or so.

There are some intriguing titles on the list. Remember when I was in school - several of the books I read were on the banned list (actually most of them) - I read a lot Cormier and Newton Peck, also Vision Quest (definitely on that list).

[norwie2010.livejournal.com]

I - have a rather dumb question: what do You mean by "banned books"? Like, forbidden? Or only up for sale for people older than 18/21? Or...?

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Banned means books that are removed from school and public libraries and not permitted to be placed on the shelves.

Here's a few definitions:

Banned books are books to which free access is not permitted. The practice of banning books is a form of censorship, and often has political, religious or moral motivations.- Wiki

A banned book is one that has been removed from the shelves of a library, bookstore, or classroom because of its controversial content. In some cases, banned books of the past have been burned and/or refused publication. Possession of banned books has at times been regarded as an act of treason or heresy, which was punishable by death, torture, prison time, or other acts of retribution.

A book may be challenged or banned on political, religious, sexual, or social grounds. We take the acts of banning or challenging a book as a serious matter, because these are forms of censorship--striking at the very core of our freedom to read.

http://classiclit.about.com/od/bannedliteratur1/a/aa_whatisban.htm

It's basically removing the book from the shelves. And it also means forbidden. In some cases it is by age. The list above are books banned from public and school libraries in different states across the country. Recently they came up with a plan to edit out the offensive material in Huckleberry Finn so that it could once again be made accessible to schools.

People can't handle discussing things - out of sight, out of mind. Discussing things makes them uncomfortable and itchy, so they choose instead to ignore it. Which is why many of these books have been banned.

[norwie2010.livejournal.com]

Thanks for clearing that up. Over here, we do have two different kinds of "banned":

1) "Art" (which includes books, but also movies, comics, video games, pictures, etc.) which is considered damaging to children and adolescents. The "Liste der jugendgefährdenden Schriften" ("list of writings liable to corrupt the young"). This list is established by a federal agency and mostly consists of pornographic (this is mostly video stuff, the, well, truly pornographic stuff. Not Anais Nin.) and extreme violence (and i mean extreme: snuff, etc). You cannot advertise for stuff like that and it may only be sold to people who are at least 18 years old.

2) Censorship. There are a couple of books which are outright forbidden in Germany and possession of is a serious crime. That's propaganda from the NSDAP (nazi party of the Third Reich). Eg. Hitler's "Mein Kampf" is in this category (which tells You all You need to know how serious us Germans/the german government(s) take the part of enlightenment and responsibility regarding fascism: None at all. It is forbidden to read up on the stuff that led to a catastrophe of imeasurable proportions.... and then anyone wonders about history repeating?!).