...banned this book from the high school reading list, claiming it "downgrades police departments."
....banned this book about a poor white family in the midst of crisis, from its high school English reading list because of 7 passages which made reference to God or abortion and used curse words
...this book was censored in 1951in Holyoke, Springfield, Massachusetts and in 1953 in Jersey City, New Jersey; blacklisted by National Organization of Decent Literature in 1954.
It's Banned Books Week.
Whether you agree with content of a book or not, the views of a character or not, there is no good reason to ban a book.
This week's workout: Read a Banned Book
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ReplyDeleteHuh... I really... um... have no interest in reading any of those books. Am I the only one? And for banned books, a couple of those are required reading at high schools and colleges. :[
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to read more controversial books - like Sarah Palin's book coming out soon. *smiles teasingly at people in book industry who have been making a lot of rejective rumbles about that book*
Hmm...am thinking about if there is any reason to ban a book...maybe if there's a bomb-making recipe and other ways to kill large populations? But why would anyone publish such a book in the first place? And couldn't people get that info other places, anyway. Hmmm...am thinking of other reasons, but none are very good. If I come up with one, I'll let you know...don't hold your breath.
ReplyDeleteCatherine- I read Catch-22 in college. Not fantastic, no space ships, but not a bad book.
ReplyDeleteFahrenheit 451 getting banned is just ironic.
Censoring for offensive language is just plain silly. Obviously the people wanting to censor for that reason are not listening to the everyday conversations that go on around them. Also obviously, they don't listen to stand-up comedians.
ReplyDeleteBooks were written and published using language that was acceptable in their society at that time. If nothing else, it makes them a valuable historical reference for their societies.
I tend to believe that people who censor are afraid to let other viewpoints have any say. After all, if every side of an issue or event was known then their own beliefs and concepts might be wrong. *heavy sarcasm*
Banning is not the right choice. However our children do need to understand how societies have changed when they read books. So that they know that what the book is about might not be something that is acceptable in today's society (thinking of Mien Kamp here).
They really banned Huck Finn? Can we ban censors?