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Banned Books -- at the end of "Banned Books Week"

Evangelicalhumanist

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
Today is the last day of "Banned Books Week" 2023 (Oct 1 - 7), so I thought it would be interesting to discuss the list of the most banned classics in American public libraries and schools. Not specialized books about sexuality and so forth, but classics of Enlish literature. Here is the list, produced by American Library Association, of classic books that have faced the most challenges, and even been banned in many places.

So today, on Let Freedom Read Day, I'd be interested on anybody's thoughts on why they think any of the books on this list really should be banned from public libraries.
 
Orbit

Orbit

I'm a planet
Evangelicalhumanist said:
Today is the last day of "Banned Books Week" 2023 (Oct 1 - 7), so I thought it would be interesting to discuss the list of the most banned classics in American public libraries and schools. Not specialized books about sexuality and so forth, but classics of Enlish literature. Here is the list, produced by American Library Association, of classic books that have faced the most challenges, and even been banned in many places.

So today, on Let Freedom Read Day, I'd be interested on anybody's thoughts on why they think any of the books on this list really should be banned from public libraries.
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I have read all of those except The Color Purple and A Separate Peace, though it's been a while. I can't think of any reason to ban any of them, unless you just aren't comfortable with having people think about real life in real ways.
 
Evangelicalhumanist

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
Orbit said:
I have read all of those except The Color Purple and A Separate Peace, though it's been a while. I can't think of any reason to ban any of them, unless you just aren't comfortable with having people think about real life in real ways.
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I've read all of them, several of them multiple times, and I'm with you.

But you know, even reading books by or about people who have had different experiences than you have, because of their sexuality, their colour or ethnicty, their disabilities or psychological issues, their mistreatment at the hands of parents, guardians or official institutions, can help us all to develop empathy and to understand others better.

So, I think at least part of the impulse to banning books is precisely that there are people who don't want anyone developing empathy towards anyone they don't like or approve of, because it'll make it harder for them to "make them go away."
 
Orbit

Orbit

I'm a planet
Evangelicalhumanist said:
I've read all of them, several of them multiple times, and I'm with you.

But you know, even reading books by or about people who have had different experiences than you have, because of their sexuality, their colour or ethnicty, their disabilities or psychological issues, their mistreatment at the hands of parents, guardians or official institutions, can help us all to develop empathy and to understand others better.

So, I think at least part of the impulse to banning books is precisely that there are people who don't want anyone developing empathy towards anyone they don't like or approve of, because it'll make it harder for them to "make them go away."
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I heartily agree. Two books that I read in middle school, both of which have been the subjects of bans/challenges were "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom (true story about a young Jewish girl during the Holocaust) and "Black Like Me", (a book written by a white researcher who took pills that temporarily darkened his skin and then went on a tour of the South, to see how he would be treated) had a profound effect on me.

Last summer, when for work I was at the DHS Counter-terrorism center studying right wing extremism, they had a speaker from DHS and someone asked him what book was the most influential on him. I was shocked to hear him say "The Hiding Place".
 
lewisnotmiller

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
Evangelicalhumanist said:
Today is the last day of "Banned Books Week" 2023 (Oct 1 - 7), so I thought it would be interesting to discuss the list of the most banned classics in American public libraries and schools. Not specialized books about sexuality and so forth, but classics of Enlish literature. Here is the list, produced by American Library Association, of classic books that have faced the most challenges, and even been banned in many places.

So today, on Let Freedom Read Day, I'd be interested on anybody's thoughts on why they think any of the books on this list really should be banned from public libraries.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be banning any of those, or too much else from a public library.

I've only read half of them though. I did read Mein Kampf when in my (very) late teens, and whilst I was half waiting for some strange looks from the librarian it was checked out with the same lack of comment as everything else...lol
 
Secret Chief

Secret Chief

Very strong language
lewisnotmiller said:
I wouldn't be banning any of those, or too much else from a public library.

I've only read half of them though. I did read Mein Kampf when in my (very) late teens, and whilst I was half waiting for some strange looks from the librarian it was checked out with the same lack of comment as everything else...lol
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My old boss read Mein Kampf - in German! - as part of his MFL degree. Naturally, it turned him into a Nazi. :rolleyes:
 
Secret Chief

Secret Chief

Very strong language
Evangelicalhumanist said:
Today is the last day of "Banned Books Week" 2023 (Oct 1 - 7), so I thought it would be interesting to discuss the list of the most banned classics in American public libraries and schools. Not specialized books about sexuality and so forth, but classics of Enlish literature. Here is the list, produced by American Library Association, of classic books that have faced the most challenges, and even been banned in many places.

So today, on Let Freedom Read Day, I'd be interested on anybody's thoughts on why they think any of the books on this list really should be banned from public libraries.
Click to expand...
What can I say, apart from the obvious - it's outrageous, disgusting and is another ominous sign of the USA turning into a dystopian world.
 
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icehorse

icehorse

......unaffiliated...... anti-dogmatist
Premium Member
Evangelicalhumanist said:
Today is the last day of "Banned Books Week" 2023 (Oct 1 - 7), so I thought it would be interesting to discuss the list of the most banned classics in American public libraries and schools. Not specialized books about sexuality and so forth, but classics of Enlish literature. Here is the list, produced by American Library Association, of classic books that have faced the most challenges, and even been banned in many places.

So today, on Let Freedom Read Day, I'd be interested on anybody's thoughts on why they think any of the books on this list really should be banned from public libraries.
Click to expand...

I've read most of those, some in high school English classes. Of course they should not be banned.

I guess the question is how old would be "old enough" for kids to read some of these. And even then I wouldn't ban them, just recommend something like "earliest recommended age".

As an aside, sometimes on RF I feel like 1984 and BNW ought to be required reading with the understanding that they are meant to be DYSTOPIAN ;)
 
1137

1137

Here until I storm off again
Premium Member
You know someone has good intentions when they ban 1984 and Slaughterhouse V!
 
Clizby Wampuscat

Clizby Wampuscat

Well-Known Member
Evangelicalhumanist said:
Today is the last day of "Banned Books Week" 2023 (Oct 1 - 7), so I thought it would be interesting to discuss the list of the most banned classics in American public libraries and schools. Not specialized books about sexuality and so forth, but classics of Enlish literature. Here is the list, produced by American Library Association, of classic books that have faced the most challenges, and even been banned in many places.

So today, on Let Freedom Read Day, I'd be interested on anybody's thoughts on why they think any of the books on this list really should be banned from public libraries.
Click to expand...
Are any of these banned today anywhere?
 
Evangelicalhumanist

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
Clizby Wampuscat said:
So none of the listed books are banned today then. Also a ban is not, I don't want a pornographic book in my elementary school library. It is a nationwide ban so no one can get it. This is not happening at all.
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The point of this thread, and the point of "Banned Books Week," isn't whether books are permanently banned everywhere. It's about the human impulse to control what OTHER PEOPLE may do that you would prefer not to do yourself. It's about the idea that "ideas are dangerous." It's about the notion that learning something (like that there are gay people in the world) will make you want to emulate that something as well. It's about the attempt at thought control by those who don't think much at all anyway.

It is not some prim spinster's business, nor any state Governor's business, neither, what I read and what I think and what I want to learn. They are not obligated to read anything or learn anything (too often, they don't!), but they are obligated to get out of everybody else's way when they wish to exercise their constitutional and natural freedoms.

This thread is about telling a lot of people that "you are not the master of my mind, I am, so mind your own damned business."
 
Orbit

Orbit

I'm a planet
Clizby Wampuscat said:
So none of the listed books are banned today then. Also a ban is not, I don't want a pornographic book in my elementary school library. It is a nationwide ban so no one can get it. This is not happening at all.
Click to expand...
How did you reach that conclusion? All books having gay characters have been removed from school libraries in the state of Florida, for just one example. Of course books have been removed from school and public libraries.
 
Clizby Wampuscat

Clizby Wampuscat

Well-Known Member
Evangelicalhumanist said:
The point of this thread, and the point of "Banned Books Week," isn't whether books are permanently banned everywhere. It's about the human impulse to control what OTHER PEOPLE may do that you would prefer not to do yourself. It's about the idea that "ideas are dangerous." It's about the notion that learning something (like that there are gay people in the world) will make you want to emulate that something as well. It's about the attempt at thought control by those who don't think much at all anyway.

It is not some prim spinster's business, nor any state Governor's business, neither, what I read and what I think and what I want to learn. They are not obligated to read anything or learn anything (too often, they don't!), but they are obligated to get out of everybody else's way when they wish to exercise their constitutional and natural freedoms.

This thread is about telling a lot of people that "you are not the master of my mind, I am, so mind your own damned business."
Click to expand...
Ok, but no one is advocating banning books everywhere in the US. Just certain places they think are inappropriate. These are discussion we should have.

Do you think all books are appropriate in an elementary school library?
 
Clizby Wampuscat

Clizby Wampuscat

Well-Known Member
Orbit said:
How did you reach that conclusion? All books having gay characters have been removed from school libraries in the state of Florida, for just one example. Of course books have been removed from school and public libraries.
Click to expand...
I never said that did not happen. Parents can get these books in public libraries etc., that is not a book ban.

This is also false. There are books in Florida school libraries that are still available in grades 9-12.
 
RestlessSoul

RestlessSoul

Well-Known Member
When my son was about 15 we ordered, from a book club, a series of books which had all been banned somewhere in the world. He read them all I think, it really piqued his interest in reading for pleasure. All great titles. 1984 was on there, so was Lolita, Solzhenitsyn’s A Day in the Life of Ivan Denitsovitch, Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita. I’ll have to ask him what else he remembers…
 
Orbit

Orbit

I'm a planet
Clizby Wampuscat said:
I never said that did not happen. Parents can get these books in public libraries etc., that is not a book ban.

This is also false. There are books in Florida school libraries that are still available in grades 9-12.
Click to expand...
districtadministration.com

Florida school district orders removal of all books with gay characters before backing off slightly

Charlotte County Schools Superintendent Mark Vianello said removals were needed to conform to a state law backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.”
districtadministration.com districtadministration.com

Why can't a 7th grader read a book with a gay character? Why are you insisting on a technical definition of "ban"? A ban doesn't mean the book isn't available in general, it means that it has been removed from a school or public library. Saying "it's not a ban" is ridiculous.
 
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