The Forbidden Library

[xted30]

The 2 that most strike me as sort of funny are 1984 and Farenheit 451. Big Brother is watching & doesn't want you to know he's out there. And a book about free speech and censorship being forbidden due to the use of a few four letter words.

[knapplc]

The 2 that most strike me as sort of funny are 1984 and Farenheit 451. Big Brother is watching & doesn't want you to know he's out there. And a book about free speech and censorship being forbidden due to the use of a few four letter words.

Thank goodness they banned Farenheit 451 to protect the kids from those potty-mouth words! Now they'll NEVER EVER hear any naughty words!!!

Way to go, brainiacs!

[Atog]

1984 . George Orwell. Harcourt. Challenged in the Jackson County, Fla. (1981) because the novel is "pro-communist and contained explicit sexual matter." Big Brother doesn't want people reading such things

Pro-Communist?
George "Animal Farm" Orwell?
Just about everything he wrote was ridiculously anti-communist.
It's kind of understandable that they'd want it banned during the 80s, though.

Some of the dates that the books were challanged kind of justify things.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Roald Dahl. Bantam; Knopf; Penguin. Removed from a locked reference collection at the Boulder, Colo. Public Library (1988), where it had been placed because the librarian thought the book espoused a poor philosophy of life.

The Lorax. Dr. Seuss. Random. Challenged in the Laytonville, Calif. Unified School District (1989) because it "criminalizes the foresting industry." Isn't that the de-foresting industry?

A Wrinkle In Time. Madeleine L'Engle. Dell. Challenged at the Polk City, Fla. Elementary School (1985) by a parent who believed that the story promotes witchcraft, crystal balls, and demons. Challenged in the Anniston Ala. schools (1990). The complainant objected to the book's listing the name of Jesus Christ together with the names of great artists, philosophers, scientists, and religious leaders when referring to those who defend earth against evil. Got it. Let's cross Jesus off that list, shall we?

Zen Buddhism: Selected Writings. D.T. Suzuki. Doubleday. Challenged at the Plymouth-Canton school system in Canton, Mich. (1987) because "this book details the teachings of the religion of Buddhism in such a way that the reader could very likely embrace its teachings and choose this as his religion." The last thing we need are a bunch of peaceful Buddhists running around. The horror

[creamdoorthirtyniner]

They never banned Goosebumps at my school, but each one was soo predictable that I read the first few and stopped after that. Didn't stop me from buying almost every single book of Goosebumps and let them collect dust on my shelf

[BrutallyHuge]

In my grade school, only a certain age group could read Goosebumps and other RL Stein books.

They put special stickers on the spines of those books. Like a Red sticker meant that only 6th Grade and Up could read it.

[hastur]

My bookstore supports banned books week. Each year we have a table with the books in the front of the store.

[Tiki]

My favorite one was The Diary of Ann Frank banned because "It's a real downer"....Gah how can people actually ban great books like Huck Funn...Idiots.

[Flockers]

I've never read Huck Funn, but it sounds like a good'n.

[knapplc]

I've never read Huck Funn, but it sounds like a good'n.

STOP what you're doing, put your shoes and coat on and head to the nearest bookstore RIGHT NOW. You have to read this book! It is one of, if not THE greatest American books of all time.

What in the world are they teaching people in school if they're not teaching them Huck Finn?

[Flockers]

I've read Huck Finn.