Banned Books Week is September 27th – October 4th.

• Shi Huang, in 213 BC, started the ritual of burning books when he ordered books destroyed which he perceived as a threat to his rule as the first emperor of China.

• On May 10, 1933 German students from renowned universities gathered in Berlin and other German cities to burn tens of thousands of books with “unGerman” ideas. Books by Freud, Einstein, Thomas Mann, Jack London, and H.G. Wells along with others written by gifted writers went up in smoke.

• In 1980 a cultural revolution was launched and bands of Hezbollahis and Islamists attacked, destroyed and burnt libraries in Iran.

What do each of these examples have in common? They are an expression of a Government’s power to impose its own ideology on a people. Most Americans will read this and believe that what happened in 213 BC China, and 1930s Germany and 1980s Iran is far removed from their own experience in 2008 USA. But they would be wrong.

Americans freedom to read is challenged daily – often by local governments or fundamentalist religious groups. Books in the United States have been censored, banned, removed from libraries and taken out of schools. Often books come under attack because they conflict with somebody’s religious beliefs or they express a point of view which someone deems amoral. When we interfere with someone’s freedom to read we are imposing our ideology on that person.

I believe people have a right to pursue (or not) their own spiritual or religious path; they have a right to voice their thoughts on morality, politics, or world view. But I do not believe they have the right to tell someone else what to believe and then impose that by removing from society any reading material which does not support their ideology. That is why I track all the books I read which have been banned or censored. That is why at one time I moderated a Banned Books Group on Yahoo. That is why I contribute to Bonnie’s Banned Books Blog. And that is why when I read this article, I was alarmed enough to do something I do not normally do on this blog – introduce politics.

I’m not here to discuss my thoughts on Sarah Palin’s religious views because those should not have anything to do with her job as Vice President if the McCain/Palin ticket were to be elected in November. I do not want to know about Sarah Palin’s religious views. And I do not want her religious views and her sense of what is or is not moral imposed on me or any other American. I am appalled to think that Palin tried to do just that in her position of Mayor of Wasilla by pressuring the City librarian to remove or censor books from the library. Her letter to said librarian “requesting” her resignation was (according to Palin) just a test of loyalty. To me it smacks of bullying.

Here’s a good question – shouldn’t a Mayor be more concerned with crime, transportation and housing…rather than censoring books? Is Palin’s sense of righteousness so much a part of who she is that she could not separate her own personal beliefs from doing her job as Mayor? Do we really want our elected officials telling us what we can and cannot read?

Thomas Jefferson introduced the concept of Separation of Church and State as an inherent part of our First Amendment Rights. Although there is much discussion about this concept, it is clear that our Founding Fathers meant for religion to be removed from the act of governing our country. Does anyone think they would have approved of the government (local, state or federal) censoring or banning books as a way of imposing religious ideology on others? I don’t think so.

Sarah Palin’s brief tenure as a Mayor of a small Alaskan town (population approximately 9000), and her even shorter stint as Governor of Alaska (where she is currently under investigation on ethics charges) may be the only way for Americans to measure her ability to separate her strongly held fundamentalist beliefs from her sought after position of Vice President (and potentially President) of the United States. We should all consider this before entering the voting booth in November.

**Please be respectful in your comments. I welcome dialogue on this issue of BANNING BOOKS. Any disrespectful, flame-type comments will be immediately deleted.

Last year I tracked the banned books which I read, and I’ve decided to do the same thing in 2008. Why? Because I strongly believe in our right to read freely. Throughout history, books have been banned, challenged, censored, and burned. Many authors have been jailed or forced to leave their countries because of protests about what they have written. Typically books are banned for religious, political or social reasons. In the USA, children’s books come under strong attack for a number of reasons.I am the owner of a Yahoo group which reads banned and censored books, as well as books written by banned or censored authors. Anyone is welcome to join us.

Here is my banned books list for 2008:

1. The Giver, by Lois Lowry (read January 1, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)

The Giver is one of the most frequently challenged and banned books in middle schools across America. It has been referred to as “the suicide” book by some groups because it portrays a Utopian society that relies on euthanasia and suicide to create the perfect community. Read this article published in 2001 by USA Today. Despite the controversy, this is a beautifully written and conceived book. My view was that rather than support euthanasia and suicide, it shows the horror and devastating results of those acts. This is a great book for parents to discuss with their children.

2. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison (read February 25, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)

Banned and challenged due to “language degrading to blacks,” violent imagery, sexually explicit and profane language and depictions of sexuality. Has been accused of promoting a “homosexual agenda”.

3. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe (read March 21, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin has faced recent bans and challenges in Illinois schools and Southern States, and has been challenged by the NAACP for its alleged racist portrayal of African Americans and the use of the “N” word.

4. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini (read June 13, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)

he Afghan government banned the film because of a rape scene of a young boy and the ethnic tensions that the film highlights. “It showed the ethnic groups of Afghanistan in a bad light,” Mubarez said. Din Mohammad Rashed Mubarez, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Information and Culture said: “We respect freedom of speech, we support freedom of speech, but unfortunately we have difficulties in Afghan society, and if this film is shown in the cinemas, it is humiliating for one of our ethnic groups.”

The ACLU Foundation of Texas lists The Kite Runner on a list of banned or challenged books in Texas.

Farenheit 451 lists The Kite Runner as a banned book on its blog and at Library Thing.

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]]> http://www.caribousmom.com/2008/01/19/2008-banned-books-read/feed/ 2 http://www.caribousmom.com/2007/02/21/banned-books-read-in-2007/ http://www.caribousmom.com/2007/02/21/banned-books-read-in-2007/#comments Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:18:39 +0000 Caribousmom http://www.caribousmom.com/2007/02/21/banned-books-read-in-2007/ UPDATE: July 26, 2007 - The ALA Banned Books Week starts September 29, 2007 and runs through October 6, 2007. Why not celebrate by reading a banned book??

 I don't believe in censorship of books. One of the freedoms we are supposed to have in the United States is the freedom of speech, and so book banning or book challenges seem to go against everything for which the United States stands. Men and women have died to preserve our freedoms. And yet, every year books are banned in this country.

Because of this, I have made a point of reading banned books. I belong to a Yahoo book group which devotes itself to reading only banned books. Additionally, Pelham Public Library's Fahrenheit 451: Banned Book Blog has challenged readers to celebrate their freedom by reading as many banned books as they can between February 26th and June 30th.

Throughout the year, I will be updating this post by listing the books I've read which have been banned or challenged (not only in the US, but worldwide).

Here is my list:

1.  Catch 22, by Joseph Heller -

UPDATE: July 26, 2007 – The ALA Banned Books Week starts September 29, 2007 and runs through October 6, 2007. Why not celebrate by reading a banned book??

I don’t believe in censorship of books. One of the freedoms we are supposed to have in the United States is the freedom of speech, and so book banning or book challenges seem to go against everything for which the United States stands. Men and women have died to preserve our freedoms. And yet, every year books are banned in this country.

Because of this, I have made a point of reading banned books. I belong to a Yahoo book group which devotes itself to reading only banned books. Additionally, Pelham Public Library’s Fahrenheit 451: Banned Book Blog has challenged readers to celebrate their freedom by reading as many banned books as they can between February 26th and June 30th.

Throughout the year, I will be updating this post by listing the books I’ve read which have been banned or challenged (not only in the US, but worldwide).

Here is my list:

1. Catch 22, by Joseph Heller -

Considered “dangerous” because of objectionable language. Banned in Strongsville, Ohio, 1972 (overturned in 1976). Challenged by Dallas, Texas, Independent School District high school libraries, 1974; Snoqualmie, Washington, 1979.

2. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker -

Considered inappropriate because of its “troubling ideas about race relations, man’s relationship to God, African history and human sexuality.”Challenged by Oakland, California, high school honors class, 1984; rejected for purchase by Hayward, California, school trustees.

3. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck -

Considered “dangerous” because of obscene language and the unfavorable depiction of a former minister. Banned in Kanawha, Iowa, 1980; Morris, Manitoba, 1982. Challenged by Vernon-Verona-Sherill, New York, School District, 1980; Richford, Vermonth, 1991.(?)

4. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Sijie -

Banned in China.

 

5. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

This novel has been challenged due to its racial themes. Challenged–and temporarily banned–in Eden Valley, Minn.(1977); Challenged at the Warren, Ind. Township schools (1981), because the book “represents institutionalized racism under the guise of ‘good literature’.” After unsuccessfully banning the novel, three black parents resigned from the township human relations advisory council. Banned from the Lindale, Tex. advanced placement English reading list (1996) because the book “conflicted with the values of the community.”

6. For Whom The Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway -

Banned in Spain during Francisco Franco rule for its pro-Republican views.

7. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck -

Banned by some schools and libraries in the United states for promoting “euthansia” and use of profanity from May 1983 to May 1984, and also in 1993 and 1994. This book is no longer banned.

8. A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving -

Banned and censored around the United States for its stance on religion and criticism of the US government regarding the Vietnam War and Iran-Contra.

9. The God of Small Things, by Aruhdhati Roy -

Although not officially banned, I’ve included this book here because of the controversy which surrounded it in India. Roy faced an obscenity trial for her depiction of love between a Christian woman and a low caste Hindu servant. The novel included pedophilia and incest, but apparently those issues were not what made the novel “obscene.”

10. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck -

East of Eden has been subject to several attempts to remove it from library bookshelves. Called “ungodly and obscene” in Anniston, Ala., it was removed, then reinstated on a restricted basis in the town’s school libraries in 1982. Greenville, S.C., schools also saw a challenge to the book in 1991.

11. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood -

This book ranks 37th on the ALA list of the 100 most frequently challenged books in the 1990s. It was challenged recently in 2001 in Dripping Springs, Texas by a group of parents who declared it anti-Christian and pornographic. Also quite recently, the Judson School District Board in San Antonio, TX overturned a ban of The Handmaid’s Tale by the superintendent. Ed Lyman had ordered the book taken out of the advanced placement English curriculum when a parent complained it contained sexual and anti-Christian content. A committee comprised of teachers, students, and a parent had recommended the book remain in the class, but Lyman said he felt it did not fit in with the standards of the community.

12. Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak -

Doctor Zhivago was banned within the USSR until 1988 for its criticism of the Bolshevik Party.

13. The Good Earth, by Pearl Buck

Banned for many years in China because of the perceived vilification of the Chinese people and their leaders; in addition Buck herself was denounced in 1960 as “a proponent of American cultural imperialism.”

14. Candide, by Voltaire

This book was first published in 1759 and banned by the Catholic Church due to the book’s criticism of the “intolerance of Religion.” The book was also condemned and removed from bookshelves in France and Switzerland. Candide pokes fun at religion and politics and questions a “benevolent God” who wrecks havoc on the world.

 

 

 

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