Banned Books

[jlygrnmigt]

ganked from meowgurlgvBeneath the cut is a list of the top 110 banned books. Bold the ones you've read. Italicize the ones you've read part of. Underline the ones you specifically want to read (at least some of). How do we indicate the ones we wish we hadn't read? I'll change it to red... Green means I own the book, and blue means I've seen the movie

Comments

[meowgurlgv]

does this mean you are back from china?

[jlygrnmigt]

hah, yeah, I've been back for about a month. :) Sorry...I don't post much.

[meowgurlgv]

i just worried about you that's all

[jlygrnmigt]

Aw, no need for that, but thanks.

I suppose I should post some pics and stories, eh? I have a pic of me riding a golden yak...

[atreyukin]

Interesting that you should post this list now. I saw a story recently (I think it was through Fark.com) that someone initiated an effort to ban "Fahrenheit 451" from school. I note that it is #50 on the list, which amuses and horrifies me at the same time. It's the kind of stuff you simply can't make up.

As for the list, I don't really have the time to go through an item-by-item recounting, but suffice to say that as an incurable bookworm, I've read a considerable percentage of the list, and own quite a few. I'm surprised by a number of the entries: Little House on the Prairie? James and the Giant Peach? The Talmud? Confucius' Analects? They've got to be kidding.

I'm amazed that "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" is so widespread in Chinese bookstores. I had to read that book for a college course, and I will light myself on fire before I subject myself to reading it again. That doesn't excuse efforts to ban it, though.

[jlygrnmigt]

I've read a few lists o' banned books and I've learned to not let myself be surprised at what some idiot will find offensive. Rather than see that a book may bring to light important issues that warrant discussion, people swing the opposite way and cry out for a ban. Sometimes they're just dumb though. I remember having James and the Giant Peach read aloud to my class in the third grade over the course of a few weeks. We all loved it.

As for "Tess," I marked that as a "want to read" simply because I saw it so much in China. After your glowing review, however, it seems I might want to reconsider :)

How are you, anyway? You post less than I do :)

[atreyukin]

I'm doing well. It's been a busy summer, and the last few weeks have been simply crazy. I was in Chicago a few weekends ago, and saw the King Tut exhibit at the Field Museum (highly recommmended) and the Shedd Aquarium (also highly recommended). I'll be leaving in a couple of hours for Cleveland...some friends and I are going there to visit a special exhibit at the Maltz Museum. I've never been to Cleveland before, so it should be interesting. I would love to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, but I doubt we will have enough time.

I just hope we get to Cleveland soon enough for me to catch most of the Tigers game tonight, in which I will be rooting for them to eliminate the Yankees.