"Before I knowed it, I was sayin' out loud, 'The hell with it! There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There's just stuff people do. It's all part of the same thing.'"
—The Grapes of Wrath [1939] John Steinbeck
"Ravished! How ravished one could be without ever being touched. Ravished by dead words become obscene, and dead ideas become obsessions."
—Lady Chatterley's Lover [1928] D. H. Lawrence
"All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true. One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn't his. Another guy I knew really did threaten to have his personal enemies killed by hired gunmen after the war. And so on. I've changed all the names."
—Slaughterhouse-Five [1969] Kurt Vonnegut
"The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."
—To Kill a Mockingbird [1960] Harper Lee
"The sun burnt every day. It burnt Time. The world rushed in a circle and turned on its axis and time was busy burning the years and the people anyway, without any help from him. So if he burnt things with the firemen and the sun burnt Time, that meant that everything burnt!"
—Fahrenheit 451 [1953] Ray Bradbury
"It was that kind of a crazy afternoon, terrifically cold, and no sun out or anything, and you felt like you were disappearing every time you crossed a road."
—The Catcher in the Rye [1951] J.D. Salinger
"I believe that today more than ever a book should be sought after even if it has only one great page in it. We must search for fragments, splinters, toenails, anything that has ore in it, anything that is capable of resuscitating the body and the soul."
—Tropic of Cancer [1934] Henry Miller
"The Planet drifts to random insect doom..."
—Naked Lunch [1959] William S. Burroughs
"History...is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake."
—Ulysses [1922] James Joyce
"Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary."
—1984 [1949] George Orwell
Prior to 1933, the U.S. Post Office and U.S. Customs could arbitrarily declare a book "obscene." These agencies had the right to seize and destroy copies of the work, and publishers found distributing the books were actually prosecuted and could face jail time. Ulysses was banned as obscene in the U.S. for 15 years. One of the founders of Random House had to sue to get the ban lifted. It was that decision that helped changed the attitudes of the court system towards controversial books.
1984 was banned? wow. irony. big brother is watchign you.
it is horrible that books CAN be banned!
hello.... i am writing a paper about banned books... i need some help to get started. I was wondering if i could use some of these comments for my paper! Could anyone help me? Thank you
[Editor's Note: Yes, you are welcome to use some of the comments for your paper. However, we request that you add Alternative Reel as one of your sources in both your footnotes and endnotes, as well as email us a copy of your finished paper so we can post it online at our discretion. Thanks and good luck!]
I really wish people weren't such idiots. When they say 'banned books' they don't mean the GOVERNMENT BANNED THE BOOKS, they mean SCHOOL DISTRICTS have banned the books. And they do NOT mean the books are CURRENTLY banned, simply that they HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY banned more than other books. And I understand all you kids who are just now reading these books because they are required reading, but really you should be reading them anyway! And add Brave New World, A Clockwork Orange, Animal Farm, and Lord of the Flies to the mix also. A good book will stimulate the mind, will make you think. Maybe if people read more of these books, such igorance wouldn't exist.
i had to read 6 out of 10 of these books for high school english classes. funny world.
I'm surprised that you didn't put "The Satanic Verses" as number one, I can't think of a more high-profile case of a book being banned in recent years. I'd recommend anyone pick up a copy of most of these books, they're all good reads, except "Catcher in the Rye", I'd ban it for being the most boring and pretentious book ever personally :)lol
How strange. I have been required to read 7 out of the 10 for my 5 years in Honor classes. I don't seem to be effected at all. And to the parents trying to get books banned for foul language, go walk to halls of your cities high school. .. you will hear worse
I've read all of these books, and they are all fine pieces of literature. There is no reason they should be banned, if you don't want to read it then don't. Don't ruin it for everyone else.
I think you weirdys should get laid.
here is my paper.... Banned Books! Good or Bad? By: Anastasha Bryant Why are so many good books being banned from schools libraries? Many people have let their own opinion be heard about banning books. Are parents and teachers really just that blind at the fact they are depriving the students of classics? One of the most frequently challenged books in the U.S. is Harry Potter by J.K Rowling. Harry Potter is one of the most popular book series among children. I don’t know what goes on in the challengers’ brains, but I do know what some of their issues are. I am going to be voicing my own experiences as a reader. Another recent study shows that many parents feel their child is to0 innocent to read some of the scenes in the classic books. Why do parents feel their children are too delicate to read the romance, adventure, or any other classics they read as a child? I have read many classics, including To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I have also read many other books on the banned books list. I personally do not see why they would be banned! They are great books with nothing but good writing in them. For example, many of the books I read take you into the book. What I mean by that is you don’t get to just read the story. The stories are so detailed that you feel as if you are there in the book watching the story unfold. Many people say that no one should have the authority to take away any books from a child. I completely agree with this statement. If adults take away our books then we will feel pressured into reading books we do not like. If we read books we don’t like then we will stop reading. I know that sounds like an overstatement, but this is true. One of the currently challenged books is the popular novel series by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter. According to recent studies, the main reasons parents have to ban Harry Potter are they say it teaches witchcraft. Many parents say their child should not be allowed to read these books because it teaches the wrong morals. They say it teaches the young readers that you can do pretty much anything and then magic can get you out of consequences. Is this true? No it is not. I can say as a reader that this is completely false. Harry Potter teaches good morals and true friendship. It teaches that if you want something bad enough you will act regardless of the consequences. That is what the children of today need to be learning. J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter putting these intentions into a fun creative way. Before making false accusations maybe the challengers should read these books first. There may be hope of silencing them if they would just read each word of each book they challenge. I have heard many statements on the issues of banning books. One of the many that stuck with me the past year is, “If Harry Potter is being banned because it teaches wrong morals, then shouldn’t the Twilight series be banned to?” That is something to think on. Twilight is a very popular series among teens. It is about an average girl who falls in love with a very strange vampire. She enters the world of magic and mystery as she pulls together the pieces of her love’s strange life. This book does not have the same morals as Harry Potter. It has a very different set of morals. One of the best morals is that love conquers all. Yet Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn all have some scenes that are probably more inappropriate than Harry Potter. So ask yourselves if banning harry Potter has anything to do with morals. I have many friends that feel strongly about this. One of them talks about what I just wrote, proving my point. “Riko - 2008-05-12 09:34:13 _Vin Lunney Jr._ said this: "Why isn't the bible banned?? Dr. Sues’ is apparently subversive but it's ok for the bible to have nudity (Adam and eve) incest, murder (god orders death of men, women and children in violation of his own commandment during the Jews conquest of cannon) (lot) bigamy (Abraham, Jacob and Moses all were allowed more than one wife) and that charming story of Sodom and Gomorrah that says a good father throws his daughters at a crowd of bisexual rapists over the lord's angels who have divine powers. I would have my kid read ANY of the banned books before I let them near the bible. They might get ideas..." Don't take this the wrong way, but isn't this-too- Ironic that, on this site, we are all trying to state that it is wrong for books to be banned, that it is a violation of people's rights, but here you sit knocking down the bible...I am a Christian, and even I have problems with the bible, many actually, but have you ever gone through the bible or have you-like most people-nitpicked through it and only found the parts that you don't like While we're at it why don't we ban the Koran, The book of Mormon, books on witchcraft, The book of Satanism...etc. Oh wait...that's right...That would be religious discrimination and also a banning of books” This is a quote of what they said. This particular comment caught my attention quickly. [http://www.alternativereel.com/includes/top-ten/display_review.php?id=00002] This is a very good point to consider. No one should have to go through life being deprived of great books. We as students feel picking out what books we read is one of the only choices we have left to make. If you take this choice away from us we feel others are controlling our lives and we will respond angrily. Many people only read the books that they feel comfortable reading. We all read at different levels. When you push students to read certain books we don’t enjoy them as much as if we picked them ourselves. I would finally like to ask you to stand with me and the thousands of people fighting to preserve all the wonderful books. We should stand together and fight for our children’s, grandchildren’s, and even our great grandchildren’s right to read. Think about what has been said in this essay before choosing your side. And by the way, WE know the government can't ban books you neurotic freaks! It is sad that people can be as stupid as to think the government can ban books. Everyone is totally pissed about SCHOOLS banned the books!
Writing Girl is right, people who assume we are stupid enough to believe the government put these bans on books are indeed neurotic freaks. Everyone knows the First Amendment prevents them from doing so. The schools and public librarys can ban books, also book stores can ban them from their stores, but the government wouldn't dare mess with them. Please just shut up if you don't know what neither you nor what we are talking about. We feel very strongly about this and will set you straight when messing with our beliefs.
To the loser who recons the bible should be banned it was try reading history maybe they should ban more anti religus freaks who think you know everything but crupt the morals of genarations and think nothing of the price they dont and wont pay themselves
i agree with writing girl those books are great to read
I must be pretty lucky because my school doesn't ban most of these books. I have actually read several of them as school assignments.
I belive that books shouldn't be banned from schools just because of there authers or some words books are books thats all there is to it.
thank you for the positive feed for my paper.... I got a 100 on it and I am so happy..... To: Erin..... MOST of these books are no longer banned in schools, but at one point in time they were ban! To: deco..... I do agree that the bible should not be involved in schools, unless there are indeed classes on religions around the worlds...
Writing girl28- I'm happy for your A !!!!!
When or where were these books banned, and for what reasons?
books are banned,or kept out of libraries,or not taught in schools to control the way people think.if everbody is taught to think the same way,then the likelihood of dissension or people questioning what is being done is greatly reduced. two good books to read are: catch 22 by joseph heller one flew over the cuckoo's nest by ken kesey
Tis I again! I need help on writing and have a few questions: My questions on writing are {or is since I only have one} Can you be over descriptive? And my other question is: I am writing another paper and I need new comments and such! I was wondering if I could possibly interview someone who is here regularly? And then use them and this site in my paper!
Wow some people who've posted in the past were idiots. About Salman Rushdie, I know The Satanic Verses (and possibly all of his works) is/are banned in Iran, but never in the U.S. Another great read by him is Shalimar The Clown. And it seems pretty obvious that 1984 was banned by Western governments at some point or other...(I've yet to read Fahrenheit 451 and a couple others on the list), but never has a book rung more true in today's society than 1984. Orwell was a genius.
Banned book drive me crazy sometimes. Some of these book are amazing to read. I dont understand why parents go crazy about profanity, racial slurs, depression, violence, sexuality, and more in books when their kids are exposed to it everyday in movies, tv, heck even in life. I would understand if it was, for example: "To Kill a Mocking Bird" to kids in 5th or 6th grade. But teachers typically have better common sence. I dont know, maybe its just me but, i see no need for parents to have books banned.
A good list with some of my favourite books in it... if your definition of "book" is "a novel written in English".
I personaly can see the reason for 1984's ban the sexual content in it is one reason, but there is another the revolt against a larger power can be taken in a perspective of the people going against the government. So obviously they wouldn't want people to read it. It is a great book and im glad that we can get past the ideas that got it banned in the first place and have the people of the world enjoy it.
these books are gay
bullshit. the Anarchist's Cookbook will not get you 10 years in jail.
much sillyness in the comments here, a quick google of the various title will reveal all these books were banned somewhere, at some point. Mostly from US schools and public libraries..for example Fahrenheit 451 was only banned by the school board of Mississippi as far as I can tell. A few were banned from sale entirely, Lady Chatterley for example was banned in UK Canada and Australia, (but only censored in the US). 1984 seems to have been banned in the USSR. As for the "Anarchists Cookbook" which I think is what is meant by "the Anarchists Handbook". Not only is it not illegal to own, or sell, its readily available on Amazon.com - Though that's not to say it would be "evidence" if "Big Brother" took an interest in you...
Top 10 Banned Books of the 20th Century ? You mean Top 10 english written banned books, right ? Do you know Vassili Grossman ? Wikipedia is your friend !!!!
I read and watched Fahrenheit 451 for the first time this year and it really is the most Ironic Banned book I have ever read why exactly was it banned?
the funny part is that u have to read to kill a mockingbird for english and same with fahrenheit 451
Why they kept banning books! This is the Secret! Ten Commandments for Borrowers of Books “Who goeth a-borrowing goeth a-sorrowing” 1. Thou shalt not buy what thou canst borrow. 2. Thou shalt take care of thine own books, for thy babies and thy puppies will find as much delight in borrowed books as playthings. 3. Thou shalt not cut the leaves of a book with a butter-knife, nor decorate the margins with jam in imitation of the old illuminated manuscripts. 4. Remember that the most artistic form of appreciation is to repair the torn leaves of a book with postage-stamp edging, and to arrange the red and green lines alternately. 5. Honor the opinions of an author as expressed in his book, but shouldst thou disagree with his views, pencil thine own notes in the margins. By so doing thou wilt not only give evidence of thy vast learning, but will irritate subsequent readers who will, unmindful of thy superior knowledge, regard thee as a conceited ass. 6. Thou shalt choose thy books from amongst those most worn. Shouldst of knowing that many of thy neighbors have been “had” likewise. 7. Thou shalt consult the librarian when thou knowest not what thou requirest. Should he be unable to assist thee,, substitute “in” for “con”. 8. Thou shalt no pay fines on principle (current cash is much to be preferred). 9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against the library assistant, saying: “He taketh the best books and reserved them for his friends” 10. Thou shalt not covet the books that thy neighbor hath appropriated.
i love how books with a deeper meaning than what it says in the text are being banned, yet through our radio waves on hip hop stations we hear songs constantly about woman, getting money and clubbing. Yet no one is opposing that? All hypocrites if you ask me
The anarchist's handbook". Its banned because its a How to book on making explosives and posession isnt a crime, but selling it is........ NOT!!! You can own this book and buy this book, but if you get caught making any of the items in the book, then you're screwed
banning books is like prohibiting living things to breath,or to admire the trees growing around us.it is all nonsense really,a book no matter how obscene or immoral is something a creative mind produced and has merits and beauty all on it's own and they should be appreciated or at least not abhorred by narrow minded people phony and stupid enough to see it'w worth.