To go along with my other book thread I thought this would be cool. And it's totally not about muslims :wink:.

I give you the top 25 banned books.

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/37480/a-long-shelf-life

I've read 11 of them myself. How's 'bout y'all. And feel free to rage against censorship, I'm sure we all hate that.

-S-

 

I've read thirteen. Why are they banned? Censorship of books is a clue to some type of downfall. If we can't read, we can't learn, if we can't learn, we're fucked.

 

I've read 12 of those, and mostly when I was in school for english class! Why in the world is "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" banned?

 

I've read 16 of em. Dont understand why theyre banned, but whatever.

 

I tried going to the link "accounting of objectionable reads" to see if it gave an explanation to why they've been banned, but the link doesn't work for me.

It said that these books were banned from school libraries, would that mean that students can't bring these books from home and read them at school?

 

I would hope not. I remember when there was a stink about Harry Potter and some parents tried to get it taken from schools but I don't remember if that meant they weren't even allowed to have it with them. God I hope not, anyway.

-S-

 

I found this on the American Library Association website, it talks a little about who tries to get them banned, etc.

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/challengedbanned/challengedbanned.htm#wcb

-S-

 

I've read 15, and recognize most of the rest.

I recognize why some find these books objectionable, but really wonder about How to Eat Fried Worms. (Rewrite: never mind. The setup involves gambling; that's its problem.)

I think I should mention I have my own doubts about whether The Anarchist Cookbook belongs in our schools. It's not the fact that it shows how to build explosives, but the fact that so much of what it shows how to build is quite dangerous to the builder, and that it deliberately downplays those dangers.

 

oh, I knew that Stephen King would be on there lol
"Brave new World" and " To Kill a Mockingbird" were both high school reading books for english. I can see for sure why "Brave new World" was banned though, that book is strange (but still good)

 

i have read 15 of them. i also read a mojority of them in high school english. i wonder what books they will be reading in english now most of their literary curriculum is banned.

 

I've read 19 of them. out of the 19 only three I think I read outside of English class

 

First off I've only read 2 of them. The Harry Potter books and James and the Giant Peach. So I'm not the well read and educated guy I thought I was.

But more importantly, am I getting this right? Are these books banned from US school libraries or are they just books that someone tried to ban from US school libraries? I can understand, from what I know of some of the books on the list why certain people or groups would want them banned but did they succeed?

And when they've succeeded in getting a book banned do they have a book burning like the old-style Nazis did in Germany?

I thought it was the Land of the Free?[/i]

 

This is ridiculous.

Aldous Huxley once said in comment to the book Fahrenheit 451, "In the future, we won't even have to burn books, nobody will want to read them anyway."

And our citizens are fucking making it happen.

 

I've read 11 of them... and still have them too! Don't understand why they're banned either... except for Harry Potter because of the association with witchcraft, magic and the occult....supposedly....and most of them have either been made into movies or tv series. With Tom Sawyer and Huck finn being banned, why not ban Little House on the Prarie books (and the tv series)????

If any books are to be banned it's the celebrity social pyschology bettering-yourself type books. And all the books on that list are really good! (Loved Go Ask Alice when I was a kid, as well as anything by Paul Zindel!)

 

I've read all of them except for Go Ask Alice and Chocolate War.

The Anarchist's Cookbook I could understand being banned, but outside of that, this is for the most part ridiculous.

To Kill a Mockingbird is quite possibly the best work of American Literature to date. Atticus Finch is one of literature's most noble heroes.

Huck Finn is another great book. I find it hard to believe that people can go through life without reading it.

I believe these two books are banned mostly in the south where idiots, er southerners, think the books portray southern whites in a negative way.

I hated the Catcher in the Rye. It does have questionable subject matter, but I don't think it should be banned.

I read Flowers for Algernon when I was like 13. Great book, can't figure out why it's banned. One of the most puzzling books on the list in terms of why it's banned.

Brave New World is an important book and should be read by every highschool student IMO, but all the orgy scenes are probably behind the banning.

I loved the Outsiders. That's another book that eveyone should read. Maybe it's because people are murdered in it, but I still don't think that merits it being banned.

Harry Potter being banned is the dumbest shit I've ever heard. Why? Don't want kids taking a fascination with the occult? Ugh.

Captain Underpants? Seriously?

I don't feel like going on... I'm getting depressed.

 

maybe Captain Underpants was banned for partial nudity?

either way I agree some of these banned books are fucking ridiculous oh and Chocolate War is a good book but it's set in the 60's so it's kind of hard to relate to

 

not all southerners are idiots thank you very much. i am southern and have read most of those books and have no problem with any of them. i know lots of others here who have no problems with these books either. there may be some southerners who wanted them banned, as i'm sure there are people wherever you are from that don't think they should be allowed.

don't stereotype man, it's insulting.

 

Wow... 21 of those were either required or suggested reading when I was in school... And I only graduated 2 years ago.

 

I've read 11 of those, and almost every single one was a book I read in school. These aren't banned, are they? Like, for real?

Anyway, I HATE the idea of governments banning books. For a country whose first constitutional amendment is a freedom of speech, it sure boggles my mind that we pretty openly ban books. I grant you, censorship is not ALWAYS a bad thing, it is USUALLY a bad thing.

I hate the thought of banning books, really. It just smacks of the Nazis burning books. It seems like it's just out to crush ideas that one or two really loud annoying people might not agree with.

Rargh. Down with censorship.

 

Guess I've read 11 of them.

It sickens me how ignorance fears knowledge.