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I found out about these banned books (which happen to be some of my favorites) through my friends list. I knew before that they'd been banned, but I wasn't clear on the reasons why. Now that I've found out, I'm a little angry.
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
( Read more... )
Challenged in the Normal, ILL Community High Schools sophomore literature class (2003) as being degrading to African Americans.
Challenged at the Stanford Middle School in Durham, N.C. (2004) because the 1961 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel uses the word "nigger."
It's the last two that really get me mad, here. As little as two years ago, people still can't get over the fact that some books, in order to present or preserve a sense of historical accuracy, use "bad words".
The Lord of the Flies, William Golding
( Read more... )
1984, George Orwell
Challenged in the Jackson County, FL (1981) because Orwell's novel is "pro-communist and contained explicit sexual matter."
Pro-Communist? Were these people reading the same book I was reading? 1984 is anything BUT pro-Communist
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
( Read more... )
Challenged in the Normal, Ill. Community High Schools (2003) because the books contains "racial slurs, profanity, violence, and does not represent traditional values." An alternative book, Steinbeck's The Pearl, was offered but rejected by the family challenging the novel.
Get over yourself, bitches. "Traditional values" also say that a woman should be subservient to her husband.
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Banned in Strongsville, Ohio (1972), but the school board's action was overturned in 1976 by a U.S. District Court in Minarcini v. Strongsville City School District.
Challenged at the Dallas, Tex. Independent School District high school libraries (1974); in Snoqualmie, Wash. (1979) because of its several references to "whores."
Oh. For a second there, I thought someone was going to object to 'homosexual themes' because Yossarian falls in love with the chaplain.
...
Damn. Did I just give the idiots ammunition?
Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
Banned from Anaheim, Calif. Union High School District English classrooms (9178) according to the Anaheim Secondary Teachers Association.
Challenged in Waukegan, Ill. School District (1984) because the novel uses the word "nigger."
Nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger! Now you have to ban my journal, too.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
( Read more... )
Challenged at the Placentia-Yorba Linda, California Unified School District (2000) after complaints by parents stated that teachers "can choose the best books, but they keep choosing this garbage over and over again."
In 1974, five residents of Strongsville, Ohio, sued the board of education to remove the novel. Labeling it "pornographic," they charged the novel "glofiries criminal activity, has a tendency to corrupt juveniles and contains descriptions of bestiality, bizarre violence, and torture, dismemberment, death, and human elimination."
1) I'm just curious as to what these people consider "the best books", if they think this one is "garbage".
2) As many times that I've read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I can't remember any references to bestiality. I'll get back to you guys on that one, though.
Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut
( Read more... )
Challenged at the Owensboro, Ky. High School library (1985) because of "foul language, a section depicting a picture of an act of bestiality, a reference to 'Magic Fingers' attached to the protagonist's bed to help him sleep, and the sentence: 'The gun made a ripping sound like the opening of the fly of God Almighty."'
Sweet God, people are stupid. That last phrase is a literary device. Magic Fingers are the coin-operated massage feature on motel beds. And so what about the picture of the woman having sex with a horse. Was a copy of the picture included in the book. I think not, you damned dolts.
Oh, and by the way?
Pig-fucking.
Vibrators.
Nigger.
Spic.
Chink.
Flip.
Just wanted to make sure that I get banned for all the right reasons, too.
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
( Read more... )
Challenged in the Normal, ILL Community High Schools sophomore literature class (2003) as being degrading to African Americans.
Challenged at the Stanford Middle School in Durham, N.C. (2004) because the 1961 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel uses the word "nigger."
It's the last two that really get me mad, here. As little as two years ago, people still can't get over the fact that some books, in order to present or preserve a sense of historical accuracy, use "bad words".
The Lord of the Flies, William Golding
( Read more... )
1984, George Orwell
Challenged in the Jackson County, FL (1981) because Orwell's novel is "pro-communist and contained explicit sexual matter."
Pro-Communist? Were these people reading the same book I was reading? 1984 is anything BUT pro-Communist
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
( Read more... )
Challenged in the Normal, Ill. Community High Schools (2003) because the books contains "racial slurs, profanity, violence, and does not represent traditional values." An alternative book, Steinbeck's The Pearl, was offered but rejected by the family challenging the novel.
Get over yourself, bitches. "Traditional values" also say that a woman should be subservient to her husband.
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Banned in Strongsville, Ohio (1972), but the school board's action was overturned in 1976 by a U.S. District Court in Minarcini v. Strongsville City School District.
Challenged at the Dallas, Tex. Independent School District high school libraries (1974); in Snoqualmie, Wash. (1979) because of its several references to "whores."
Oh. For a second there, I thought someone was going to object to 'homosexual themes' because Yossarian falls in love with the chaplain.
...
Damn. Did I just give the idiots ammunition?
Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
Banned from Anaheim, Calif. Union High School District English classrooms (9178) according to the Anaheim Secondary Teachers Association.
Challenged in Waukegan, Ill. School District (1984) because the novel uses the word "nigger."
Nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger! Now you have to ban my journal, too.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
( Read more... )
Challenged at the Placentia-Yorba Linda, California Unified School District (2000) after complaints by parents stated that teachers "can choose the best books, but they keep choosing this garbage over and over again."
In 1974, five residents of Strongsville, Ohio, sued the board of education to remove the novel. Labeling it "pornographic," they charged the novel "glofiries criminal activity, has a tendency to corrupt juveniles and contains descriptions of bestiality, bizarre violence, and torture, dismemberment, death, and human elimination."
1) I'm just curious as to what these people consider "the best books", if they think this one is "garbage".
2) As many times that I've read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I can't remember any references to bestiality. I'll get back to you guys on that one, though.
Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut
( Read more... )
Challenged at the Owensboro, Ky. High School library (1985) because of "foul language, a section depicting a picture of an act of bestiality, a reference to 'Magic Fingers' attached to the protagonist's bed to help him sleep, and the sentence: 'The gun made a ripping sound like the opening of the fly of God Almighty."'
Sweet God, people are stupid. That last phrase is a literary device. Magic Fingers are the coin-operated massage feature on motel beds. And so what about the picture of the woman having sex with a horse. Was a copy of the picture included in the book. I think not, you damned dolts.
Oh, and by the way?
Pig-fucking.
Vibrators.
Nigger.
Spic.
Chink.
Flip.
Just wanted to make sure that I get banned for all the right reasons, too.