Banned Books: 10 Ways To Celebrate Banned Books Week

The New York Times:

Held annually during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of intellectual freedom and draws attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted banning of books across the United States, including books commonly taught in secondary schools.

Read the whole story: The New York Times

Comments

[tommy b]

09:07 AM on 10/01/2010

One comment from a poster said In an ideal society. Yes banning books is bad but ubfortunately there is no truth meter attached to books And while you would hope people have the intelligence to filter out the lies and falsehoods; today with so many political biased books they dont. too many believe every word because it caters to their beliefs Its scary

[Skunkman]

08:40 AM on 10/01/2010

Regardless of the content, books serve as windows through which we can see the world, allowing us to learn and grow from the shared thoughts and experiences of others.

In an ideal family, school, community or society, books are the subject of open discussion, an opportunity for all involved to learn about the world as well as each other.

To disagree with the content of a particular book is our individual right but to ban the book robs each one of us of the choice.

We are not made wiser through isolation and ignorance but through exploration, conversation and contemplation.

The threat comes not from knowledge but from fear of the unknown and failure to communicate. Embrace the books and engage in discussion with one another.

[DrJackD]

07:22 PM on 09/27/2010

I haven't seen a mention of the greatest novel in English, James Joyce's "Ulysses" (1922) which was banned in the U.S. for awhile. The judge who reversed the ban said it could enter the country because "although it is in places emetic [makes you puke], nowhere is it pornographic." So you see, we've always had our values straight!

[DrJackD]

07:19 PM on 09/27/2010

Here's some long-term perspective: the FIRST book banned in America was "New English Canaan" by Thomas Morton of "Merrymount"---the New England colonies' first "criminal exile" and America's First Poet in English. Morton was an educated Renaissance man who grew up in England's wild West Country under Queen Elizabeth and came to America in 1624---prospering in every way because he loved it here, as opposed to his Pilgrim neighbors 40 miles away who were starving in a "howling wilderness." "Canaan" (1637) is three books: 10 chapters of closely observed Native American life (they made Morton's success possible); 10 chapters on the wonders of American nature; and the final third is his satiric attack on the Pilgrims and Boston Puritans, warning that if their "martialist" approach to America were followed, the continent would become a Christian labor camp. He calls Myles Standish "Captain Shrimp" and won his lawsuit against "New Israel" for having burned him out of house and home. 10 years to the month after Morton's May 1627 Maypole Revels for "all comers," the Puritans were trying to exterminate the Pequots of CT. No wonder Morton and his book were banned---after all, they were honest and positive-spirited. But we're going to make a feature film on Morton SOMEday and his story will change The story. Drink and Be Merry! ancientgreece-earlyamerica dot com, and AncientLights dot org ....

[fishnetdiver]

04:42 AM on 09/27/2010

the thing I see is that if this list of 'ways to celebrate banned book week' were presented on a MSM network I feel the focus would be more on the whole 'teachers making their students read and discuss these books' as opposed to the whole concept that there are still fights going on to get certain books banned from the public.

[triplettam]

03:57 PM on 09/26/2010

Every year a couple of colleges here hold "Banned Book Celebrations" and I do presentations on Lenny Bruce. Not only did he write "How To Talk Dirty and Influence People," but he was banned as a performer. We always have to remember that we were not handed our rights on a silver platter just because they were written on a document 234 years ago. People have fought, died and given up everything they had so that we have the right to vote, speak our mind or read what we want. And we should never take any of our rights for granted.

[kareemachan]

10:39 AM on 09/25/2010

I can't believe some of the books people have wanted to be banned.

Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey? 'Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging'? by Louise Rennison?

Why do I have a hunch that these people never looked past the titles to assess the books themselves? The Capt. Underpants books are a big hit at our school library with the boys (mostly) at a time when it can be hard to get them interested reading. Louise Rennison's books are absolutely hilarious. Our family listened to 'Angus' on tape when driving during a vacation, and we all were howling!

[kareemachan]

10:32 AM on 09/25/2010

It's always scary when people want to control what you do "for your own good", and it's ironic that the people who do this sort of thing and are pro-birth and such are also the ones mouthing the buzz words about smaller government.

[inkongirl]

09:46 PM on 09/24/2010

Celebrate by checking out the list and reading a few!

[c-tom]

05:36 PM on 09/24/2010

I'm amazed at the kind of reasoning you'd need to want to ban some of these books. Some of these I understand why some groups try to get them banned. Pro-atheist series, uses the n-word, or they are about sex drugs and rockandroll. But 'Fahrenheit 451'- trying to ban a book about burning books what can one say. Or 'Grendel' - a re-telling of 'Beowulf'- isn't it a little late to try and stop that story?

[chipchuck]

02:51 PM on 09/24/2010

Banning a book is the best marketing method to gain my dollar.

[Jove Evander]

12:19 PM on 09/24/2010

Books won't stay banned. They won't burn. Ideas won't go to jail. In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas. The source of better ideas is wisdom. The surest path to wisdom is a liberal education.

—Alfred Whitney, "Essays on Education"

[GraceNotes]

02:01 PM on 09/24/2010

I am reading a wonderful book right now called Obscene in the Extreme about the banning and burning of The Grapes of Wrath.
Yes, the book is still around and continues to be challenged across the country. But big agribusiness has continued to grow with little regard for the workers or the consumers. We saw this just this week with the testimony of the Iowa egg producers who refused to take the blame for sickening 1,600 people.

[Jove Evander]

04:39 PM on 09/24/2010

Yes. I agree. Obscene in the Extreme... A very enlightening book.

My father, God rest his soul, came out of the "dust bowl" to California in the 30's.

Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was one of his, if not, his favorite book.

"Fear the time when the strikes stop while the great owners live - for every little beaten strike is proof that the step is being taken … fear the time when Manself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is the foundation of Manself, and this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe."
- John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 14

[tlcpro]

12:06 PM on 09/24/2010

This is what I have to say about banned books: http://quikonnex.com/channel/item/35356