Banned Book Week starts Saturday

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by fugazied

The religious right would love to be able to ban books again. It looks like a good reading list to me!

Offtopic: Did you guys know that after 911 one of the major radio networks (with 1000+ affiliate stations) in the US had a 'do not play' list for songs. One of the those songs was 'Imagine' by John Lennon. The powers that be determined that lyrics like the ones below didn't suit the US in the aftermath as the war machine began lubricating it's gears...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

Interesting, fits right in with a discussion of banned books/speech if you ask me.

[igorsk]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I used to have an "I Read Banned Books" t-shirt. It eventually fell apart because I wore it so often. I think we need an "I Read Banned eBooks" t-shirt. I'll try to get one into the shop ASAP.

You can get this one in the meantime.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

I don't know where to start. I find it scary that people still want to ban books in this day and age, whatever their reasons.

To use the Mein Kampf example - I don't think it should be banned. People should be allowed to read it if they want to, and make their own minds up.

I did have a whole rant typed out, but I've removed it. I'll just say "knowledge doesn't kill, people do".

[ThomasMcKean]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Could anybody explain what banned books are? Aren't you even allowed to buy them in stores, are they not available in libraries???

Personally, I find the concept of banning books horrible.

I don't know that I agree with this? And this comes from an author.

I mean let's face it, there is a LOT of crap out there. I really don't have a problem with banning books. Though I do have a problem with banning them for the wrong reason, which it seems all of them are....

I am hopeful none of my stuff will ever be banned.

On the other hand, what better publicity could there be?

EDIT: Upon reflection, maybe it is not so much a matter of book banning that I am in favor of, but more a matter of certain books just not being published. Unfortunately, I would have to put one of mine on that list. But that's okay, because the other one made it onto Oprah.

I have had one successful book and one book that was an absolute failure.

And I have learned much from both.

[ThomasMcKean]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

They all missed my favorite banned book - James Branch Cabell's Jurgen.

It was banned in New York for obscenity and taken to trial (banned 1920, trial 1922, found not guilty, ban lifted)...

They all missed my own favorite, too.

Little Black Sambo.

My parents used to read it to me at bedtime about 40 years ago.

[Patricia]

The Online Books Page website has a list of banned books:
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/banned-books.html

There are quite a few of them in the MR library, including Voltaire's Candide, Cleland's Fanny Hill, Defoe's Moll Flanders, Aristophanes' Lysistrata, The 1001 Nights, and Black Beauty (banned in South Africa; even though the black beauty in question is a horse).

[NormHart]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

You are aware of the pedigree of the "Fire in a crowded theory," aren't you? It was originated by US Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes to justify a ban on the distribution of pacifist materials during WWI. Hardly an example to quote. And saying out loud that you intend to commit a certain illegal action (such as an assassination) and speaking in a general manner that certain actions should be legal ("we should kill all lawyers!") are two entirely different types of verbal act and are treated as such in the law, at least in the US. I think banning books has the inevitable effect of supporting the status quo and strengthening those social groups which already hold power at the expense of those who are politically and socially disadvantaged. It is not a surprise that in your own country, it is illegal to publish a book denying the Holocaust while books which deny the very existence of the Palestinian people (such as "From Time Immemorial") are easily available. As a Muslim I belong to one of the most maligned groups in recent history. It does hurt me emotionally when I see people depict sacred personages and symbols of my religion in a derogatory manner (much as it must hurt Jews to see anti-semitic cartoons and depictions, which are, of course, outlawed in the UK). I realize, however, that the best chance for me to defend my religion is with the truth. Laws which ban books and restrict the free interchange of ideas are inevitably going to obscure the truth because, as history has shown repeatedly, governments and the officials which run them are poor arbiters of truth (look at festival of unadulterated mendacity that was the run up to the invasion of Iraq for an example).

Luqman

Well said!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

It is not a surprise that in your own country, it is illegal to publish a book denying the Holocaust

No, you're mistaken. Holocaust denial is indeed a crime in many European countries, but not in the UK.

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, you're mistaken. Holocaust denial is indeed a crime in many European countries, but not in the UK.

Yes, though after David Irving sued Professor Deborah Lipstadt for libel in 1996 (after she called him a holocaust denier) at least the British courts don't approve of what the deniers say.
The trial documents, plus other resources are here:
http://www.hdot.org/

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by HarryT

So you think it's "horrible" that "Mein Kampf" is banned in Germany, Sweetpea? I think personally that there are situations (such as this one) where it is entirely justifyable.

A rather poorly made copy of Mein Kampf is in the Mobileread e-book collection (the umlauts are all munged, for instance).

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

You could also argue that Mein Kampf should be required reading in German schools. Well, I don't really think that would be very useful, but banning books is still wrong and, IMO, counterproductive. Do you really think that would-be nazis have any difficulty procuring this book? I think not. I think, on the contrary, that being banned gives it added meaning and value for them.

Mein Kampf, to my knowledge, is permitted for examination within academic circles within Germany.

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

I don't know where to start. I find it scary that people still want to ban books in this day and age, whatever their reasons.

To use the Mein Kampf example - I don't think it should be banned. People should be allowed to read it if they want to, and make their own minds up.

I did have a whole rant typed out, but I've removed it. I'll just say "knowledge doesn't kill, people do".

This is something I've considered.
The Mobileread Mein Kampf is a poor copy.
I have the tools to make a better copy and up it to Mobileread.
Should I? - I can't bring myself to; it's just going to encourage nutters and neo-Nazis, isn't it?

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Is there such a law?
Amazon(UK) sell books with bomb-making instructions.

Someone at some point had to have produced a document with bomb-making instructions, otherwise the world would never had a bomb. I guess the world military powers wouldn't like that.
But whether Joe Public should have access to such a book is at the heart of the issue.

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

Someone at some point had to have produced a document with bomb-making instructions, otherwise the world would never had a bomb. I guess the world military powers wouldn't like that.
But whether Joe Public should have access to such a book is at the heart of the issue.

Oddly enough, The Anarchist Cookbook is easily available via Amazon. Is is extremely unadvisable to make the bomb recipes at home:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anarchist-Co...3796274&sr=1-1

[WT Sharpe]

In honor of Banned Books Week -- and with apologies to Jimmy Kimmel, who in his "This Week in Unnecessary Censorship" segment offers his weekly Tribute to the FCC, in which he bleeps words and blurs images whether they need it or not -- I'd like to present you all with "This Week in Unnecessary Book Censorship."

The Babysitter's C*** by Ann Martin
Plum S****y by Janet Evanovich
The Tale of P**** Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Valley of the D***s by Jacqueline Susann
The Lovely B**** by Alice Sebold
F*** Street by R. L. Stine
L*ving D*** in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
D*** Slayer by Christine Feehan
Crazy **** by Francis Chan
Catching **** by Suzanne Collins