Heart to Heart is a new feature here at The Hottie Harem. Inspired by Let's Discuss hosted at Oh Chrys! and The Fiction Conniption, the purpose of these posts is to either share a book or blogging issue, controversy or even a little tidbit discovered somewhere in the blogosphere.
September 22 to 28 is Banned Book Week and there are numerous posts on the Internet focusing on lists of banned books such as the New York Daily News, which focuses on the 10 Most Challenged Books of 2012 or Buzzfeed.com, which talks about the 15 books banned for the most absurd reasons.
The one question that these lists constantly evoke in me is: Why is it so difficult for certain groups or individuals to allow other people to decide for themselves what they want to read and what they want their children to read?
Freedom is something rare and precious (as anyone who watches the news can attest) so why do we want to limit or restrain those around us? And believe you me, dictating what someone can and cannot read is the epitome of restraining freedom, just take a look at the books burned by the Nazis prior to and during World War II.
So, in honor of my opposition to banning books. Here are my top five favorite banned books (there are more but I decided to limit myself to 5):
1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling (banned for its promotion of witchcraft and portrayal of evil)
2. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (banned for having the words "black" and "beauty" in close proximity)
3. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (banned for sex, violence and profanity - can't actually remember reading any of these in the book though)
4. Animal Farm by George Orwell - banned in the Soviet Union for its anti-communist stance and United Arab Emirates for depicting a talking pig
5. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (banned for being offensive to Christianity)
What's your favorite banned book?
I always laugh when I see the reasons for banning Harry Potter, because I can tell immediately that these people did not truly read the books. Those books taught me a ton of things but none of them were witchcraft or how to be evil.
ReplyDeleteMe either. I learned about loyalty, friendship and courage nut how to turn my brother into a frog, although there were times I might have wanted to :0)
DeleteI have to admit that I'm confused about this. How is Harry Potter banned? Banned from what? Is it not allowed in schools? Of does this just mean that someone, somewhere banned it? If we ban any book that contains anything that might be offensive to someone, I don't think we'd have anything to read. I just don't get the idea behind banning. If you don't like it, don't read it. If you don't want your kids to read something, tell them not to. My 11-year-old son has been begging for years to read The Hunger Games and I just haven't felt comfortable with it - I'll let him read it at some point, but I'm not sure exactly when. I'm his mom - if I don't like it, I get to tell him no. At some point, I won't be able to make those decisions for him, but by then I hope he'll be mature enough to make them for himself and to handle whatever it is he decides to read. It's all part of life!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Well said, Nicole! That is exactly how I feel - it is the individual parent's right to decide what their child should read not some prejudiced, holier than thou group who think only their opinions matter.
DeleteI guess most of the time now, when they refer to the banned books...are because some school board banned them due to complaints from parents (I'm just guessing here). Maybe the schools ban them just so they don't have deal with these parents who are determined to make plenty of noise...I mean it can be tiring dealing with parents like that. Anyway so what if the books are banned in schools; kids can easily walk into a store or library and get those books themselves...it's not like there is an age check on books.
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