HERE'S WHAT I THINK
Banned Books: Protecting Our Society or Infringing on Freedom of Speech?
Challenging or banning books is a practice as old as the history of writing books. Throughout time, governments, religious organizations, and other groups ban books determined as controversial or against societal norms. In the beginning, burning books was an effective means of destroying the controversial material because of limited printing. With larger publishing capability and the Internet's vast reach, burning books is a little less effective, but it is still done.
Challenging or banning books is not limited to a particular country or time period -- there are banned books in every country today. Every year in the U.S., hundreds of books are challenged to be removed from classrooms and libraries.
The debate is whether this is a good practice, not whether the practice exists. Pro banners cite authors' works are too immoral, deviant, and could cause aberrant behavior. Anti banners cite books should be protected for the authors' freedom of speech.
Is banning books a good idea for society? In my opinion, I don't think so. While I believe in the power of words and the need for social rules, I do not think banning books helps control society. I think banning books infringes on an author's freedom of speech and prevents people from experiencing new ideas.
Image courtesy of American Library Association - Banned Books Week
WHAT ARE BANNED BOOKS?
Banned books are books to which free access is not permitted. The practice of banning books is a form of censorship, and often has political, religious or moral motivations.
Bans on books can be enacted at the national or subnational level, and can carry legal penalties for their infraction. Books may also be challenged at a local, community level. As a result, books can be removed from schools or libraries, although these bans do not extend outside of that area. Similarly, religions may issue lists of banned books ? a historical example being the Roman Catholic Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum ? which do not always carry legal force.
ALA LIST OF BANNED OR CHALLENGED BOOKS
100 Banned Books: How Many Have You Read?
The ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) records the most challenged or banned over the years. The OIF has only been recording this data since 1990, so frequently banned authors or books prior to that date aren't included. Most of these books are considered"classic literary" in today's world, and actually 42 of the books are on the Radcliffe Publishing Course list of the century's top 100 novels.
Can you IMAGINE your life if censoring these books had been effective? For a moment, imagine these books banned forever -- and banned from every classroom, library, and home in every country across the globe.
Posters have commented that some of these books are "challenged" at the school level from being required reading or included in the school libraries. Find out why: Reasons for Frequently Challenged Books.
How many of these challenged or banned books have you read?
1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
6. Ulysses by James Joyce
7. Beloved by Toni Morrison
8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
9. 1984 by George Orwell
10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov
12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
13. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
17. Animal Farm by George Orwell
18. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
19. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
20. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
23. Their Eyes are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
24. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
25. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
26. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
27. Native Son by Richard Wright
28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
30. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
31. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
32. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
35. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
36. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
37. The World According to Garp by John Irving
38. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
39. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
40. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
41. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
44. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
46. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
48. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
49. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
50. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
51. My Antonia by Willa Cather
52. Howards End by E. M. Forster
53. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
54. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
56. Jazz by Toni Morrison
57. Sophie's Choice by William Styron
58. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
59. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
61. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
62. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
63. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
64. Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
66. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
68. Light in August by William Faulkner
69. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
71. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
73. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
75. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
76. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
77. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
78. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
80. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
81. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
82. White Noise by Don DeLillo
83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
84. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
85. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
86. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
87. The Bostonians by Henry James
88. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
89. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
91. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
93. The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
94. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
96. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
97. Rabbit, Run by John Updike
98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster
99. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
100. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
September 30, 2012 - October 6, 2012
Countdown toALA Banned Books Week
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ALA Banned Books Week: September 30, 2012
BANNED BOOK WEEK
September 30, 2012 - October 6, 2012
Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; the American Library Association; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers; and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.
Thanks to librarians, teachers, and communities of concerned citizens, many books are not banned. One of the missions of Banned Books Week is to spread awareness of the dangers of limiting freedom of speech, while celebrating the power of words.
To learn more, please visit the ALA's site and information on Banned Books Week.
- ALA | Banned Books Week
- Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox. Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.
HOT NEWS ON TONI MORRISON
Author of the Banned Book, Beloved
Toni Morrison's novel, Beloved, has been on the banned books list. It hasn't stopped the author from writing more literature. Here's the latest news on the extraordinary author.
This news is updated once a day, so check back for updated stories!
- Toni Morrison's 'Beloved' is simplistic pornography, say two Michigan parents ...
- Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison's "Beloved" has been pulled from an AP English Literature class at Salem High School in Plymouth-Canton, Mich., according to Patch.com. So has "Waterland" by Graham Swift, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in ...
- A Michigan school district considers banning two books
- One of the books up for review is Toni Morrison's Beloved, a story about slavery, rape and the effects of trauma. Meredith Yancy, 16, is reading the book in her Advanced Placement English Literature class at Salem High School. ...
- Broadway's Dazzling Diamond
- Writing regionally produced plays for 20 years including The Bluest Eye, an adaptation of Nobel Prize winning Toni Morrison novel, Diamond is making her Broadway debut with Stick Fly. She teaches playwriting at Boston University and has taught at ...
- Challenged Book 'Beloved' to Undergo Review Today
- By John McKay Toni Morrison's 1987 novel, 'Beloved,' is part of Salem High's advanced-placement English program. But the book's use is being challenged by an unhappy parent. Plymouth-Canton Community Schools' officials are planning a hearing to allow ...
MORE NEWS ON BANNED BOOKS
- Politics TUSD Banning Books? Well Yes, and No, and Yes
- Are books being banned from Tucson Unified School District classrooms as part of the district's work to dismantle Mexican-American studies after the governing board voted Tuesday, Jan. 10 to end the classes? Well, it depends on your definition of "ban" ...
- TUSD says reports that it is banning books are completely false
- Rene says, "No books have been banned. The only books that have been taken from the classroom are the seven books that were part of the curriculum of the Mexican-American Studies classes, and those have been moved to storage. ...
- Plymouth-Canton school district banning books
- Last week they flooded a board meeting, flowing out into the halls. All but the Dames spoke against banningthe books. Laurie Golden, the mother of three Plymouth-Canton students, wrote a letter to the board sayingbanning these books was threatening ...
- Banned Book List in Local Libaries
- In our Facebook Story of the day you wanted to know what books are banned in local libaries. Every year the American Library Association Posts a list of banned books and many of the books listed are percieved as objectionable because of how they ...
YOUR TURN!
Banned Books: Protecting Our Society or Infringing on Freedom of Speech?
Yes, you're right!
Mamaboo says:
Books should never be banned. There are many I disagree with, but without the choice of reading them or not, I may be the one that loses out on just one small idea, that may change my life or others forever!
Posted January 18, 2012
reasonablerobinson says:
I go along with age restricted material. However total banning of books for adults is a fearful reaction of an oppressive government. A ban begs the question 'what is the reason for the fear'.
Inciting harm to others is a challenge in this context though.
Posted January 18, 2012
Susie says:
banning books is not right! freedom of speech all the way!!!!!
Posted December 16, 2010
jkvkdailey says:
I was happy to see our local library had a table full of banned books for Banned Book Week. There's is nothing that banning a book does to protect our society. Books open minds and a person can choose to read or not read a book. Banning books is one step further to ban people from having opinions.
Posted September 29, 2010
fanfreluche says:
people have the right to read whatever they want. It's a personnal choice to read something or not to read it.
Posted September 25, 2010
Marijoyce says:
Absolutely great lens. Thanks for your nice comment on my bio page today. You are also an excellent writer, I can't wait to have more time to read your work here since it is very well done, and congrats as well on your LOTD lens as well.
Posted September 24, 2010
LoKackl says:
I have read all except Lolita, The French Lieutenant's woman, White Noise, Midnight's Children, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, and Naked Lunch. So now I have my reading list for the near future. Thanks this list is amazing.
Posted September 12, 2010
VickiSims says:
Banning books definitely infringes on freedom of speech - if you don't like a book - don't read it, but no one should take someone else's right to write or read a book it away.
Posted September 09, 2010
Punit says:
Off course, it's Infringing on Freedom of Speech! Didn't know that September 25?October 2 is ALA's Banned Books Week....have coincidently wrote a blogpost on Banned Indian Books...here it goes... http://dubeypunit.blogspot.com/2010/06/banned-indian-books.html
Posted June 23, 2010
Gloriousconfusion says:
I've read about 25 of your listed books, but if you count seeing the film rather than reading the book, it's about 35.I also started a couple more which were completely indigestible.
I agree we should be able to choose our own reading matter
Posted April 13, 2010
No way, Monkeybrain!
goldenecho says:
Many of the books on the banned and challenged list of the ALA are not really "banned" but just restricted to adult venues. Some of the parents challenging these books are not even asking that books be taken out of school libraries, but just that their children not be required to read them. And a book not being REQUIRED is not exactly limiting freedom of speech.
In other countries you can be killed or jailed just for having certain books the government disapproves of. When parents here in the US request that their children not be exposed to explicit or violent reading content until they are older...well, that's hardly comparable.
Posted January 18, 2012
Dan Kleinman of SafeLibraries says:
School Superintendents May Remove Explicit Books Immediately; Waterland by Graham Swift Removed from Salem High School, Canton, MI
http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2011/12/school-superintendents-may-remove.html
Posted December 26, 2011
1 of 1 page
HELP ME PROVE MY POINT
If you agree, add links (proof!) that help me make my case
Add a link that makes my case.
Google Books: Celebrate Your Freedom to Read
Catch-22. A Farewell to Arms. Of Mice and Men. Hai more...0 points
ALA | Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose more...0 points
"And Tango Makes Three": The Most Banned Book In 2008 « Logical Complex Infinitive
The book has won several literary and library awar more...0 points
The 11 Most Surprising Banned Books (PHOTOS, POLL)
Even though it's not banned books week, the issue more...0 points
Banned Books Week 2010
Banned Books Week 2010, Amnesty International dire more...0 points
READ BANNED BOOKS
Buy Classic Books on Amazon
As a book reviewer, my goal is to read more books from the list of challenged or banned books -- books considered to be the century's top 100 novels. Here are some I may re-read this year. What about you? Will you choose to read (or re-read) these classics?
Beloved (Everyman's Library)
Amazon Price: $14.29 (as of 01/18/2012) 
Catch-22
Amazon Price: $9.88 (as of 01/18/2012)
Fahrenheit 451
Amazon Price: $2.97 (as of 01/18/2012)
The Great Gatsby
Amazon Price: $5.92 (as of 01/18/2012)
To Kill a Mockingbird
Amazon Price: $5.75 (as of 01/18/2012)
TELL THE WORLD - BANNED BOOKS SPREAD KNOWLEDGE
Perfect shirts for banned books week - what have you learned from reading banned books? Share with the world!
Show others that banned books have had a profound and positive aspect on our society - say it on a tee, magnet, tote, or cap.
Banned Books Women's T-Shirt
Everything I Needed to Know About Life
I Learned From Banned Books
Price: 21.99
Tote Bag
I Read Banned Books
The Bible
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
.... (click the link for more listed books on this tote)
Price: 13.99
DISPROVE MY POINT (FINE, BE THAT WAY)
Disagree? Put your money where your mouth is and show us why.
Post links that point out why you think I'm wrong.
Protesters in Dallas Texas target Marcus Blake
Groups held signs and passed out flyers to people more...0 points
Sarah Palin, aspiring book banner? | Jacket Copy | Los Angeles Times
Time magazine, in its reporting on John McCain's v more...0 points
Schools chief bans book on penguins - The Boston Globe
The Charlotte schools superintendent and his top l more...0 points
RELATED NEWS: FODDER FOR ARGUING MORE
- Politics TUSD Banning Books? Well Yes, and No, and Yes
- Are books being banned from Tucson Unified School District classrooms as part of the district's work to dismantle Mexican-American studies after the governing board voted Tuesday, Jan. 10 to end the classes? Well, it depends on your definition of "ban" ...
- TUSD says reports that it is banning books are completely false
- There are even reports that TUSD is banning William Shakespeare's "The Tempest." "What's been widely reported as a book ban at TUSD is completely false, completely misleading. There has been no book ban at TUSD," says TUSD Director of Communications ...
- Banned Book List in Local Libaries
- In our Facebook Story of the day you wanted to know what books are banned in local libaries. Every year the American Library Association Posts a list of banned books and many of the books listed are percieved as objectionable because of how they ...
- Plymouth-Canton school district banning books
- It has to do with banning books. And while it hasn't made headlines, the implications are ominous, and scary. This is a sizable district, with three high schools with more than six thousand students. Plymouth-Canton has many students and parents who ...
WHAT'S ON YOUR BOOKSHELF?
submit
- Reply
Mamaboo Jan 18, 2012 @ 1:45 am- I think many of these books I'll be buying or re-buying so my children can have their minds expanded, rather than controlled by the government. Be blessed this day and continue the good, non biased work!
- Reply
reasonablerobinson Jan 18, 2012 @ 1:24 am- Freedom of speech is priceless and should be defended within a society that has legislation to protect the vulnerable.
- Reply
goldenecho Jan 18, 2012 @ 1:06 am- While there are things on that list that seems ridiculous to ban from anywhere...a lot of the OTHER books on the ALAs list (including ones you didn't mention from their literature) I understand parents being concerned about. I've read their list of "banned" books in 2012 and didn't find any that were actually, truely, banned. They were taken out of school libraries...but anyone could go buy one at their local bookstore. And most of the challenges and "banned" books they had on that list were books taken out of schools, not public libraries. I disagree with banning books from public libraries...but I have no problem with restricting books in schools if they are not appropriate for that age level (which was what a lot of the challenges listed were about).
- Reply
Tipi Jan 18, 2012 @ 12:16 am- Congratulations on receiving LotD honors! I'm still shaking my head about that list. On the positive side, there's no better way to get people to want to read every book on the list when they learn its challenged or banned.
- Reply
Lisa-Marie-Mary Sep 13, 2010 @ 12:49 pm- Wonderful lens on a very important issue! I love the way you are open to hear the other side, even if I'm on YOUR side!
- Load More
HERE'S WHAT I THINK
Banned Books: Protecting Our Society or Infringing on Freedom of Speech?
Challenging or banning books is a practice as old as the history of writing books. Throughout time, governments, religious organizations, and other groups ban books determined as controversial or against societal norms. In the beginning, burning books was an effective means of destroying the controversial material because of limited printing. With larger publishing capability and the Internet's vast reach, burning books is a little less effective, but it is still done.
Challenging or banning books is not limited to a particular country or time period -- there are banned books in every country today. Every year in the U.S., hundreds of books are challenged to be removed from classrooms and libraries.
The debate is whether this is a good practice, not whether the practice exists. Pro banners cite authors' works are too immoral, deviant, and could cause aberrant behavior. Anti banners cite books should be protected for the authors' freedom of speech.
Is banning books a good idea for society? In my opinion, I don't think so. While I believe in the power of words and the need for social rules, I do not think banning books helps control society. I think banning books infringes on an author's freedom of speech and prevents people from experiencing new ideas.
Challenging or banning books is not limited to a particular country or time period -- there are banned books in every country today. Every year in the U.S., hundreds of books are challenged to be removed from classrooms and libraries.
The debate is whether this is a good practice, not whether the practice exists. Pro banners cite authors' works are too immoral, deviant, and could cause aberrant behavior. Anti banners cite books should be protected for the authors' freedom of speech.
Is banning books a good idea for society? In my opinion, I don't think so. While I believe in the power of words and the need for social rules, I do not think banning books helps control society. I think banning books infringes on an author's freedom of speech and prevents people from experiencing new ideas.
Image courtesy of American Library Association - Banned Books Week
WHAT ARE BANNED BOOKS?
Banned books are books to which free access is not permitted. The practice of banning books is a form of censorship, and often has political, religious or moral motivations.
Bans on books can be enacted at the national or subnational level, and can carry legal penalties for their infraction. Books may also be challenged at a local, community level. As a result, books can be removed from schools or libraries, although these bans do not extend outside of that area. Similarly, religions may issue lists of banned books ? a historical example being the Roman Catholic Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum ? which do not always carry legal force.
ALA LIST OF BANNED OR CHALLENGED BOOKS
100 Banned Books: How Many Have You Read?
The ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) records the most challenged or banned over the years. The OIF has only been recording this data since 1990, so frequently banned authors or books prior to that date aren't included. Most of these books are considered"classic literary" in today's world, and actually 42 of the books are on the Radcliffe Publishing Course list of the century's top 100 novels.
Can you IMAGINE your life if censoring these books had been effective? For a moment, imagine these books banned forever -- and banned from every classroom, library, and home in every country across the globe.
Posters have commented that some of these books are "challenged" at the school level from being required reading or included in the school libraries. Find out why: Reasons for Frequently Challenged Books.
How many of these challenged or banned books have you read?
1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
6. Ulysses by James Joyce
7. Beloved by Toni Morrison
8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
9. 1984 by George Orwell
10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov
12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
13. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
17. Animal Farm by George Orwell
18. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
19. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
20. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
23. Their Eyes are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
24. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
25. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
26. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
27. Native Son by Richard Wright
28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
30. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
31. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
32. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
35. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
36. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
37. The World According to Garp by John Irving
38. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
39. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
40. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
41. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
44. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
46. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
48. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
49. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
50. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
51. My Antonia by Willa Cather
52. Howards End by E. M. Forster
53. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
54. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
56. Jazz by Toni Morrison
57. Sophie's Choice by William Styron
58. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
59. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
61. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
62. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
63. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
64. Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
66. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
68. Light in August by William Faulkner
69. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
71. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
73. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
75. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
76. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
77. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
78. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
80. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
81. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
82. White Noise by Don DeLillo
83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
84. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
85. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
86. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
87. The Bostonians by Henry James
88. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
89. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
91. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
93. The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
94. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
96. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
97. Rabbit, Run by John Updike
98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster
99. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
100. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Can you IMAGINE your life if censoring these books had been effective? For a moment, imagine these books banned forever -- and banned from every classroom, library, and home in every country across the globe.
Posters have commented that some of these books are "challenged" at the school level from being required reading or included in the school libraries. Find out why: Reasons for Frequently Challenged Books.
How many of these challenged or banned books have you read?
1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
6. Ulysses by James Joyce
7. Beloved by Toni Morrison
8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
9. 1984 by George Orwell
10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov
12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
13. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
17. Animal Farm by George Orwell
18. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
19. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
20. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
23. Their Eyes are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
24. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
25. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
26. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
27. Native Son by Richard Wright
28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
30. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
31. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
32. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
35. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
36. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
37. The World According to Garp by John Irving
38. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
39. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
40. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
41. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
44. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
46. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
48. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
49. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
50. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
51. My Antonia by Willa Cather
52. Howards End by E. M. Forster
53. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
54. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
56. Jazz by Toni Morrison
57. Sophie's Choice by William Styron
58. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
59. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
61. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
62. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
63. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
64. Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
66. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
68. Light in August by William Faulkner
69. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
71. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
73. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
75. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
76. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
77. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
78. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
80. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
81. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
82. White Noise by Don DeLillo
83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
84. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
85. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
86. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
87. The Bostonians by Henry James
88. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
89. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
91. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
93. The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
94. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
96. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
97. Rabbit, Run by John Updike
98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster
99. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
100. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
September 30, 2012 - October 6, 2012
Countdown toALA Banned Books Week
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ALA Banned Books Week: September 30, 2012
BANNED BOOK WEEK
September 30, 2012 - October 6, 2012
Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; the American Library Association; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers; and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.
Thanks to librarians, teachers, and communities of concerned citizens, many books are not banned. One of the missions of Banned Books Week is to spread awareness of the dangers of limiting freedom of speech, while celebrating the power of words.
To learn more, please visit the ALA's site and information on Banned Books Week.
Thanks to librarians, teachers, and communities of concerned citizens, many books are not banned. One of the missions of Banned Books Week is to spread awareness of the dangers of limiting freedom of speech, while celebrating the power of words.
To learn more, please visit the ALA's site and information on Banned Books Week.
- ALA | Banned Books Week
- Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox. Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.
HOT NEWS ON TONI MORRISON
Author of the Banned Book, Beloved
Toni Morrison's novel, Beloved, has been on the banned books list. It hasn't stopped the author from writing more literature. Here's the latest news on the extraordinary author.
This news is updated once a day, so check back for updated stories!
This news is updated once a day, so check back for updated stories!
- Toni Morrison's 'Beloved' is simplistic pornography, say two Michigan parents ...
- Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison's "Beloved" has been pulled from an AP English Literature class at Salem High School in Plymouth-Canton, Mich., according to Patch.com. So has "Waterland" by Graham Swift, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in ...
- A Michigan school district considers banning two books
- One of the books up for review is Toni Morrison's Beloved, a story about slavery, rape and the effects of trauma. Meredith Yancy, 16, is reading the book in her Advanced Placement English Literature class at Salem High School. ...
- Broadway's Dazzling Diamond
- Writing regionally produced plays for 20 years including The Bluest Eye, an adaptation of Nobel Prize winning Toni Morrison novel, Diamond is making her Broadway debut with Stick Fly. She teaches playwriting at Boston University and has taught at ...
- Challenged Book 'Beloved' to Undergo Review Today
- By John McKay Toni Morrison's 1987 novel, 'Beloved,' is part of Salem High's advanced-placement English program. But the book's use is being challenged by an unhappy parent. Plymouth-Canton Community Schools' officials are planning a hearing to allow ...
MORE NEWS ON BANNED BOOKS
- Politics TUSD Banning Books? Well Yes, and No, and Yes
- Are books being banned from Tucson Unified School District classrooms as part of the district's work to dismantle Mexican-American studies after the governing board voted Tuesday, Jan. 10 to end the classes? Well, it depends on your definition of "ban" ...
- TUSD says reports that it is banning books are completely false
- Rene says, "No books have been banned. The only books that have been taken from the classroom are the seven books that were part of the curriculum of the Mexican-American Studies classes, and those have been moved to storage. ...
- Plymouth-Canton school district banning books
- Last week they flooded a board meeting, flowing out into the halls. All but the Dames spoke against banningthe books. Laurie Golden, the mother of three Plymouth-Canton students, wrote a letter to the board sayingbanning these books was threatening ...
- Banned Book List in Local Libaries
- In our Facebook Story of the day you wanted to know what books are banned in local libaries. Every year the American Library Association Posts a list of banned books and many of the books listed are percieved as objectionable because of how they ...
YOUR TURN!
Banned Books: Protecting Our Society or Infringing on Freedom of Speech?
Yes, you're right!
Mamaboo says:
Books should never be banned. There are many I disagree with, but without the choice of reading them or not, I may be the one that loses out on just one small idea, that may change my life or others forever!
Posted January 18, 2012
reasonablerobinson says:
I go along with age restricted material. However total banning of books for adults is a fearful reaction of an oppressive government. A ban begs the question 'what is the reason for the fear'.
Inciting harm to others is a challenge in this context though.
Inciting harm to others is a challenge in this context though.
Posted January 18, 2012
Susie says:
banning books is not right! freedom of speech all the way!!!!!
Posted December 16, 2010
jkvkdailey says:
I was happy to see our local library had a table full of banned books for Banned Book Week. There's is nothing that banning a book does to protect our society. Books open minds and a person can choose to read or not read a book. Banning books is one step further to ban people from having opinions.
Posted September 29, 2010
fanfreluche says:
people have the right to read whatever they want. It's a personnal choice to read something or not to read it.
Posted September 25, 2010
Marijoyce says:
Absolutely great lens. Thanks for your nice comment on my bio page today. You are also an excellent writer, I can't wait to have more time to read your work here since it is very well done, and congrats as well on your LOTD lens as well.
Posted September 24, 2010
LoKackl says:
I have read all except Lolita, The French Lieutenant's woman, White Noise, Midnight's Children, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, and Naked Lunch. So now I have my reading list for the near future. Thanks this list is amazing.
Posted September 12, 2010
VickiSims says:
Banning books definitely infringes on freedom of speech - if you don't like a book - don't read it, but no one should take someone else's right to write or read a book it away.
Posted September 09, 2010
Punit says:
Off course, it's Infringing on Freedom of Speech! Didn't know that September 25?October 2 is ALA's Banned Books Week....have coincidently wrote a blogpost on Banned Indian Books...here it goes... http://dubeypunit.blogspot.com/2010/06/banned-indian-books.html
Posted June 23, 2010
Gloriousconfusion says:
I've read about 25 of your listed books, but if you count seeing the film rather than reading the book, it's about 35.I also started a couple more which were completely indigestible.
I agree we should be able to choose our own reading matter
I agree we should be able to choose our own reading matter
Posted April 13, 2010
No way, Monkeybrain!
goldenecho says:
Many of the books on the banned and challenged list of the ALA are not really "banned" but just restricted to adult venues. Some of the parents challenging these books are not even asking that books be taken out of school libraries, but just that their children not be required to read them. And a book not being REQUIRED is not exactly limiting freedom of speech.
In other countries you can be killed or jailed just for having certain books the government disapproves of. When parents here in the US request that their children not be exposed to explicit or violent reading content until they are older...well, that's hardly comparable.
In other countries you can be killed or jailed just for having certain books the government disapproves of. When parents here in the US request that their children not be exposed to explicit or violent reading content until they are older...well, that's hardly comparable.
Posted January 18, 2012
Dan Kleinman of SafeLibraries says:
School Superintendents May Remove Explicit Books Immediately; Waterland by Graham Swift Removed from Salem High School, Canton, MI
http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2011/12/school-superintendents-may-remove.html
http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2011/12/school-superintendents-may-remove.html
Posted December 26, 2011
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HELP ME PROVE MY POINT
If you agree, add links (proof!) that help me make my case
Add a link that makes my case.
Google Books: Celebrate Your Freedom to Read
Catch-22. A Farewell to Arms. Of Mice and Men. Hai more...0 points
ALA | Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose more...0 points
"And Tango Makes Three": The Most Banned Book In 2008 « Logical Complex Infinitive
The book has won several literary and library awar more...0 points
The 11 Most Surprising Banned Books (PHOTOS, POLL)
Even though it's not banned books week, the issue more...0 points
Banned Books Week 2010
Banned Books Week 2010, Amnesty International dire more...0 points
READ BANNED BOOKS
Buy Classic Books on Amazon
As a book reviewer, my goal is to read more books from the list of challenged or banned books -- books considered to be the century's top 100 novels. Here are some I may re-read this year. What about you? Will you choose to read (or re-read) these classics?
Beloved (Everyman's Library)
Amazon Price: $14.29 (as of 01/18/2012)
Catch-22
Amazon Price: $9.88 (as of 01/18/2012)
Fahrenheit 451
Amazon Price: $2.97 (as of 01/18/2012)
The Great Gatsby
Amazon Price: $5.92 (as of 01/18/2012)
To Kill a Mockingbird
Amazon Price: $5.75 (as of 01/18/2012)
TELL THE WORLD - BANNED BOOKS SPREAD KNOWLEDGE
Perfect shirts for banned books week - what have you learned from reading banned books? Share with the world!
Show others that banned books have had a profound and positive aspect on our society - say it on a tee, magnet, tote, or cap.
Show others that banned books have had a profound and positive aspect on our society - say it on a tee, magnet, tote, or cap.
Banned Books Women's T-Shirt
Everything I Needed to Know About Life
I Learned From Banned Books
I Learned From Banned Books
Price: 21.99
Tote Bag
I Read Banned Books
The Bible
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
.... (click the link for more listed books on this tote)
The Bible
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
.... (click the link for more listed books on this tote)
Price: 13.99
DISPROVE MY POINT (FINE, BE THAT WAY)
Disagree? Put your money where your mouth is and show us why.
Post links that point out why you think I'm wrong.
Protesters in Dallas Texas target Marcus Blake
Groups held signs and passed out flyers to people more...0 points
Sarah Palin, aspiring book banner? | Jacket Copy | Los Angeles Times
Time magazine, in its reporting on John McCain's v more...0 points
Schools chief bans book on penguins - The Boston Globe
The Charlotte schools superintendent and his top l more...0 points
RELATED NEWS: FODDER FOR ARGUING MORE
- Politics TUSD Banning Books? Well Yes, and No, and Yes
- Are books being banned from Tucson Unified School District classrooms as part of the district's work to dismantle Mexican-American studies after the governing board voted Tuesday, Jan. 10 to end the classes? Well, it depends on your definition of "ban" ...
- TUSD says reports that it is banning books are completely false
- There are even reports that TUSD is banning William Shakespeare's "The Tempest." "What's been widely reported as a book ban at TUSD is completely false, completely misleading. There has been no book ban at TUSD," says TUSD Director of Communications ...
- Banned Book List in Local Libaries
- In our Facebook Story of the day you wanted to know what books are banned in local libaries. Every year the American Library Association Posts a list of banned books and many of the books listed are percieved as objectionable because of how they ...
- Plymouth-Canton school district banning books
- It has to do with banning books. And while it hasn't made headlines, the implications are ominous, and scary. This is a sizable district, with three high schools with more than six thousand students. Plymouth-Canton has many students and parents who ...
WHAT'S ON YOUR BOOKSHELF?
submit
- Reply
- I think many of these books I'll be buying or re-buying so my children can have their minds expanded, rather than controlled by the government. Be blessed this day and continue the good, non biased work!
- Reply
- Freedom of speech is priceless and should be defended within a society that has legislation to protect the vulnerable.
- Reply
- While there are things on that list that seems ridiculous to ban from anywhere...a lot of the OTHER books on the ALAs list (including ones you didn't mention from their literature) I understand parents being concerned about. I've read their list of "banned" books in 2012 and didn't find any that were actually, truely, banned. They were taken out of school libraries...but anyone could go buy one at their local bookstore. And most of the challenges and "banned" books they had on that list were books taken out of schools, not public libraries. I disagree with banning books from public libraries...but I have no problem with restricting books in schools if they are not appropriate for that age level (which was what a lot of the challenges listed were about).
- Reply
- Congratulations on receiving LotD honors! I'm still shaking my head about that list. On the positive side, there's no better way to get people to want to read every book on the list when they learn its challenged or banned.
- Reply
- Wonderful lens on a very important issue! I love the way you are open to hear the other side, even if I'm on YOUR side!
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