Because books should be read, even the bad ones

[mhalachaiswords]

Like I've been saying all day, ignorance is not a virtue.

From alexcat, inspired by the lovely sabriel_0405, the most frequently challenged books from 1990-2000

Comments

[vivnow]

I've read a lot of the books you have bolded, plus a few others. I think I'm going to have to read some of the other books during summer break.

There are a lot of good books on that list.

Ignorance is dangerous!

I'm going to borrow/post your list on my lj.

[mhalachaiswords]

Ignorance is dangerous and I can't understand why people don't get that. Have fun with the reading :)

[golden_ravish]

a good portion of these books were REQUIRED reading when i was in high school 10+ years ago. some of them i've read on my own. others i can't believe they put on the list. if you don't mind, i'd like to borrow this list to post on a forum. i'm curious how others would respond.

[dizzy_lizard]

That's the same thing I was thinking... most of those that I've read were required for Honors English in high school... which, yeah, was just over ten years ago for me too.

[meridethkun]

Probably the same books were required for my Honors English not even 4 years ago! Others are really good award-winning books(!) that I read years ago and would read again now.

[mhalachaiswords]

Yeah, it's always the thought-provoking books that get the shaft.

And I'm also curious why the suburban soccer moms of the world united against Judy Blume. Cuz dude, her books aren't really that salacious. (Judy Blume on censorship)

[mhalachaiswords]

Mice and Men was our grade 11 honours book. Still freaks me out, but a good book. In fact, every book we read that year has been challenged or banned: Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck; The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway; One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Then there was Hamlet, but that was forced upon us by the school board for the final.

Haven't read the Sleeping Beauty books, so can't comment on them, but it's hard to tell from that list as to where the books were challenged. In a school library? Public library? Were the books challenged to remove them from the library? Move them to the adult section? I agree that the books, from what I've heard of them, would be better suited to an older audience, but they should be available for reading imo.

Then again, Anne Rice certainly has the ability to make many people say "omgwtf?" on a regular basis ;)

[sabriel_0405]

I have no desire to even touch American Psycho, much less read it. But someone thought there was merit to publishing it. I remember the controversy and decided that I just didn't need to know. Ick.

[mhalachaiswords]

My brother swears by American Psycho, which bothers me only slightly (but then it's one of a few books he's ever read, so I leave it alone. He's not a reader at all). I read a few pages back in the day and it's *so* not anything I wanted in my head. I know it's considered a commentary on the state of affairs in the corporate 80s, but yeah. Not for me.

[fydyan]

Can I recommend that you add Native Son to the list of those you want to read? It's one you don't want to miss out on.

[mhalachaiswords]

Sure thing. Can you give me a brief synopsis? I've never heard of the book before now :)

[fydyan]

Oh, absolutely. I haven't read it in years, so my memory is a little hazy, but it's absolutely a book that sticks with you. Without giving any plot points away, it's really a book that illustrates what life was like for black Americans in the 1930s. It was written around that time, and I think Wright was one of the first authors who captured the reality of race and class issues that dominated the lives of black Americans.

It's considered a classic of modern literature, and when I saw that you had Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Harper Lee on your list, I thought it would be right up your alley.