It's Banned Books Week again. I love this week because it draws attention to all of the great books that have been banned or challenged. I'm very much a "live and let live" kind of person so I really do not get the whole banning books thing. Books shouldn't always agree with what we already think or already know. I think books become more important when they challenge the feelings that we already have!
There are so many good books out there that have been challenged or banned but one of my very favorites is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Oh the irony of banning a book about banning books! This is a fabulous book and if you haven't read it, you must!!! You absolutely must! I read this book for the first time in high school and it's definitely one that sticks with you. It's one that makes you think!
What's your favorite banned or challenged book?
Somehow I emerged from high school without having read Fahrenheit 451, but I definitely must change that! I've heard lots of great things. And yes: definitely ironic to ban a book about banning books. :)
ReplyDeleteYou need to read it! Every book lover should!
DeleteI loved Fahrenheit 451. An amazing read! I still can't believe this one was banned.
ReplyDeleteSigh, I wish the people who tried to get it banned would have actually read it first. If they had, they may have understood how important it is not to ban books!
DeleteOhmygoodness!! I totally agree with you on the awesomeness of Fahrenheit 451. There are so many great banned books - I don't think I can choose just one!
ReplyDeleteIt's one of my very favorites!
DeleteI've got to get around to reading Fahrenheit 451. If I had to choose one, I would have to say my favourite banned books come from Laurie Halse Anderson. I loved Speak.
ReplyDeleteYou must read Fahrenheit 451! If you lover books, you will find something to love about that one.
DeleteSpeak and Wintergirls are the only books that I've read by Anderson. Speak was especially good!
Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time has been on the banned list and that always amazes me. I have found her writing, more than any other author of my youth (that would be in the 60s and 70s) to have had the greatest impact on my life. She both comforted and instructed me with her books, and I consider it a great sorrow that some minds are so narrow they cannot appreciate her influence. I once saw her 'heckled' at Wheaton College, and I'll always regret not standing up for her in person.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I loved Wrinkle in Time. My mom loved it when she was younger and gave me my own copy when I was in 6th grade!
DeleteWhy were they heckling her? Because of the book?
It is stunning to me that in 2011 the most frequently challenged authors list included Aldous Huxley and Harper Lee, and in 2009, John Steinbeck.
ReplyDeleteAnd their books are truly classics. I wish the book haters would move past trying to ban such awesome books. To Kill a Mockingbird is another one of my very favorite books!
DeleteMy favorite banned book is Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses. A brilliant satire on orthodox ideas, the book can be simply described as visual poetry.
ReplyDeleteI never understood why they banned Fahrenheit 451. Offensive language? Opposition to despotic ideas? Utterly ridiculous.