120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature by Nicholas J. Karolides

120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature Reviews

• 
  Kirsten

  If you ban a book or a movie or whatever, you just encourage me to read or otherwise check it out. That's what my dad taught me. There are books listed in this that are surprising and others I wasn't planning on reading (the Gossip Girl series). What's more surprising is some of the reasons for banning a book (did you know that many African Americans complained about
  To Kill a Mockingbird?). What's even more disgusting is how few people have to complain for a book to be pulled (one)!
  
  I challenge all of you -- if you hear a book is banned somewhere, read it!
• 
  William Schram

  Very interesting. A lot of the situations would not have occurred to me, and I am thankful that my own parents were never crazy enough to challenge any of the books I read due to my sensitive nature. A lot of the books are banned or censored and were expected from my end since I had read a few of them and knew of the offending passages.
  
  Some of them are offensive because it depicts women thinking, some are offensive because of language and still others are offensive because of sexual situations. Considering all this garbage of censorship and bowdlerization, I am surprised that some of Shakespeare was never formally opposed. Although, given the fact that there are 120 of them in here, it could have been challenged and I forgot. I mean, Oliver Twist by Dickens is in there because of how it depicts Jews in the 1830s. No seriously, instead of using it as a bridge to teach people how things were in the 1830s, they decide all out to go and try to ban it because it hurts their widdle feelings. Yeah, that isn't a typo, I was using baby talk to mock people that would consider their feelings hurt by a book writing about things that seriously happened. Not that Oliver Twist was real or true or anything, but the depiction of how Jews were perceived is valid.
  
  Some other books were challenged because it made people "uncomfortable." For instance, To Kill a Mockingbird was challenged because it contains the word "nigger." I guess I can understand wanting to defend your child from the truth that such words were used back then to refer to a group of people, namely black people, but can't we move to discuss it rather than try to stamp it out?
  
  One book I am surprised about is The Holy Bible. Not because it was included at all but because of the reason it was included. It wasn't because of the horrible things that happened in it or the sex scenes or anything like that, it was because of the Roman Catholic Church opposing their own power being challenged. See, back in the fourth century, some Saint translated the Bible into Vulgate Latin from it's Greek and Hebrew roots. The Roman Catholic Church(called the RCC from now on if I need to) decided that it was wrong to allow common people to be able to read the Bible in their own local language and called the Vulgate Latin text the only true bible. The RCC bitterly defended this right by killing the translators of the Bible under charges of Heresy. However, we all know how that turned out with the Schisms after the 95 theses of Martin Luther.
  
  Censorship and bowdlerization are things that are unforgivable to me because they prevent the free exchange of ideas and the benefits of a democratic society. All this book really served to do was expand my own reading list, though it was written pretty well. It also includes further reading for each book mentioned to find out the particulars of why it was challenged.
• 
  Kimberly

  The more people protest a book, the more the public wants to read it.
• 
  Corky

  This is the book everyone should read for Banned Books Week. (Which, unfortunately, is not when I read it.) This book lists books that have been challenged, tells you a little about the plot and what the book is all about, then explains the attempts to have said books removed from the shelves. It discusses everything from popular book series (like Harry Potter) to controversial fiction like The Satanic Verses to stuff by DH Lawrence and even classics like The Grapes of Wrath or a number of works by Mark Twain. If this is a subject that interests you - I highly suggest you try and read this book.
• 
  Melissa

  This is a decent overview of some of the more popularized banned book cases, with a brief history of the conflict surrounding each work, but it serves as more of a checklist and starting point for further research than as a stand-alone reference on the subject. The books are divided into four categories (political, religious, sexual, social), though some of the books could fit into multiple categories (Orwell and Huxley especially). Some of the books are obvious choices for inclusion due to the media stir they've created over the years (1984, Catch-22, Harry Potter), but the works included are rather oddly chosen -- a review of banned books that would include both Doctor Zhivago and The Gulag Archipelago but not The Master and Margarita seems incomplete to me, given that the latter was banned from publication until 1960, decades after it was written and Bulgakov had passed away, and only then published overseas. Perhaps because it could very easily be included in all four sections of this neatly compartmentalized compilation, the editors decided to leave it out lest it overshadow those that made the cut.
• 
  Amy

  obviously i did not read all of the book synopses, and this book will be more of a reference, but i am somewhat satisfied with the comprehensive nature of this book, though not entirely satisfied about the categories used to indicate why these books were/are banned: on political, religious, sexual, or social grounds. these categories seem somewhat arbitrary as most of the explanations for the banning of these books seems to clearly cross these divisions, and sometimes the books barely fit into the categories they are placed into. just a thought.
• 
  Brad McKenna

  The book is broken down into sections such as "Banned for Religious Reasons" and "Banned for Sexuality". Within each section you're given a synopsis of the book followed by a history of the censorship of that book.
  
  It was disappointingly unsurprising to read how people are vilified by speaking out against the status quo. If you want to really rile some folks up, be a feminist writing in a Muslim country. Or you can write a book with lots of sex and naughty words and get teachers to assign it in school.
  
  For more of my thoughts go here:
  http://bradmckenna.wordpress.com/2012...
• 
  Kelly Weitekamp

  This is a very informative and interesting reference book. I really like the way each entry is set up, giving a synopsis of the book, a brief history and where/when/why it was banned. I've learned some fascinating tidbits about books I never would have considered all that "dangerous" but nonetheless...at some point in time all of these books have threatened some bit of the establishment.
• 
  Sara W

  This is not a book you read from cover to cover. It lists 120 books, in different "banned" categories, and states why they were banned. I've only glanced through it to read about the books I've already read (Harry Potter, Lolita, etc.), but I definitely plan to read more of the books listed. It's interesting to see what books cause people to freak out and why.
• 
  Mel

  Interesting reasons for banning books. I enjoyed this book because it included books from history; one from Confucius and two from Thomas Paine. The list included books I was familiar with, some I wasn't familiar with and some that completely baffled me as to why they were banned and made me wonder if the complainers had even read the book.
• 
  Sandra

  I am still amazed at what can incite a group, or individuals, and how they would like to impose their beliefs on the rest of us. Uncle Tom's Cabin???? Give me a break! Anyway, after perusing this book, I didn't identify any books I wanted to add to my "to read list." I was hoping to find something a little shady or thought provoking. Na Da.
• 
  N

  Nice resource. It's fascinating some of the things that people complain about in books. The authors do really mean historical since they talk about people being killed by the church for the things they've written. There are a lot of wonderful references to pre-publication censorship or censorship concerns as well. A great read if you have interest at all in the subject.
• 
  Cheryl

  Gives me something to collect instead of trinkets
• 
  Faith-Anne

  This is a very enlightening book for people interested in reading up on book banning & censorship.
• 
  Lindsay

  Provides good summaries of the literature and their censorship histories.
• 
  Mick McLean

  As an opponent to censorship. This book gave my anger justification. No one should suppress art and literature whether it's for political or religious reasons.
• 
  Reginald

  Censorship history at its best.........There were a few titles, listed that I'd forgotten about over the years..... An interesting Ready-Reference type book..