Top 10 Banned Books

[sgt.null]

1984 By George Orwell

Catcher In The Rye by J. D. Salinger

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence

The Naked Lunch by William Burroughs

Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

Ulysses by James Joyce

[danlo]

Interesting that at least 4 of these books talk about government and social censorship.

[sgt.null]

and at least three deal with sex. wwhat is so horrifying about Catcher in the Rye anyway? I read it and seem to remember it being about a slacker going through a mild life crisis. did i miss some context?

[aliantha]

and at least three deal with sex. wwhat is so horrifying about Catcher in the Rye anyway? I read it and seem to remember it being about a slacker going through a mild life crisis. did i miss some context?

He uses the f-word. Which in the '50s and '60s was a big deal, but nowadays is pretty much required.

I think Ulysses was banned mostly because nobody could figure out what the hell Joyce was on about.

[Farm Ur-Ted]

I think Ulysses was banned mostly because nobody could figure out what the hell Joyce was on about.

Totally. I wish it had still been banned when I was in college, cuz I might not have had to drop that one english course I tried to take.

[sgt.null]

and at least three deal with sex. wwhat is so horrifying about Catcher in the Rye anyway? I read it and seem to remember it being about a slacker going through a mild life crisis. did i miss some context?

He uses the f-word. Which in the '50s and '60s was a big deal, but nowadays is pretty much required.

I think Ulysses was banned mostly because nobody could figure out what the hell Joyce was on about.

thanks. must have glossed over that one word, however many times it used. the banners do realize that some people talk like that, right? as to Joyce, I think he was having a laugh at our expense.

[Avatar]

Joyce was indeed messing with the reader. Less so in Ulysses than Finnegan's Wake though. About FW, Joyce said, "They will argue about this book for 1,000 years."

To date, more books have been published to analyse those two works of his than Joyce published in his lifetime.

--A

[aliantha]

I haven't tried reading Finnegan's Wake -- still too scarred from Ulysses. I've heard FW is basically impenetrable.

I read Ulysses in grad school, for fun -- and yes, I do have an odd idea of fun....

[sgt.null]

Jack London gets banned a lot. as does Stephen King. these book burners would have us reading no great lit.

[Avatar]

I haven't tried reading Finnegan's Wake -- still too scarred from Ulysses. I've heard FW is basically impenetrable.

It's just very convoluted. The whole book is a circle, or rather, a moebius strip. There are something like 100 obscure refernces on the first page, many of them multiple.

IIRC, he mentions "white boyce" which is apparently a reference to sperm, to a revolutionary group called the White Boys of Hoodie Head and something else I don't remember. And the whole book is like that. Madness I tell you.

--A

[drew]

--Banned by whom?

Both 1984 and TKAM were required reading for me in High School.

(Or are these ONCE banned books, that now are free?)

[sgt.null]

over a period of time all of these books have been banned in different places, different communities.

[Edge]

Not that I'd agree with banning it, but I can understand why 'The Naked Lunch' is on that list. It's very... disturbing.

[sgt.null]

it should be required reading in high schools.

[Avatar]

Not that I'd agree with banning it, but I can understand why 'The Naked Lunch' is on that list. It's very... disturbing.

You think the book is disturbing? You should watch the movie. Weird stuff man.

--A

[matrixman]

Yeah, I saw the Cronenberg adaptation, too - years ago in the theatre. It's still the strangest movie I've ever seen...yes, even more bizarre or obtuse than Eraserhead, which I saw only recently. I should make a "strangest movies" thread in Flicks...

...as to Joyce, I think he was having a laugh at our expense.

Re: Joyce - see, this is why I don't bother reading him. Academics can keep Joyce to themselves for all eternity, as far as I'm concerned.

Lest you think this conflicts with Alynna's quote that I'm using as my sig, let me say that I'm avoiding Joyce not because of a sense that he's "harmful" (yeah, right) but because I've got better things to read than the works of an author who was just shovelling BS onto his readers as a joke.

[Loredoctor]

Not that I'd agree with banning it, but I can understand why 'The Naked Lunch' is on that list. It's very... disturbing.

You think the book is disturbing? You should watch the movie. Weird stuff man.

--A

The problem with Naked Lunch is that it's too postmodern; its 'cleverness' is the result of ad-hoc interpretations. The movie isn't bad, however.

[Avatar]

I was never much of a Burroughs fan to be honest. Nor Kerouac either really.

--A

[sgt.null]

i love the beat writers myself.

[duke]

Why oh why isnt "American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis on the list? The stink this book caused when it was released was phenomenal. Surely it was banned somwhere.

Its still the only book I know of in fiction that is plastic wrapped and has an 18+ age restriction on it here in Australia.

And yes, I rank "American Psycho" up there with 1984 and Catcher in the Rye (and the others) as one of the best books of the 20th century, banned or not.