Amph America's most banned books. 1 - Huh?

I meant nowadays.

 

Saying "It's pretty harmless" is a very good reason (not directed at you, Sven, but at that mindset) why this book should NOT be banned by those who are anti-halloween.

This particular book seems as though it would show kids that halloween is not all about candy and costumes, but rather has a very sinister history. By denying kids that knowledge, they're just going to continue to believe there's no harm in it (I'm not saying there is or isn't harm in Halloween, but those who ban the book clearly believe there's harm)

 

47. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

[image=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/18/TheHandmaidsTale%281stEd%29.jpg]


The Handmaid's Tale takes place in the Republic of Gilead, a country formed within the borders of what was originally the United States of America after nuclear, biological, and chemical pollution rendered a large portion of the population sterile and a staged terrorist attack killed the President and Congress. After the attack, a revolution occurred which deposed the United States government and abolished the US Constitution. New theocratic governments, including the Republic of Gilead, were formed under the rule of a military dictatorship.

The story is told from the point of view of a woman called Offred, who is kept by the ruling class as a concubine ("handmaid") for reproductive purposes shortly after the beginning of what is called in the epilogue the Gilead period. The story's narrative is disjointed and out of order and ends abruptly, which is revealed at the end to be caused by its supposedly having been narrated onto a series of unnumbered audio tapes.




The American Library Association lists it in "10 Most Challenged Books of 1999" and as number 37 on the "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990?2000" Most recently, in 2008 a parent in Toronto asked that the book no longer be assigned in Toronto public schools, saying it was, "rife with brutality towards and mistreatment of women (and men at times), sexual scenes, and bleak depression" and "anti-Christian".

http://www.thestar.com/article/571999



I've never heard of this book, but it seems quite interesting.

 

The first on list that I've actually heard of, mainly because it was made into a movie starring the now-deceased Miranda Richardson.

 

huh?

 

Ah, he meant Natasha Richardson.

Don't scare me like that

 

Yeah... my first reaction was: "WT*? Noooo! Queenie can't be dead!"

 

I know this book is not exactly popular with Islam, for obvious reasons.

 

I read this book my senior year in high school for an independent reading project and then had to write a 20 page paper on it. Four years later, I can recall hardly any of the book so it obviously had a hugely negative effect on me, heh. From what I do remember, it wasn't any "worse" than Brave New World or 1984, just written from the POV of a woman.

 

I regretted reading The Handmaid's Tale, but not as much as I regretted going to see the movie.

 

So you'd ban it for different reasons then

 

Man, this book was creepy. All most as creepy as the fact it shows up on the local Catholic high school summer reading list every year.

 

I don't understand why anyone would want the book banned. You have to believe that a solid majority of Americans, including a solid majority of protestant and catholic christians, would not like to see our society turned into a Taliban-style theocracy. The message is at heart not very controversial. Theocracies aren't good. And they're particularly not good for women.

Maybe that's the part that people object to, the idea that theocratic tendencies are primarily about women losing political and social status.

 

The women in Afghanistan are living through that in real life.

 

I've always wondered what this book was about. It sounds interesting.

The rest of the novels/collections on this list make no sense. And add me to the list who tried to read Marquez(had to for English Comp II) and wasn't exactly a big fan.

 

I know this is jumping back a book, but I just want to say that I have yet to meet a single person that will defend One Hundred Years of Solitude as a great book. The class I read it for, even the teacher wouldn't defend it. I want someone to attempt to explain its greatness to me, but I cannot find a single person. Every time I meet a well read person, I ask them about it and either they haven't read it, haven't finished it, or think it's overrated.

I guess I'll have to track down the people on the Nobel committee that year to get closure on this . . .

 

Perhaps it's the translation...I never like translated books much.

 

I'm actually surprised that others here agreed with my assessment that it's not all it's hyped up to be. Among my experience Marquez is worshiped in a lot of critically-minded fantasy circles where the emphasis is less on the Tolkien tradition and more about Borges, Calvino, Kafka, etc.

 

Huh. That's interesting. Calvino is astounding to read; his t zero sort of changed my life maybe. He's way better than Marquez. And way shorter too.

 

Apologies for the delay. I lost my internet for a week, and this thread slipped my mind when I was catching up

46. Then Again, Maybe I Won't - Judy Blume

[image=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/Then_Again%2C_Maybe_I_Won%27t_book_cover.jpg]


Then Again, Maybe I Won't is a 1971 young adult novel written by Judy Blume. Intended for pre-teens and teenagers, the novel deals with puberty from a male perspective as well as the other trials of growing up. Judy Blume claimed that she was inspired to write the story following the success of her preceding novel Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Given her earlier novel was about a girl entering puberty making the transition to womanhood, she decided to write one about a boy going through puberty and making a transition to manhood.



It seems as though the reaction to this book was a kneejerk one after the aforementioned "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" received much criticism. Perhaps the first book should be on this list?

 

I can't say I've ever read any Judy Blume books, but it looks harmless.

 

I read a couple waaaay back when and they didn't do much for me; at the time, I thought I was the wrong gender. Her books are so much about feminine angst; so, I was unaware of this book. I would actually be slightly interested in reading it, if only to see if she could actually do male angst or if it would just be a misfire.

 

I read Blume's "Fudge" books as a kid and loved them (Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing, Superfudge and Fudge-a-Mania - I missed Sheila the Great though). I was never actually aware of her other (and probably more controversial) work until I was much older.