Task #16: Read a book that has been banned or frequently challenged in your country

[Book Riot]

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the sixteenth Read Harder task.

[Book Riot]

Some suggested posts to help out:

http://bookriot.com/2015/10/01/9-bann...

http://bookriot.com/2015/09/30/comics...

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlyc...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

https://theculturetrip.com/north-amer...

[Jmegan]

I found this for Canada:

http://www.freedomtoread.ca/challenge...

[Emily]

This will be difficult for me since challenges and bannings very rarely happen. Which is good! but I want to be able to finish all challenges :)

[Britt]

Emily wrote: "This will be difficult for me since challenges and bannings very rarely happen. Which is good! but I want to be able to finish all challenges :)"

Banned or frequently challenged - I'm going with the "frequently challenged" side :)

[Theresa]

Emily wrote: "This will be difficult for me since challenges and bannings very rarely happen. Which is good! but I want to be able to finish all challenges :)"

You're so lucky! This just happened last week in the US. Fortunately there was a satisfactory resolution within a couple days, but it was scary to realize this still happens. https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

[Laura]

Don't know why they didn't include this list...

[Maryam]

Jmegan wrote: "I found this for Canada:

http://www.freedomtoread.ca/challenge..."

Thanks for the list.

[Ellie]

I'm from Germany and we don't ban or challenge books very often (lastest and basically only example is American Psycho which was banned from 1995 - 2001), unless they contain nazi-propaganda or explicit porn (think Marquis de Sade) those books are banned or censored. Both topics are nothing I want to explore further.

But Germany wasn't always that liberal. In 1933 countless books by Jewish and Non-Jewish authors were burned and their mere possession became a crime. So for this task I'm going to read 'Narziss und Goldmund' by Hermann Hesse, which was one of the burned books, as a good reminder that you can ban books, hell you can even burn them, but they will come back.
I know that Hesse was not challenged again in Germany after the end of the second world war, but I'm assuming it still counts as read a banned book?

[Cindy]

Ellie, I'd say it counts. Sounds good. I'm going to read My Brother Sam is Dead.

[Ellie]

Cindy, yeah I thought so. Your choice also sounds interesting.

[Rachel]

Maryam wrote: "Jmegan wrote: "I found this for Canada:

http://www.freedomtoread.ca/challenge..."

Thanks for the list."

Hm, this will be a tough one for me. I'm in Canada also, and as far as I can tell, we don't often ban books. I only found two from that whole list that even remotely interested me - Bridge to Terabithia (which I guess I'll go with) and The Giver (which I already read).

[Carmen]

I'm in Canada too. Lolita and Peyton place were actually banned at one point. I googled banned books in Canada and found a list of about 5 or 6Rachel wrote: "Maryam wrote: "Jmegan wrote: "I found this for Canada:

http://www.freedomtoread.ca/challenge..."

Thanks for the list."

Hm, this will be a tough one for me. I'm in Canada also, and as far as..."

[Lorryn]

I'm in the U.S and I feel like the possibilities are endless. I am reading Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. It's been on my TBR for a while now .

[Stina]

I think I will go with Lord of the Flies, at least for now.

[Theresa]

Ellie wrote: "I'm from Germany and we don't ban or challenge books very often (lastest and basically only example is American Psycho which was banned from 1995 - 2001), unless they contain nazi-propaganda or exp..."

I just realized that the book I'm using for the 'about war' prompt fits exactly with what you wrote - All Quiet on the Western Front. Banned & burned by the Nazis, now considered a classic.

[Lauconn]

I just put The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian on hold at my library, before I saw the new reading challenge, so I'll be counting that one (just have to wait until after Jan 1 to read it!)

[Theresa]

Lauconn wrote: "I just put The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian on hold at my library, before I saw the new reading challenge, so I'll be counting that one (just have to wait until after J..."

That book is SO good! It's one of my top 2 reads from this year.

[[deleted user]]

Like people have mentioned, being a Canadian is tough for this challenge (thankfully). I think I'll go with a challenged book, like The Giver or Go Ask Alice. Though apparently Peyton Place was banned in the 1950's so that might be an option.

[Stina]

Beth wrote: "I'm in France which basically as total freedom of the press. The only books that are banned are ones with antisemitism and such, and I won't read that."

Well, France certainly hasn't *always* been that way. Just off the top of my head, there's Candide and Les fleurs du mal.

[Bonnie G.]

The category includes challenged books too, they do not have to have been banned. I know there have been some recent challenges in France for hiphop lyrics, not sure about books. Here are some ideas though for actual banned books https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

[Stina]

Beth wrote: "Stina wrote: "Beth wrote: "I'm in France which basically as total freedom of the press. The only books that are banned are ones with antisemitism and such, and I won't read that."

Well, France cer..."

Well, if your goal is to *not* find a book to read for this task, then you are certainly approaching it with the right attitude. ::shrug::

[[deleted user]]

I'm thinking Bechdel's Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic is the ticket here for me.

[Stacey]

I loved Fun Home. And it is a musical on Broadway too.

[Shatterlings]

This is hard for readers in the U.K. Too, there's basically 3, Ulysses (a really hard book), Lady Chatterleys lover and The well of Loneliness, both of which I have read. This task could have been made broader " an author from your country who has been challenged/banned anywhere".

[Melissa]

I thought this would be hard too, until I googled banned books in the US and found stories of books constantly being challenged in school libraries, such as John Green's Looking for Alaska and the Harry Potter books. I'm going to work off this page: http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlyc...

[Bonnie G.]

Ultra wrote: "This is hard for readers in the U.K. Too, there's basically 3, Ulysses (a really hard book), Lady Chatterleys lover and The well of Loneliness, both of which I have read. This task could have been ..."

http://www.banned-books.org.uk/index.....

[Beth]

Ultra wrote: "This is hard for readers in the U.K. Too, there's basically 3, Ulysses (a really hard book), Lady Chatterleys lover and The well of Loneliness, both of which I have read. This task could have been ..."

Yes, I think it makes sense to make it broader.

[Katie]

Remember it doesn't have to be on a national or even state level! And there's no mention of it being current! Challenges in individual schools (even ones that failed) and challenges in the past (e.g., Nazi Germany, Victorian England) should count. There are a ton of books that parents have tried to challenge at individual schools!

[Theresa]

Katie wrote: "Remember it doesn't have to be on a national or even state level! And there's no mention of it being current! Challenges in individual schools (even ones that failed) and challenges in the past (e...."

I've been intrigued by the comments in this discussion about how rare it is to ban books in some other countries. Is the US really so much worse on this front than everyone else? Maybe we are. But I too latched onto the "challenged" part of this prompt. Even if a book isn't banned it may still be challenged. So I did some research & found some links that may help with finding challenged books outside the US.

This one's specifically Canada - http://www.freedomtoread.ca/censorshi...

This one is more broad, but for each book on the list it identifies the country where it is or was banned - http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/50-book...

The infographics in this link give some details about books that were banned & where (I totally forgot that Harry Potter was challenged in the US & in the UK!!) - http://ebookfriendly.com/banned-books...

There are more, but hopefully these will help.

[Melissa]

Theresa wrote: "... (I totally forgot that Harry Potter was challenged in the US & in the UK!!) "

I actually chose Harry Potter for my banned book! I've read it, obviously (but not going to count it for my re-read book), but the reason I even began reading them was my mom heard on the news they were being challenged in the States and figured they were probably good if they were causing all the fuss and so she bought it for me.

[Tynisha]

I think I'm going to read Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

[Shatterlings]

There really isn't much book challenging in the UK, some of those lists are very interesting when books like The witches by Roald Dahl are challenged it seems a bit odd. I think I might try The Satanic verses by Salman Rushdie, it wasn't banned here but it was very controversial.

[Shatterlings]

Me too, who bans penguins, everybody loves penguins!!

[Jane]

Melissa wrote: "I thought this would be hard too, until I googled banned books in the US and found stories of books constantly being challenged in school libraries, such as John Green's Looking for Alaska and the ..."

Great list, but do read the descriptions carefully. Although it is a UK site, many of the books were banned in other countries.

[Jodi]

I've just done some research and there are no offically banned books in Switzerland (not even Hitlers "Mein Kampf"), so I might have to do as Ellie from Germany said above. Some books from the "Index Librorum Prohibitorum" sound interesting, I might choose one from the last issue published.

[Niffer]

I wanted to try 'Lord Horror' for this, as the last booked (briefly) banned in the UK in 1990, but all versions I can find are really expensive :( Will have to keep searching, or just go for one of the 'classics'...

[Teresa]

Niffer, Lord Horror is in ebook form, on Amazon UK and Overdrive (library subscription to ebooks)

[Niffer]

Teresa wrote: "Niffer, Lord Horror is in ebook form, on Amazon UK and Overdrive (library subscription to ebooks)"

It wouldn't come up in ebook form when I searched - only hardback, paperback and audio cd, and the graphic novel that was written/drawn after... just searched again and even via google and nothing - can you possibly link to it for me Teresa? :)

[Olivia]

I think I'm going to read Lolita. The National Archives of Australia had a banned books exhibition in 2013. There's some info on the banned books on this blog. http://blog.naa.gov.au/banned/

[Teresa]

Niffer, you were right, I didn't look that deeply. I found it in pdf form on Google docs. I have no idea if it's legal. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&am... Now I want to read it ☺.

[Niffer]

Thanks Teresa, the google docs version is good enough for me and has been saved! :)
I'm not even sure if I'm going to like it, but am too intrigued not to read it now...

[Elizabeth]

I live in Canada. We don't ban a lot of books on a national level. I'll probably do Lolita, just because I've been meaning to for awhile anyway.

[Marcella]

I know it says banned or frequently challenged, but how frequently is frequently?

I've been doing some googling on banned books in the netherlands. The only one that is "banned", is Mein Kampf, and I have no desire of reading that.

I did however find some individual instances of books that were challenged, will they count as well? They aren't frequently challenged.

[Shatterlings]

Wouldn't it be nice if someone from bookriot could suggest something for us Europeans or we will be reading books banned 60-80 years ago :/

[Teresa]

Imo, if you are lucky enough to live in a country that doesn't routinely challenge or ban books, you're free to read anything that's been challenged, however few times that may be. I'm in Utah, USA and the multi page lists of challenged and banned books statewide and nationally is disheartening.

[Sonia]

Anyone from México? I'm struggling to find a challenged book that is not a biology textbook! :P

Might go with Aura since it was deemed "inappropriate" by a govt. official a few years back (and even got a school teacher fired) and I haven't read it yet.

[Teresa]

Sonia, I found one book that was temporarily banned in Mexico. The Children of Sánchez, from Wiki "the book was banned in Mexico for a few years before pressure from literary figures resulted in its publication." A biology textbook would challenge my ability to stay awake, lol.

[Rokkan]

I'm another Brit and we don't really do book banning. Lolita was banned for a bit, but I guess that was lifted since I was able to reserve a copy from the library. Oh the joys of library membership for a RHC participant

[Coco]

As I am from Germany and someone mentioned it before, we do not ban books here unless it is nazi and racism hate speech (and I really do not want to read any current hate or Holocaust denial etc) As I am a historian, maybe I will read the scientific edition of "Mein Kampf" (it is available since 2016 but was banned all the years before) or I go with a banned german author in the nazi era, like Kurt Tucholsky or Lion Feuchtwanger.