The Lost Gospel by Joe Edd Morris: A review and a special note

 

This book, as you might gather from the title, involves something called the "Q gospel," the original lost sayings of Jesus. It is set in modern-day Israel and in the Israel of the years following Jesus' death. It follows the adventures of archaeologist Christopher Jordan and ancient manuscript expert Kathryn Ferguson as they attempt to transport two recently discovered jars that are believed to contain early Christian documents and get them into the custody of experts who know how to handle them.  

The jars had been discovered by an American fundamentalist student who was working on a dig in the area and that student, when we meet them, is acting as a driver for Kathryn and Christopher. The ownership of the jars, if their existence were known, would be in dispute between the Israeli and Palestinian antiquity authorities, one more possible escalation of the ongoing percolating resentment in the region. The student/driver is hardly a dispassionate observer of events; rather his fundamentalist religious leanings give him a definite prejudice in the matter.

The second timeline of the story takes us back to 67 A.D. and the life of Jairus who was an early chronicler of the sayings of Jesus in and around Galilee. We also meet Jairus' friend Ezra who guides and advises him. We see how the decision was made to seal these documents recounting Jesus's sayings in jars and to hide them in what, in the 21st century, are disputed territories ruled by Israel.

I liked the way that Morris was able to build his story by alternating between the two timelines. In doing so, he is able to explicate the realpolitik of this fraught region of the world in both ancient and modern times. Moreover, it is easy to see a bright line leading from the turmoil of the Roman era to the powder keg situation that seems to be the region's constant political state of affairs today. 

This book combines two of my favorite interests: archaeology and thrillers/mysteries. Overall, it was a very satisfying read. 

*~*~*~*

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention that this is Banned Books Week in America, a week to shine a bright light on the untiring efforts of some in this country to control what we and our children are able to read. My suggestion is that we as readers familiarize ourselves with the list of books that the fascists are attempting to ban and read them all as if our freedom depended on it. Because it does. Let's make sure we are never reduced to the point of having to seal our books in the equivalent of clay jars and hide them away to keep them safe. 

Is banning books still a thing?

Every year the American Library Associate designates the last week in September as Banned Books Week. It is a week to celebrate the freedom to read and to acknowledge that there are still people who would abridge that freedom. As explained on the ALA website, "Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers — in shared support of the freedom to seek and express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular."

Not infrequently, today's "unorthodox or unpopular" ideas become tomorrow's norm and I suppose that is what the would-be book banners are so afraid of, but, the truth is, it is impossible to stamp out ideas, especially in a relatively free society such as ours and in this day of unfettered access to social media. Trying to ban ideas is like playing whack-a-mole; you stamp it out here and it pops up in a dozen other places.

These days, most of the books that the ALA reports as being challenged are books for children and young adults, as you can see if you visit the site that lists the ten most challenged books for 2016. If you look at the reasons that these books were challenged, you'll find that three of the challenges were because of LGBT characters or content; two were due to having transgender children as characters; three were due to what the complainers saw as the sexually explicit nature of the content; one was due to criminal sexual allegations against the author (Bill Cosby); and one was due to language that the complainers found offensive.

I'm sensing a theme here. There were, for example, zero challenges (at least in the top ten) of books for violent themes. I guess there were no violence-themed books published in the country last year or at least parents aren't worried about their children being exposed to violence. Nope, it's all sex, sex, sex!

Of course, historically, books could actually be banned and their sale forbidden. Thankfully, that doesn't really happen today, but a list of the ten most commonly banned or challenged books for the past is eye-opening indeed:

1. 1984 by George Orwell - Reasons: pro-communism ideas, sexuality.
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - Reason: racism.
3. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - Reasons: offensive language, unsuited for certain age groups.
4. The Color Purple by Alice Walker - Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for certain age groups.
5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - Reasons: reference to drugs, sexuality, and profanity.
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - Reason: sexually explicit.
7. Lord of the Flies by William Golding - Reasons: profanity, sexuality, racial slurs, and excessive violence.
8. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - Reasons: offensive language, racism, violence.
9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey - Reasons: profanity, unsavory theme, sexuality, and racism.
10. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Reasons: offensive language, racism.  

I am proud to say that I have read eight of these "unsuitable books"; somehow I missed The Catcher in the Rye and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, but I'll get to them one of these days. I don't think I've been damaged by reading any of them, although I will admit that some unsettling scenes from Lord of the Flies are burned into my consciousness forever. 

What is most puzzling to me about the reasons for complaints about these books, many of which are considered classics, is the charges of racism against The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird. Surely, shining a light on racism is not the same thing as advocating racism.

But the same could be said of any of the reasons that people give for wanting to ban books. Disseminating and discussing ideas is not the same thing as advocating them.

"Words Have Power" as my blogger friend, Alana, pointed out in her eloquent post earlier this week and those with closed minds fear that power.

The would-be banners

They are still out there, even in 2016. They are the people who obsess over stopping the dissemination of ideas which they find offensive. Specifically, they try to stop books that contain such ideas from becoming widely available to the public. They are the would-be book banners.

These are the people who challenge books available through libraries and schools and ask for them to be taken off the shelves. They would say that they are just trying to protect children, but it generally turns out that they are trying to keep children from reading about things which they find offensive, without regard to whether such knowledge is actually harmful to kids.

Over the years, a dazzling variety of books have been challenged. For example, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and, of course, Harry Potter have been the subjects of concerted campaigns to get them off the shelves. In 2014, even Dr. Seuss's Hop on Pop came in for criticism and an attempt to ban it. The argument was that it promoted violence! Against Pops, I guess. That complaint was quashed.

Every year in September, the American Library Association calls attention to the attempts to stifle ideas by designating Banned Book Week. This year the week runs from September 25 to October 1, and, in connection with that, the ALA has released its list of the most frequently challenged books during the past year. Here are the top ten, along with the reasons that they were challenged.

1. Looking for Alaska by John Green: "Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group." This is literature for young adults by a phenomenally successful writer in that genre. Two of his previous books are The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns, both of which were adapted as movies. Looking for Alaska also will become a movie.
2. Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James: "Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, (Really? What age group is that?) concerns that a group of teenagers will want to try it, poorly written." If being poorly written were a legitimate reason for banning books, the shelves of the library would not be so well populated.
3. I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings: "Inaccurate, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group." This is an illustrated children's book based on the true story of Jazz Jennings, a transgender child who helped to write the story.
4. Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin: "Anti-family, offensive language, homosexuality, sex education political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group." Book contains the stories of six transgender young adults about their experiences in establishing their identities.
5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon: "Offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, profanity and atheism." This one is a perennial on these lists. It tells the story of a 15-year-old autistic boy who is falsely accused of killing a neighborhood dog.
6. The Bible: "Religious viewpoint." This is the first year for this religious text to be on the list. The main complaints seem to be that it condones the killing of people who don't conform to the majority view of appropriate behavior; e.g., homosexuals and women adulterers.
7. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel: "Violence and graphic images." This graphic novel tells the story of the author's coming to terms with her sexuality, coming out as a lesbian, and learning that her father was homosexual.
8. Habibi by Craig Thompson: "Nudity, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group." This is another graphic novel, set in the Middle East, which tells the tale of two child slaves fighting to find a place in the world.
9. Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan by Jeanette Winter: "Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, violence." This children's book tells the true story of a grandmother in Afghanistan who risks everything to send her granddaughter to school, even though it is forbidden by the Taliban.
10. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan: "Homosexuality, condones public displays of affection." This is a young adult novel based on a true incident that tells the story of two 17-year-old boys who attempt to set a Guinness World Record with a 32-hour marathon kissing session.

Do you detect a theme in these challenges? It seems that the challengers are most afraid of sexuality and religion - at least any sexuality or religious viewpoint that deviates from their own. And though the titles on the list do change from year to year, that is the continuing theme: Our children should not be exposed to any idea of which we don't approve. 

And yet they are exposed to such ideas every day simply by living in the modern world. Wouldn't it be better if they could be exposed through a well-written and interesting book?

In the end, of course, book banning doesn't work. There is no way to permanently stop the flow of ideas once loosed in the world. But you can bet some people will keep trying and there will be another list next year.

Exercise your right to read!

September 27 through October 3 is Banned Books Week, a yearly event sponsored by the American Library Association to call attention to the still ongoing effort in some quarters to censor our reading material.

These days, it seems that the main push to ban books comes through school libraries, usually middle school libraries. Parents and/or teachers express concerns about allowing children access to certain ideas. Usually, these are ideas with which the adults disagree but there is really no evidence that they would damage young minds.

A major objection to books in recent years, for example, are those which depict gay marriage or other non-traditional family situations. There are also sometimes objections to having women characters who are strong and independent and pursue "unfeminine" professions.

This is a list of the ten most challenged books during the past year and the reasons for their being challenged:

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie: Cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, anti-family, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence, depiction of bullying. 
2. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi: Gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint, graphic depictions.
3. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell: Homosexuality, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, homosexuality, unsuited for age group, "promotes the homosexual agenda."
4. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison: Sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, "contains controversial issues."
5. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris: Nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.
6. Saga by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples: Anti-family, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group.
7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: Offensive language, violence, and unsuited for age group.
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: Homosexuality, sexuality explicit, offensive language, "date rape and masturbation," drugs/alcohol/smoking.
9. A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, sexually explicit.
10. Drama by Raina Telgemeier: Sexually explicit.

These books join an honor roll of books from our history that have actually been banned when first published, including The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, Ulysses, Beloved, The Lord of the Flies, 1984, Lolita, just to name a few.

So, exercise your right to read this week, maybe by reading one of these "banned" books. Most importantly, don't ever let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn't read or enjoy reading.

21st century book banners

The last week in September every year has for the last several years been designated as Banned Books Week, an event celebrating the freedom to read. It is sponsored by the American Library Association and a number of other groups interested in access to books and the freedom to read. It brings together readers of all types with librarians, publishers, journalists, booksellers, and teachers, all of whom are united in the support of the free expression of ideas, even those that may be controversial or unpopular.

In a world where information on just about any subject is only a click away, it seems an exercise in futility for anyone to try to ban or censor a book, and indeed it is. And yet people still try. The books featured on lists published by the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools. But even if a book is banned, in most cases it continues to be available. At its most extreme, burning the book will not suffice in the age of Kindles and other eReaders.

It must be said that the motives of many of those who seek the removal of some books are pure if misguided. They sincerely feel that the dissemination of certain ideas, particularly in children's books, is harmful. They do not take into account that ideas are stubborn and elusive things that cannot be contained. It is better to let them flow freely and discuss them openly. Oppose them, argue against them if you must, but don't try to impede their expression.

Year after year, the top reasons for challenges to books remain much the same. "Sexually explicit" material leads the list, followed by "offensive language," "unsuited to age group," "violence," and "homosexuality." There are also a significant number of challenges due to "occult" or "Satanic" themes or "religious viewpoint," and a goodly number because the complainant viewed the book as "anti-family." Books are sometimes challenged for multiple reasons.

Here are the ten books that were most challenged in 2013, along with the reasons for their challenges.

1. Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey: Offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence.  
2. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence.  
3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.
4. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James: Nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.
5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group.
6. A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit.
7. Looking for Alaska by John Green: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.
9. Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya: Occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit.
10. Bone (series) by Jeff Smith: Political viewpoint, racism, violence.  

I confess what surprises me most about this list is that Fifty Shades of Grey was challenged because it was deemed "unsuited to age group!" Really? I would have thought the target demographic was probably middle-aged housewives. Do we seriously need to protect their delicate sensibilities? 

And I read The Hunger Games and was blissfully unaware of any particular "religious viewpoint." 

Anyway, there you are - a list of what is deemed the most dangerous books in America. Why don't you pick one up and read it this week? Celebrate your freedom to read!

(UPDATE: Here's a link to graphics which display clearly the most challenged books and authors in recent years and the reasons for those challenges and also the places where the most challenges were filed in the past year. Can you guess which state had the most challenges? That's right - Texas! We're No. 1! Again.)

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the freedom to read

Every year during the last week in September, the American Library Association sponsors Banned Books Week. It is an event which unites librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all kinds in a shared appreciation and support of the freedom to seek and express ideas, even those that some people might consider unorthodox or unpopular or even offensive.

The purpose of Banned Books Week is really to draw attention to the harm that censorship does. The books that are featured have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools, but, while some books have been and continue to be banned, there is reason to celebrate the fact that, in the majority of cases, the books have remained available. This is true thanks to the efforts of librarians and members of the community who continue to stand up and speak out for the freedom to read.

In recent years, the big push among those who seek to ban books has been in the field of young adult fiction. The would-be banners are apparently driven by a desire to protect teenagers from tales of sex, drugs, and suicide, according to reports from the ALA. It's an understandable impulse driven by what may be a laudable concern for the sensibilities of teens, but it seems ultimately misguided. It is not as if teenagers are unaware of these topics. They are curious about the topics and they need information. A well-crafted and sensitively-written bit of fiction can provide a great deal of illumination on the subjects. It seems (to this outside observer, at least) that teenagers are more often harmed by a lack of information than they are by too much or even the "wrong" kind of information.

The books that appear on the most challenged or banned books year after year tend to be books about outsiders. They open their readers to other experiences and emotions and they can be reassurances to the teenage outsider that he or she is not alone and that it is okay to be different.

Moreover, reading about racism or about teen suicide will not make you a racist or induce you to commit suicide. On the contrary, it may help you to better understand those issues and make you less likely to fall prey to them. In fact, teenagers who are over-sheltered may find it more difficult to cope with the world as adults. Reading a variety of literature can help to prepare them for the struggles they will face.

The ALA first started monitoring complaints and requests to ban books in 1982. It says that it has recorded challenges to more than 11,300 titles during that time but estimates that the real number is probably much higher since all attempts to ban books are not necessarily recorded. The authors that have most often appeared on the banned-book list since 1982 are J.K. Rowling, Mark Twain, Judy Blume, Stephen King, Maya Angelou, and John Steinbeck. These were coincidentally some of my teenage daughters' favorite authors as they were growing up.

During 2012, they recorded 464 complaints, and these were the books that were most often challenged and the stated reasons that they were challenged.

1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey.
   Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie.
   Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
3. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher.
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group
4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James.
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
5. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.
   Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group
6. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
   Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
8. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
   Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence
9. The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
10. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
    Reasons: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence

Banned Books Week runs through Saturday, September 28. Celebrate it by reading something outrageous this week!

      

Celebrate the freedom to read

This is the thirtieth anniversary of the American Library Association's Banned Book Week. This year it began on September 30 and will run through October 6. Around the country, libraries will be calling attention to the freedom that we have to read what we choose, and they will be highlighting those books which have caused the greatest amount of controversy for library systems and have had the most challenges within the last year.

The ten most-challenged books within the past year are these:

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
   Reasons: offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
2. The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa
   Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
3. The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
   Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence
4. My Mom's Having A Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler
   Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
   Reasons: offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
6. Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
   Reasons: nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint
7. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
   Reasons: insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit
8. What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
   Reasons: nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit
9. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar
   Reasons: drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit
10. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
    Reasons: offensive language; racism

Most of these are children's or young adult books, and those who challenge them probably have the best of intentions of protecting the young from things which they feel might upset them. The most common reasons for challenging a book seem to be anything related to sex or anything with a religious viewpoint. 

Although I freely admit that I am not familiar with some of the books, I'm willing to bet that kids and young adults are tough enough to survive reading them without harm. I'm also willing to bet that most of them see much more upsetting and wholly inappropriate scenes on television every day.

The only one of these books that I've actually read is To Kill a Mockingbird. Brave New World has been on my "to be read" list for a while and I will get around to it one of these days. A few months ago, my younger daughter gave me The Hunger Games to read. Maybe in honor of Banned Books Week I'll read that next. 

But first I have to finish reading The Canterbury Tales. Now, talk about your offensive language, sexual explicitness, religious viewpoint, insensitivity, violence and nudity, they are all here! That Chaucer was one bawdy old fart!  

Banned Books Week

Today is the last day of Banned Books Week, an event sponsored each year by the American Library Association to draw attention to the issue of intellectual freedom and especially to the freedom of one to choose what one will read.  I can't let the week pass without making note of it here.

Each year the ALA publishes a list of the books that have had the most challenges during the past year.  A "challenge" just means that someone tried to have the book removed from library shelves or made unobtainable by certain groups of people.  The ten most challenged books of 2010 and the reasons for their challenges are an interesting mixture.  This is not the first year that some of the books have appeared on this list.

1.   And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell:  This is a perennial favorite of those who want to ban books - the story of a same-sex penguin couple and their son.  It was challenged because of homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuitability for its age group.

2.   The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie:  It was objected to because of what was deemed offensive language, racism, sex education, sexually explicitness, violence, and unsuitability for its age group.

3.   Brave New World by Aldous Huxley:  Challenged due to insensitivity, offensive language, racism, and sexual explicitness.

4.   Crank by Ellen Hopkins:  It was objected to for its portrayal of drug use, offensive language, and sexual explicitness.

5.   The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:  Someone thought it was unsuited to its age group, violent, and sexually explicit.

6.   Lush by Natasha Friend:  Drug use, unsuitability for age group, offensive language, and sexual explicitness were the complaints about this book.

7.   What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones:  Complaints included sexism, sexual explicitness, and unsuitability for age group.

8.   Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich:  This journalistic expose' of the effect of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act on the working poor of America was objected to because it had drug use, was "inaccurate", had offensive language, had a political viewpoint which some people didn't approve of, and had a a religious viewpoint that certain people found offensive.

9.   Revolutionary Voices by Amy Sonnie:  Objected to for its portrayal of homosexuality and sexual explicitness.

10.  Twilight by Stephanie Meyer:  Challenged because of it violence and its religious viewpoint.

Well, at least there was no Huckleberry Finn or To Kill a Mockingbird on the list this year.  Most of the books on the list are for children or young adults, and while one can certainly empathize with a parent's desire to protect a child from ideas which s/he may not understand or which may be upsetting, I would strongly suggest that banning a book or keeping it out of the child's hands is not the way to do that.  Better to let the child read whatever interests him/her and then discuss it with him/her.  Open communication is the best way both to protect a child from being upset and to help the child open up his/her mind to other ideas and possibilities and ways of approaching life.

I was particularly interested to see that Nickel and Dimed made the top ten.   This book was a damning expose' of how difficult it is for the working poor to get by in America and how the laws that we make often make it even harder for them.  So some people thought it was "inaccurate" and didn't like its "political viewpoint."  Gee, I wonder who those people could have been?

Thank you to the librarians of the world who guard the portals of intellectual freedom for us all.  Let us support them in their work and honor their endeavors by reading more books.  Most especially, let's read some of those books that someone doesn't want us to read!

Banned and burned classics of the 20th century

Banned Books Week of 2010 is winding down, so I visited the American Library Association for more information on the subject and came across this title: Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century. What an interesting and diverse group of books it is.

As I read over the list and the reasons that the books had been banned and, in some cases, burned, it became obvious that most of the bannings - though not all - had to do with sex. Even in the 20th century we still just didn't know how to handle that little three-letter word and all its implicitness and explicitness. In second place seemed to be offensive language or concerns about the way religion was handled.

But some of the bannings were truly mystifying. For example, The Call of the Wild by Jack London, which I loved as a teenager, was banned in Italy and Yugoslavia in 1929 and was burned in Nazi bonfires in 1933! I'm not sure what it was about the story of the dog, Buck, that engendered such passions. And The Lord of the Rings, along with other J.R.R. Tolkien books, was burned in Alamagordo, New Mexico, of all places, in 2001 because the parishioners at Christ Community Church thought it was satanic. That would have come as a severe shock to that staunch Christian, Tolkien.

Here, then, is the list published by the ALA of the most frequently banned or challenged 20th century classics. I've highlighted the ones I've actually read. Obviously, I've got my work cut out to get through the rest of the list.

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
Ulysses - James Joyce
Beloved - Toni Morrison
The Lord of the Flies - William Golding
1984 - George Orwell
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Animal Farm - George Orwell
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
Their Eyes were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison
Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
Native Son - Richard Wright
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut (I'm actually embarrassed to admit I haven't read this one.)
For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway
The Call of the Wild - Jack London
Go Tell it on the Mountain - James Baldwin
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Jungle - Upton Sinclair
Lady Chatterley's Lover - D.H. Lawrence
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
The Awakening - Kate Chopin
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie
Sophie's Choice - William Styron
Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
A Separate Peace - John Knowles
Naked Lunch - William S. Burroughs
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh (Although I haven't read it, I was mesmerized by the excellent PBS series based on the book, so I've always felt as though I've read it.)
Women in Love - D.H. Lawrence
The Naked and the Dead - Norman Mailer
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser
Rabbit, Run - John Updike

By this tally, it seems the most banned authors of the last one hundred years were D.H. Lawrence and Ernest Hemingway! Who would have thunk it?

So there you have it - the most hated and feared books of the last century. What's stopping you? Get to reading!

The 10 most challenged books of 2009

Here we are in the middle of the 29th annual Banned Books Week, so in honor of that occasion, let's take a look at some of the books that people were trying to get banned last year. These are the ten books that were most often complained about and requested to be removed from the shelves by patrons of libraries. I have to admit that I'm not even familiar with some of these books that are specifically for children or young people, but I may have to read them anyway as a protest.

1. TTYL by Lauren Myracle: Never heard of it and that author's last name sounds made up, but what do I know? I lead a very sheltered life. People complained about it because of sexual explicitness, offensive language, unsuitability for its targeted age group, and drugs.

2. And Tango makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell: This one was knocked off its #1 perch where it had been for a while. The story of homosexual penguins really gets some peoples' knickers in a twist.

3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: Again, I have to admit my ignorance of the book, but some people thought it was anti-family. I suppose the same might be said of The Brothers Karamazov or Madame Bovary, among other titles that come to mind.

4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: This is a perennial on complained-about or banned books lists. People complain about racism and offensive language. I guess if you talk about racism or write about racism some people consider it racist.

5. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer: This great favorite of many young people offends some because of its sexual explicitness, "offensive religious viewpoint", and because they feel it is unsuitable for the age group for which it is intended. I haven't read the book and don't intend to, not because any of that stuff offends me but just because, from what I know of it, it doesn't interest me in the least. I suppose if I were stranded on a desert island and that was the only book on that island, I might read it.

6. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger: Another perennial on such lists. Sexually explicit, offensive language, and "general unsuitability" are some of the complaints made about it.

7. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult: I've never read any of Picoult's books but maybe I should. Just look at the list of complaints people make about this book: sexism, homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, offensive religious viewpoint, drugs, suicide, and violence! I think Ms. Picoult may have just retired the trophy for hitting all the hot buttons.

8. The Earth, My Butt & Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Macklen: Don't you love that title? I know it would win my award as the best title of all time, but some folks complained that once you got past the title, it was sexually explicit, had offensive language and was generally unsuitable.

9. The Color Purple by Alice Walker: Sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuitable were some of the things complainers said about it. Also, there were complaints about the negative portrayal of black men, but then that was sort of an essential element of the plot, wasn't it?

10. Chocolate War by Robert Cormier: And, once again, I have to admit my ignorance of a book, but the complaints about it are much the same as made about so many others on the list - sexually explicit, offensive language, and violence.

You know, reading this list, I have to wonder at the obvious glaring omission of The Bible. If you are offended by violence, occasional sexual explicitness, and offensive religious viewpoints, this book has them all. I know I am offended by the religious viewpoint that demands that "God's army" kill every man, woman, child, and animal in a village or town so that "God's chosen" can have the land. There are certainly offensive portrayals enough of many people including Egyptians, one of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world, as well as Babylonians, Assyrians, Hittites, Romans and many others. As for sexism, don't even get me started!

Did you know that the dictionary is a banned book?

Banned Book Week, a yearly event of the American Library Association, does not begin for another week, but I happened upon this article in the Huffington Post listing eleven of the most surprising banned books and, of course, I had to read it. And, yes, I was surprised.

1. Merriam-Webster Dictionary and American Heritage Dictionary: Can you believe it? These dictionaries have been banned by some school systems in this country apparently because they contain definitions of sex acts! No wonder our educational system seems to be falling apart.

2. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck: This has been banned in some areas due to obscenity and the portrayal of the country in a negative light. Admittedly, it was a long time ago that I read this book, but I don't remember any obscenity. If it was there, it certainly didn't make an impression on me. As for portraying the country in a negative light, it was the Great Depression. An honest portrait of the times would necessarily be negative.

3. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig: I don't know this book but apparently the characters are animals and the policemen are portrayed as pigs. Some police departments took exception to that. Since pigs are some of the smartest animals around, it seems maybe they should be flattered.

4. Beloved and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison: These two books by the Nobel Prize winning author have been banned for obscene language and gratuitous violence.

5. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle: This may be the most asinine example of all so it is fitting that it comes from Texas. This book was banned by the infamous Texas Board of (mis)Education not because of content but because one of the authors had the same name as an obscure Marxist theorist and the geniuses on the board could not be bothered to do due diligence to discover that he was an entirely different person. Poor Texas school children - victims of these idiots.

6. James and the Giant Peach and Witches by Roald Dahl: This famous author of children's books has seen these two books of his banned because of alleged obscenity, violence and sexism.

7. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank: The book banners found this book to be sexually explicit and sympathetic to homosexuality.

8. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: Really???

9. A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway: These two Hemingway books were banned because of sexual content (Farewell) and because the banners thought it "pro-communist" (Bell). Heaven forbid that children should read anything that portrays communists or communism in a favorable light. Never mind that these communists were fighting a repressive and brutal fascist regime.

10. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein: Banned because it "promotes disrespect, horror and violence." I read Shel Silverstein's books, including this one, to and with my children from their earliest years and they are two of the most respectful, un-horror-ridden, and gentle people that I know. Shame on anyone who would ban it.

11. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle: This is another one that I don't know but apparently it portrays a battle between good and evil and the banners thought that it espoused religious thought which they found offensive.

These books were banned from being seen or read by children, and certainly there are books that are inappropriate for reading at some tender ages. I wouldn't, for example, hand over Joyce's Ulysses to a third grader - even a very bright third grader. Parental responsibility is the way to handle that. But the thought of actually banning a book is totally odious to me. In a free society, all ideas must be out there on the table for people to pick and choose what they will read. Much as I loathe them, I would not even ban books by Glenn Beck or Ann Coulter.