Posted on 02/18/2009 8:20:59 AM PST by Notoriously Conservative
You may or may not be aware that Harry Potter, The Anarchist Cookbook and Stephen King books have been banned from schools around the country. But where do we draw the line? We want to protect our children, but what about freedom of speech, artistic expression, etc.? It is pretty strange to consider Shakespeare has not only been banned from public schools over sexual themes, but that censored editions have been out since the 1700s.
Was there offensive material in them? Yes, but there is offensive material in Walmart too, not to mention offensive odors. Did Lolita make me sick to my stomach? Yes. But these are truly great works of literary art, and I'm glad I read all of them. Protecting our kids is very important, but when does it become over bearing, or harmful sheltering?
Of the Radcliffe Publishing list of the top 100 books of the past century, almost half have been challenged by schools, many are banned in whole countries. Here are a few banned titles that may surprise you:
*Note: Plot summaries may include spoilers.
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Plot: A soldier, Henry, on the Italian front meets and seduces a young woman, Catherine. Their relationship continues as he heals a knee that was injured in battle. By the time his knee is fully healed, Catherine is three months pregnant. Unfortunately, Henry has to return to the war and the Germans break through the Italian lines. The Italians charge the soldiers for treachery for letting the Germans defeat them. Henry escapes during another officer’s execution and runs away to Switzerland with Catherine. They live happily until Catherine gives birth to a stillborn and then dies in labor.
Where it’s been banned: Published in 1929, this novel caused trouble immediately...
(Excerpt) Read more at notoriouslyconservative.com ...
You make too much sense.
Doncha know that you’re supposed to get your pansties in a wad and declare any parent who questions her child’s required school reading as a fanatical Nazi book burning retard fundamentalist?
These threads always devolve into that, anyway.
BTW, remember when one of Alice Walker’s books was removed from some required reading list in a California school district? She went bananas and screeched that she was being .... ready .... steady .... CENSORED!!!!
At the rate of dumming down going on in schools books will no longer be needed.
The interviews are practically a history lesson, getting inside the heads of some of the most famous and/or influential people of the last half century. They may notall be perfect (Albert Speer apparently didn't like his), but I can't find another single source of so many high-profile interviews. Besides, the interviews just having the Playboy name might get some kids to read them and unexpectedly learn something.
Suggested reading for people of any age.
....therefore appropriate for those from the ages of 18-98 - 80 years of learning.
Actually, I’ve never heard of this collection. Because I am a person who enjoys learning well, WELL after school, I need to take a look at this.
Thanks for the heads up
If it is full of ONLY Communist party cases, then they have already REMOVED books.
If it is full of Communist party cases AND all other books, then I CAN chose. And I might want to chose some Communist party books so I can better understand how they think and how to defeat them.
Search “playboy interviews” at Amazon and you’ll get several different volumes. The one I read that had the Rockwell and Speer interviews was an old hardcover from my local library (libraries rule!), can’t remember which volume.
The coolest part was commentary by Haley about Rockwell. Seems Rockwell complained about the idiots he had constantly around him and valued communicating with someone intelligent like Haley even after the interview. All I could think was “You’ve surrounded yourself with a bunch of racist Nazi wannabes, and you think they’re going to be intelligent?”
Playboy interviews are overall no racier than any other interview, but I guess it would depend on the person being interviewed. The Speer interview was textbook. Interviews with the likes of Bill Gates and Donald Trump aren't going to have anything age-sensitive, and are appropriate for anyone capable of reading them. The one with feminist Camille Paglia got pretty explicit on the subjects of rape and sexuality, but that was logically integral to the interview because she's famous for disagreeing with the man-hating feminists on those subjects.
This isn't Hustler, they don't jump in with questions of sex unless it's germane.
Oh true. I do agree with you and the rules are a bit different for children. However, I would rather them err on the side of permission than omission.
Just because you think something is a must read does not mean a community must have it in it’s school library. It matters not what you and I think, it matters what the community the school is in thinks. If as a parent, you want your child to read something that is not available in their school library, you go get it for them.
You just don't know me very much. Aside from necessary documents like the Constitution, I wouldn't support forcing any literature on any library. "Should" in this case doesn't mean to force it. It just means it's my opinion that it would be a valuable addition to any library.
Thank you for clarification. Most folks think should means they WILL by golly! I should not assume things, I apologize.
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