"Two wrongs may not make a right but a thousand wrongs make a writer.”

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Banned Book Week Challenge

In celebration of the freedom to read, I've further researched the banned or challenged books I've read and I'm proud to say I've found eleven more.

HEART OF DARKNESS
A FAREWELL TO ARMS
LOLITA
THE SUN ALSO RISES
LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER
A SEPARATE PEACE
THE GREAT GATSBY
1984
NATIVE SON
THE CALL OF THE WILD
NAKED LUNCH


So who has read the most BB's? And the other part of my challenge, to write your own story with the potential of being banned/challenged or in some way censored in a prior post must be amended. There is no way I can have mine ready to post by tomorrow. But by the end of the week....okay?

This brings me to a related subject... the problem of self-censorship. Who out there has caught themselves doing it or giving into pressure from a reader or editor or agent to do it?

5 comments:

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

I haven't taken time to count how many BB I've read but I did post today about one of my favorites, THE HANDMAID'S TALE. Anyone interested can read it at
http://triciajobrien.blogspot.com

I love your idea to write our own stories but don't know if I can this week. I will, however, be waiting in anticipation for yours!

Andrea Cremer said...

Yay posts for BBW!!! Call of the Wild was banned?? I had no idea.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Tricia, The Handmaid's Tale was banned?? I loved that book. Creepy and chillingly plausible.

Andrea, I, too, had no idea. From Call of the Wild and Harry Potter to Naked Lunch and Heart of Darkness, the list is stunning.

Jean Oram said...

Does it count if you started reading a challenged book, but it was so dry you gave up??? :)

Yvonne Osborne said...

Jean, I think one should receive at least partial credit for giving it a go! Just because a book is considered a classic doesn't mean it's readable. I bought MIDDLEMARCH by George Elliot ten years ago and never got beyond the fifth page. It's on a bookshelf I must pass on my way to bed and every night I look at it and keep walking. But I can't make myself give it away. I suppose my local library would take it....