Banned Books Week--reading any banned classics?

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Banned Books Week--reading any banned classics?

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1LibraryPerilous
sep 21, 2013, 10:07 pm

Banned Books Week starts tomorrow, the 22nd, and runs through Saturday, the 28th.

Do any of you participate annually by reading a banned or challenged work?

This year, I have some extra time on my hands, so my goal is to read one banned work per day. I'm going to use the mini-challenge as an opportunity to catch up on favorite classics and to become acquainted with some titles that are on my TBR list.

Tomorrow's reading selection is Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. Monday's book is Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima.

Does anyone have comments on the Anaya? I know very little about the author or the work.

2sparemethecensor
sep 22, 2013, 2:38 pm

I read Bless Me, Ultima in junior high (not for class) and I absolutely loved it. The story is so well-drawn. I grew up in the Southwestern U.S., so for me, much of the novel was highly accessible and relevant to me, being around those landscapes and Chicano influence. I thought it was a beautiful coming of age tale. I hope you enjoy it!

I'll have to sort through my TBR pile and find something to read to celebrate Banned Books Week (it snuck up on me this year). I read through the list of 2012's most-banned books and was appalled. Captain Underpants? Beloved? Really?

3sparemethecensor
sep 22, 2013, 3:00 pm

I'll be reading The Awakening by Kate Chopin. It's been on my list for some time, and what better time than now? The story of a woman realizing there's more to life than strictly-prescribed motherhood and feminine fragility...in the South, in 1899. Why, it's giving me the vapors already!

4LibraryPerilous
sep 22, 2013, 4:24 pm

>3 sparemethecensor: Oh, excellent choice! I've been meaning to read that one, too. I've read some of her short stories and really liked her writing style. It might make an interesting counterpart to As I Lay Dying for me.

>2 sparemethecensor: And, thanks for the mini-review. I owned a copy of the book in high school and didn't read it. Another one on my list for years. So many books, so little time. I love it when you can relate to a book on a personal level, such as geography.

Aargh, just took a look at that list. Seriously, Fifty Shades of Gray because it's explicit? Did you look at the cover before you read the book? Now, banning it because it's poorly written . . .

5Cecrow
sep 22, 2013, 5:06 pm

4> Banning books for being poorly written - I love that concept, LOL! That would be a great idea for a new group!

6leslie.98
sep 23, 2013, 9:54 pm

>1 LibraryPerilous: I have just finished reading As I Lay Dying and Bless Me, Ultima in the past few weeks. I thought Anaya's novel was well done and quite touching in places.

7sparemethecensor
sep 28, 2013, 5:17 pm

I finished The Awakening today. I'm so glad Banned Books Week brought me to take it from my TBR list! I really enjoyed this proto-feminist tale of a woman who realizes 19th century gender roles are oppressive and unfulfilling. It's also a great portrait of Louisiana/Creole culture and really sets the stage for later Southern writers to make the rich landscape of that region into its own unique genre of American fiction.

I read a great review written when the book came out advising men to keep their wives away from this "poisonous" book and instead refer them to Chopin's "agreeable short stories."

8Sandydog1
Bewerkt: jun 25, 2014, 10:35 pm

>7 sparemethecensor:

'Ol Katie's classic has moved up a few crags on TBR pile. Besides, it's relatively short, and widely available on audio!

9sparemethecensor
jul 11, 2014, 9:52 am

>8 Sandydog1: Looking forward to hearing what you think!

10Sandydog1
jul 12, 2014, 1:20 pm

But right now I'm reading Letters from Earth. "not surewhen or if itwas ever banned, but I'm sure it was severely censored from time to time.

11Sandydog1
jul 31, 2014, 10:49 pm

>9 sparemethecensor:

i enjoyed reading The Awakening. Very interesting, and much more straightforward and readable than say, anything from Flaubert, Wharton or Tolstoy.