Read a banned book?

[jfinn]

So many old friends on this list. A Wrinkle in Time, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and To Kill A Mockingbird stand out as books that really engaged me emotionally the first time I read them. I loved Little Black Sambo as a child and never could understand why there was such a backlash against it. I always though Sambo was a smart kid, I mean he turned a tiger into butter how cool is that? It makes sense though if there was a version(s) that had racially exagerated illustrations (like some of you I had the version set in India).

This discussion reminds me of the little mom and pop bookstore in a small town I lived in. There was a poster above a display of books at the check-out that said, "These books are banned. Protect freedom and buy one. Promote intelligence and read it, then pass it on to your kids."

Jayne

 

[Weird Harold]

I read the book many years ago when I was a child. I didn't see anything wrong with it then and I still don't. Sambo was a sharp kid and the story was set in India anyhow.

http://www.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/1/13/250px-LittleBlackSamboCover.jpg

From http://www.answers.com/topic/little-black-sambo

The Story of Little Black Sambo is a childrens' book by Helen Bannerman, a Scot living in India, first published in 1899. The little boy who had to sacrifice his new red coat and his new blue trousers and his new purple shoes— which the tiger wears on his ears— but outwits the predators in his world, to return safely home and eat 169 pancakes for his supper, was a children's favorite for half a century before it became controversial. The story takes place in a fairy tale India, and the tigers racing around the tree are turned into ghee, rendered as "butter."

Although loved by many, the book has a controversial history. Many consider the work to contain racist caricatures and stereotypes, and the word "sambo", partly as a result of the book, has a long history as a racial slur. The original illustrations portray Sambo in the manner of a golliwog. It has been banned in some libraries.

...

http://www.juliascollectibles.com/lbs102.JPG
(From the 1942 edition)

from http://www.juliascollectibles.com/ju31000.htm
Text:
Once upon a time there was a little black boy named Little Black Sambo. Hit mother was Black Mombo and his father was Black Jumbo.
Black Mumbo made him a beautiful little red coat and some little blue trousers. Black Jumbo bought him a a beautiful green umbrella and a pair of purple shoes with crimson soles and crimson lingings.

And finally a 1960's vintage lighter with the Sambo's Resaurant version of LBS:
http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/imageserver.x/00000000/polypics/.mids/sambosronson.jpg

The only problem I see with Little Black Sambo is the Racist stereotypes that borrowed the names from a fun story written for children and the dated stereotypical illustrations.

 

[Boxlicker101]

[img]http://www.juliascollectibles.com/lbs102.JPG
(From the 1942 edition)


The only problem I see with Little Black Sambo is the Racist stereotypes that borrowed the names from a fun story written for children and the dated stereotypical illustrations.

I probably read the 1942 version. This happened almost 60 years ago and I remember it was illustrated, as were most children's books, but I saw nothing wrong with the drawings. That of the mother is something of a stereotype, but not a negative one. Except for the skin color, she looks a lot like my grandmother looked at the time, or a lot of other women I used to see around town.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
77. Carrie by Stephen King
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King


Blah. Only read 16 of them.

 

[Boxlicker101]

http:// The only problem I see with Little Black Sambo is the Racist stereotypes that borrowed the names from a fun story written for children and the dated stereotypical illustrations.[/QUOTE] Sambo was also the name of one of Simon Legree's slaves who were ordered to beat Uncle Tom to death in the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin". I don't know if that had anything to do with anything.

 

[Kassiana]

Faves:
Harry Potter
A Wrinkle in Time
Handmaid's Tale
Carrie
Dead Zone

Despised:
Bridge to Terabithia (lousy story, disgusting ending)
The Giver (ending a letdown because you don't get to see the consequences to his family and society...what was the point?)

I'm mostly neutral toward the rest of them I've read. I have no desire to read them again, but no desire to restrict others from reading them. As for my despised list, I would never read those books again, but if you want to, be my guest.

 

[sophia jane]

Another list: 2003 list

I've read alot more of these. Amazing how many of these books are considered "classics," yet people are still trying to get them banned.

SJ

 

[Softouch911]

I think I've only read 8. Guess I need to get busy.

What amazes me, as a mom, is the number of kids' books on here that my son reads. I seriously have to wonder what people are thinking. I mean, why are these books challenged/banned?? The Goosebumps series? Just don't get it.

I found a different list on the net last night and it said the most banned book of all time, at least in the US I guess (and I don't know how accurate this site was), is To Kill a Mockingbird. I feel absolutely blessed that I had a good education- I read that book in middle school, if I remember right. I should read it again...

Anyway, I'm sure it's an old saying all of us have heard, but my grandmother's favorite saying was always "Celebrate freedom- read a banned book."

SJ

I like your grandma!

The goosebumps series is on there for the same reason as Harry Potter: witches, magic, satanic paranoia from fundamentalist whackos.

My favorite is Slaughterhouse-Five. But definitely not for a kid.


Softouch

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Anyone who wants to supress the statemement of opinion, however vile, is guilty of censorship.

How many of you have READ Lolita? What do you think? No, truly, ignore the PC, read the book and think.

Prolly a bad sign, I've read too many books on SJ's list - and enjoyed them. I've read books that deny the holocaust happened and was glad to reaffirm my opinions of outrage as I put them down. I want to be challenged but, above all, I want to access everybody's truth.

The moment you begin to restrict anyone's right to publish, however vile their views, you start down the slippery slope of censorship and bookburning. Let's have a fatwah!

If anyone really wants to understand, read 'Brave New World' - Aldous Huxley, '1984' and 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell.

 

[Softouch911]

Anyone who wants to supress the statemement of opinion, however vile, is guilty of censorship.

How many of you have READ Lolita? What do you think? No, truly, ignore the PC, read the book and think.

Prolly a bad sign, I've read too many books on SJ's list - and enjoyed them. I've read books that deny the holocaust happened and was glad to reaffirm my opinions of outrage as I put them down. I want to be challenged but, above all, I want to access everybody's truth.

The moment you begin to restrict anyone's right to publish, however vile their views, you start down the slippery slope of censorship and bookburning. Let's have a fatwah!

If anyone really wants to understand, read 'Brave New World' - Aldous Huxley, '1984' and 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell.

I think "Lolita" is a grand, grand book. Of course, as a fantasy, I have nothing against any sort of porn. But then I'm a pervert, I'm told.

I agree with your sentiments, Elf. I love it when you're incensed. Almost as good as when you talk dirty to us

There's another neat scifi novel on censorship called "Canticle for Leibowitz" that does it with straight Jewish apocalyptic satire. Great stuff.


Softouch

 

[Extreme Bohunk]

Put me down for 9 of those.
I would say my fave of them is 'Carrie', loved the inside look at her
thoughts as she slipped into insanity, and the use of the support
stories (Reader's Digest- I survived Black Prom)

and one time, at banned camp.....

 

[sophia jane]

Put me down for 9 of those.
I would say my fave of them is 'Carrie', loved the inside look at her
thoughts as she slipped into insanity, and the use of the support
stories (Reader's Digest- I survived Black Prom)

and one time, at banned camp.....

Fuckin' hilarious!

I liked Carrie, too.

SJ

 

[sophia jane]

Bumping for shameless self-promotion. My free speech essay is on book banning.
It's amazing some of the reasons that books have been banned or censored. Also very sad.

SJ

 

[sweetnpetite]

A Light In the ATTIC? By Shel Silversein?!

Oh I realize that he's a subversive, barefoot commie, but still...

 

[cloudy]

3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak (wtf???)
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
55. Cujo by Stephen King
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
77. Carrie by Stephen King
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (this is probably my favorite - wtf???)

 

[Colleen Thomas]

The Outsiders????
A wrinkle in time???

WTF?

Jeezus, if you are going to ban something ban John Dunne. Hordes of college kids would adore you

 

[Boxlicker101]

I have read all or part of 11 of the books on the list. Personally, I oppose censorship and wouldn't ban anything but I wonder about some of those.

I read "Catcher in the Rye" a long time ago and thought it rather pointless, which may be what its point it. In any event, it is certainly harmless. Only one book was banned because of blue-nosed censorship, "Sex", by Madonna. The same persons who want to ban that one would love to shut down this site if they could. I'm sure there are thousands of books that are far more pornographic than that one but they are not as well known.

"Little Black Sambo" as has been mentioned before because illustrations in some editions were offensive stereotypes although the text itself was about a brave and intelligent boy who outsmarted some tigers. I've heard a lot about "Huckleberry Finn" but now "Tom Sawyer" has been added, I suppose for the same reason, that they included depictions of African Americans as slaves. Well, duh, that was the situation in Missouri at the time of the books. Maybe because the slaves were shown to be not particularly unhappy with their lot and not heavily oppressed. It's not PC to say that this was sometimes the case.

I notice that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was not on the list. This was about slavery and was set in about the same time period as the Mark Twain books. It was full of negative stereotypes but I guess some of these are PC and others are not.

I see that some of these books were banned by self-styled "liberals" and others by self-styled "conservatives". Personally, I would like to ban both of these groups.

This has been a pretty long post so I guess it's more than my two cent's worth. Probably at least a nickel.

 

[sophia jane]

Boxlicker- you are absolutely right that books have been banned by both liberals and conservatives. There doesn't seem to be much consistency about why things are banned, except for the ignorance.

SJ

 

[kendo1]

I've not read all the thread, but what about 'Ten Little Niggers' ?

 

[Boxlicker101]

I've not read all the thread, but what about 'Ten Little Niggers' ?

The books listed are described as being the most challenged over a ten year period, from 1990 through 2000. I suppose this means letters written from CONCERNED CITIZEN or other such person to libraries, schools, etc. The book you are referencing was not included, probably because it is not as well known as some on the list.

Dick Gregory wrote an autobiography named "Nigger". A a black activist, he is allowed to use what is sometimes called "The N Word" while if a white author had written a book with a similar title it would have been banned.

 

[sophia jane]

The books listed are described as being the most challenged over a ten year period, from 1990 through 2000. I suppose this means letters written from CONCERNED CITEZEN or other such person to libraries, schools, etc. The book you are referencing was not included, probably because it is not as well known as some on the list.

Dick Gregory wrote an autobiography named "Nigger". A a black activist, he is allowed to use what is sometimes called "The N Word" while if a white author had written a book with a similar title it would have been banned.

The word "nigger" is actually one of the reasons that Huck Finn has been banned/challenged. A common theme in bannings seems to be racist language. Basically, anything written that offends people, for whatever reason, has probably been protested, challenged or banned.

SJ